Tamilachi By Mind Voice

It all started as small bumps on the forehead of my face when I was in 5 th grade. I remember answering people (many of them) that it was due to hormones because my mom told me so. Before I could get hold of what was happening on my face, Acne vulgaris* was all over me – my face, chest, back, shoulder everywhere. I’m in 6 th grade now and visiting dermatologists. They all prescribe me tablets and creams. My mother right away rejects all the tablets but allows me to use the creams topically. You know the results (meaning there were no results.) So mom and I take solace in what the kitchen has to offer. Everything that goes inside my mouth also goes on my face.  I’m in 7 th grade now. I write to Shahnaz Hussain for home remedies for my acne vulgaris and my query features in the Metroplus, The Hindu. It becomes the talk of the town for some time (cringe!) Overtime, I became a DIY monger (in pic) and had even written notes as to what all to use when without the help of Goog...

It might be the case that the weird title has brought you here. Well, let’s see what my mindvoice has to talk about it. I find my soul basking in the sancity of the temple (thanks to its aura*) every time I visit one. I feel a sense of completeness. Also I find a commotion inside my head which neutralizes this positive feeling and it is this, the discrimination between the wealthy and the not so wealthy. The special queues that take the ‘who have it’ people inches closer to the deity. The priests who proportionately ration their loyalty (chanting mantras and stuff) to the money (dakshanam) they receive. I was born a Hindu. I have visited a good number of temples in my lifetime and majority of them go by these standards. The already privileged get the privileges. I’m saddened by this fact. A temple needs to be a place from where equality (irrespective of wealth, class, occupation, caste, gender, color) originates and propagates. I have heard that during the Chola period, the Brihad...

Discriminate - to recognize a distinction Let’s face it. We humans have an innate tendency to discriminate. How many of us would eat the apples in the picture above? I scrutinize every apple I pick from the local vendor for discoloration and dents (and annoy him) before buying. We choose glossy red, healthy apples over poorly formed ones. We prefer nicely presented food to its actual quality. (Think of beautiful lattes and Instagram foodgasm pages) We like to socialize with smartly dressed individuals and avoid the one in shabby attire. We discriminate between the right and wrong. We all discriminate and it’s natural, meaning not in our control. What we do have in our control is the yardstick (or conditions) that we use to discriminate. Discrimination based on color, appearance, accent, language, birth etc is unjust. Discrimination based on the validity of action is just. Now what if I tell you that the apples in the picture are in great demand. Yes, I clicked it from an orga...