Harison Xavier

  Santiago moved to Madrid 6 months ago. He has high hopes for his future and he is working hard to achieve his dreams to become a scientist researching plants. Living in Madrid is expensive for him as he is from a poor family. So he works in his research laboratory in the morning and he works at a restaurant during the evenings. He worked all 7 days. All the long hours started taking a toll on him. He couldn't spend time with people. He didn't make new friends. He wanted to start a family but couldn't meet anyone. He was brought up in a strict Catholic family and he never drank or smoked. Hence he was not invited to any of his colleague's parties. Even if they did he kept working. Days kept on passing, and a year went by, and he have not made much progress in his research. He lost motivation. Young Santiago is alone in a big city. Trying to make ends meet.  He is average, turning fat and old and his sorrows don't matter, pain didn't matter. Sorrow and...

 Mr. Ferd took along Iris and Ivy to visit Mr. George and his family. It was a beautiful Christmas season and families are getting together. Liam came out from his room to meet his twin cousins. He was happy to see them after a long time, his little sisters greeted him with a smile, and as kids do they started playing together.  Liam's brother Shawn was too little to recognise who they are, he was a toddler when he last met them. Still, Shawn joined the game. They had fun and they laughed out loud. The parents were at the visiting room talking. The game went on and the kids got tired after some time. Iris went out to their car and brought back "Pringles". A red cylinder container, Liam was curious, what is it? He asked himself inside. It looks like so wonderful object, only if I can feel it. Even Ivy went out to grab one more Pringles for her. Ivy joined Iris in the living rooms and started eating, it was crispy thin white chips. Liam and Shawn stood there watching them e...

 Aby was waiting for his name to be called out by his kindergarten teacher, he is very confident that his painting was outstanding and he is going to get the first prize. He loved painting and he was proud of his talent, he had excellent help from his mom who is an artist, in the past few days. He worked hard and he deserves the prize. The prize is a gold medal and a certificate of appreciation from the principal of his school.  The other kids are all waiting for their names to be called out, they too worked hard. It is a big day for Honey Dew Preschool, the teachers have finalized all the painting and artwork and they have a winner, Principal Kelly walked into the hall, seeing her the kids went silent, the bold and tough-looking women made a smile at kids and turned to the teachers. They handed over the list of names to the principal.  "I looked at your painting and they are all very good. I have never seen such talented kids in my life." said principal Kelly, " All...

  Everyone wanted to go to Veega Land (Now  Wonderla  ), as a little kid, I used to look into Veega Land's newspaper advertisements and dream about going there and enjoying the rides. Veega Land (Before changing the name to Wonderla) is a household name in my state when it comes to a vacation spot, I used to beg my parents to take me to Veega Land. I often get the reply "there is nothing there", "only rich people go there", "We don't have time", "You don't study well" and so and so. In my school days, our senior students often get the opportunity to go on a school trip to Veega Land. Even I would be excited and I would say to myself, "Just 7 more years and I can go to Veega Land, O Yes, I am so excited." I have met kids who were lucky to visit Veega Land early, they would share the experience they got and how they spend their time. They would explain like, the journey was tough till the location as they have to wake up early...

It started small, a good time to spend with special people. It was worth having friends so close and happy to spend time with them. Every day and time, new things happen and new problems come up and I was so engaged with them. I felt a great sense of belonging. I was happy. Spending time with friends, drinking coffee and eating, cracking jokes, and facing problems together and solving them. This is life, this is happiness. This is where I belong.  Then my  mind goes.......Wait a minute......... It is not real, you are not with any of your friends, you didn't spend time with anyone. It is the covid19 pandemic. You rarely went out. You rarely talked to anyone. You didn't solve anything. You were inside your room isolated. You are just binge-watching. I vanished for a while. I was running away from something. I just wanted to hide. I didn't know what I was hiding from. One thing I was doing was watching TV series, I never thought I would ever like one. I didn't like to be ...

