Designers are commonly treated as pixel pushers and are at best considered skilled hands rather than a strategic mind. Clients approach a project with a sense of ownership that is certainly not part of the designers’ motivation to work. And yet, a designer dives deep and adds more value as a professional with a third person objective perspective. This approach offers a clearer view of the project’s worth and worthlessness which only makes the client’s job of bringing the idea to life so much easier. If this was only so…

Slavery vs Service

A man in service of another seeks to embody the spirit of compassion and caring for the well being of another. While a slave only does what is expected of him out of the spirit of suffering and compromise whilst seeking only to survive the ordeal. So as a client, when you seek to hire a designer for your project, remember a...

I’ve always assumed that I’ve been immune to the disease of doubt and in the rare moments that it struck, I had a quick and dirty solution that worked for me every single time. Jump! It didn’t always land in victory but more often in pain.

The Doubt

I always imagine doubt in my mind like the Prince of Persia pausing before he takes the leap across the chasm. What doubt does is it removes the vision of the goal, the girl, the gold, the glory on the other side of the chasm and instead magnifies the sharp, long, spikes yearning for blood at the bottom of the deep and dark chasm. And this isn’t something that strikes you only on the early levels of the game. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned player, the Devil of Doubt can creep in unceremoniously and uninvited. Jump! No! don’t jump…

The Inception

Doubt serves indeed to paralyse and puzzle...

Old Jungle Saying: The female of the species is deadlier than the male!

These words are whispered by the natives of Lee Falk’s Phantom and his jungle world. I address these words to the women of the world today. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, I just wrapped up creating a site for an NGO seeking to empower and encourage respect for women. I’m not a cynical creature and there are numerous initiatives that seek to empower women towards knowing themselves and their rights. But I’m not fooled by the facade of the efforts made by an entire civilisation struggling to maintain its dominance by suppressing women.

The Primal Energy

In Indian mythology, the dual forces of Male and Female are distinguished by the male force being benign and the female energetic. All power thus resides in the female aspect. The vivacity of the feminine gender is today...

The Madness of Middle Age

The story of a self sympathising soul is always sad and pitiful isn’t it? Many a time we find ourselves in the same shoes - all the more reason to like such a tale. I find myself in such a situation now more so than ever. The list of sorrows that plagues me causes me as much anguish to list as it is to experience.

Troubles So High

But for the sake of elaborating on my woes, I’ll outline a few. The most important one being that of progressing age - what others call the beginnings of middle age. This is probably why the middle ages were also known as the Dark Ages. Hitting 35 might not seem like that big a deal to most people because that’s when you trade up and buy yourself a swanky new toy or trade in for a younger partner to rejoice and revive the Wonder Years. For me, in part I refuse to believe that I can be sated by mere toys and in...

Polyamory (from Greek πολύ [poly], meaning “many” or “several”, and Latin amor, “love”) is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved.

1. They recognise the early warning signs of a relationship’s impending expiry date and will graceful fade away. They aren’t clingy and won’t weigh you down! Yes, a graceful exit after a torrentous short affair is better than a long lasting sour relationship.

2. They don’t expect to cram all their life expectations and demands into one magical fantasy partnership, thus making for relaxed dates and lot more fun. Not to mention cheaper dates since you won’t need to drink yourself silly just to tolerate the date!

3. You’ll never have to worry about your best friend stealing them away. They...

Dial P.A.T.I.E.N.C.E for Patience

That already got my goat! Patience isn’t one of my virtues. Persistence, maybe. Patience, no. I want it. Right here, right now. This is how insane I am with my demands from life, love and everything else that orbits around me. Yes, the megalomania isn’t lost on me, but that’s a subject for another day.

Instant Fix

Just like an addict needs his fix when he wants it, I feel compulsively the need to be satiated on demand. The expectations I have of people are unreal (at least for them). The deadlines I set on projects are ball screwingly excruciating. I can certainly not tolerate small talk of the social kind and am extremely eager to end chit chat unless it grabs me by the balls. Yes, I do feel like a hummingbird on crack and that’s not just a pretty analogy.

Smell the Roses

Thank you, but when everything is rushing past you at...

Sneak peek at a scene from a graphic novel, I’m writing and illustrating this year.

As I untied the rope off my arm, the heroin kick-surged through the super highways of my circulatory system filling up every starving neuron in my brain. My eyes closed halfway symbolizing my existence in limbo; in this world yet not of it. The last thought that flashed by was that of my next fix. As I came to, my forehead was resting on the floor, next to a family of ants toting crystals of sugar. It was ordained. That bitter sweet symphony of movement.. I had to move. Looking up I saw my buddy B sprawled out in front. Waking him up, I rolled up the door to expose a dusty rusty ol’ bike; the panacea for our wanderlust. Smiling to ourselves, we straddled the beast, the last ounces of stash buckled securely in our belts.

Our quixotic destination was Goa, the land of love and laughter where rum...

Recently, someone I know said “Fuck poverty! I want to be rich!” No, it wasn’t 50 cent, but none the less, the words echoed in my head and refused to leave. What is more real - the perception of wealth or that of poverty? Are they any different? These questions swirled around in my head as I grappled the answers. As a modern millennial (people who reached young adulthood around the year 2000), my tribe seeks rabidly to get rich or die trying. Well, generations before us have sought the same. What is remarkably different though is the timeline in which we deem it possible. By 30, I would expect to be a millionaire, planning my retirement candidly. Well, I’m 34 and there is still the matter of my personal millions to deal with. I’m not dispensing pearls of financial wisdom which will turn you into an overnight millionaire. So stop reading and get back to...

Thinkers are proliferant throughout the history of man. Civilization or not, man has always thought about topics ranging from the origin of self to the discovery of fire. In fact it is this particular faculty that separates man from his fellow creatures on this planet. But do all men think alike? Rather do all men exercise their power of thought equally?

Thoughts and Thumbs

Some choose not to utilise this supreme faculty and donot think at all. The likes of such would rather respond to stimuli and situations based on conditioning and herd mentality. They follow their fellow man blindly without consideration or analysis. Laziness or fear of responsibilty and lack of decisiveness are the usual suspects as to why people would disown their ‘manhood’ as this is what really separates us from the thousand other species on the planet and not opposable thumbs as we like to believe.

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