  I wonder..... Why am I even writing this? What am I thinking about? What is in it?  20 years ago. I was sitting at an auditorium waiting for our annual talent show to begin at our church. I was with my classmates and as we are not the elite talented kids, we didn't have anything to showcase to the audience. There were around five hundred people in the auditorium, it was very noisy as people are talking to each other loudly and on top of that the music is playing. The show has not yet started.  I looked back, after a few empty chairs there was a middle-aged woman in a yellow saree sitting at a distance two other women, she was crying. She was crying like a baby would cry, didn't hesitate to hold back, everyone at the front is waiting for the show to begin. It feels like nobody sees her, the two women next to her are emotionless, she is crying.  Tears ran down her cheeks, trying to wipe away those tears with her wrist which is immediately replaced by more tears from ...

  For a long time I wanted to try Fish and Chips, I always wondered what it was and why would people eat just fish and chips? Being in a foreign country the food menu does confuse me often. I took my bicycle out and I went out to buy it and my plan was to go to a nearby park, enjoy the view and eat it there but the park didn't allow bicycles so I needed to find a place better. I went to the store and bought Fish & Chips, which cost me 4.20 pounds! That's expensive as I think about it now. I didn't think about it when I bought it because I want to experience it. Anyway, I started riding back, and now where to sit and eat? Where should I go? Do you have somewhere to go? Is it necessary that you should go? Do you even matter? Do you exist?  Wow....wow...wow....hit the kill switch, buddy...you are overthinking again....; said the other me. I am overthinking again? Isn't it necessary that I think?...I asked. "No! Stop it now!.. else you will be depressed and jump in...

The following is a note on all the blunders I did while traveling to the UK. I don't know where to start or begin. We were planning to travel from my home to Bangalore (India) in our car, our election was on 8th April. Till then nobody cared about Covid, no social distancing or any restrictions, there were mass rallies and all media channels were focused on the election and mass rallies after the 8th every channel started reporting on covid as if they don't know why. Everyone started reporting a spike in cases and acted like nobody knew how it happened. I knew this will happen 2 weeks ago, as days got near I was getting tensed, on the 10th morning, the news came out to report a curfew in Bangalore from 8 pm to 6 am, haha life just brought a twist to my plans. Immediately we all got ready to go. We were planning to go a little later, but it was immediate due to changing circumstances. My uncle drove the car as fast as possible, we left our home at 11:00 am and reached Bang...

A long time ago, I tried drinking alcohol for the first time. I have drunk a couple of beers and tried wine a long time ago, but not "The alcohol", I don't know how to call it, in general, I have known that beers have less alcohol content, and friends say that's nothing. "You will need to drink or try the real ones "hot", brandy, rum, whiskey, vodka any of these. I rejected their theory, I was a highly God-fearing and obedient kid back then, I feared if I drink a glass I will be thrown in hell. After years past I got this wish to try drinking and see what happens.  The wish grew stronger as months passed by, I heard writers, poets, thinkers, movie makers, and all creative artists drink because it makes them more creative. Drinking is the reason that they are getting successful ideas and inspiration. Finally, I made a plan and asked my close friend for help, he agreed as he loves to drink. Every one of my friends was surprised when I shared this idea.  F...

  I love stars, I do go outside at night and watch the stars and wonder "who are we?, Why are we so special?" We are so insignificant compared to the size of the universe as we know. Yet, we are special. We are the only one, the only life form that (we think) exists.  Thanks to the internet, I recently watched more than 14+ hours of videos of a debate between two gentlemen on the topic "Does God Exist?" Considering the background of these people I knew this is going to be very informative and by the end of it, we will find an answer.  They both went on with their arguments on why they are correct. I was very impressed with the depth of this debate, so much information and examples. At one point I was convinced and said to myself that "Maybe God doesn't exist".  It is not just them that I watched, there were many other intellectuals from different religious and science backgrounds, who have their own point of view. This search for the truth of mine has ...