Fritzell's blog

             This tale goes back to the night,  the star decided to take flight,  once which shone so bright,  with the moon alongside. A glittery streak across the sky, that the star had left behind. Although filled with immense pride, something just didn't feel right. The heart ached, as the star left, that cold night, the moon wept.  For it had known the star so well, the separation felt unreal.  Drowned with melancholy, the moon had lost it's desired company. Once it had known so deeply, had set off for it's final journey. The sky was painted with grieving darkness, as the celestial beauty envisioned loneliness. The end of an intimate connection, had left the moon in sheer isolation. Although it shared the sky, with billions of the same kind, none felt like the one, that had drifted away, forever gone! Till this very day, the moon waits, to re-unite, it craves, a longing so great, to lay eyes on it's beloved mate. Shines br...

Born in a Goan Roman Catholic family, I've always witnessed a number of catholic traditions and festivities which add richness to the Goan culture. For instance, after the most exciting season of Christmas ends and the new year commences, one witnesses the preparations for the procession of St. Sebastian in many of the coastal villages of Goa. Hailing from the village of Assolna, I've witnessed the Nomenar since the dawn of my memory.  St. Sebastian who was a Roman soldier,  was also an early Christian saint and martyr.  He  was killed by arrows during the persecution of Christians by the Roman emperor Diocletian.  He is often depicted tied to a tree or post and shot with arrows. According to the Catholic Church Calendar, the feast of St. Sebastian is celebrated on 20th January every year. The procession is held a few days before and on the feast day. Being a community event, different villages have their own unique ways of celebration of the feast and the proc...

( In the village of Assolna, June 1946) As the rooster crows at 7a.m, Maria screams at the top of her voice, “It’s already 10a.m. Are you going to sleep the entire day? Oh Flavia? Can you hear me or are you pretending to be asleep? I guess I’ll have to let your brother, Tony accompany me to Margao”.   Little Flavia, about 8 years of age is woken up by her mother’s constant blackmailing words. Her eyes wide open, she throws the bedsheet aside and runs to the front door to find out if they had really left.   Stunned and shocked Flavia cannot believe her eyes. Her mother had really left without her. She thinks to herself, “How can they do this to me? I’ve been waiting for this day since forever and all I get is abandonment?” Her wide sparkling eyes begin to shrink in disappointment and tears roll down her pink cheeks as she runs back to her bed sobbing.   By this time Maria walks along with her son Tony and reaches the village bazaar. There she meets Pedro, the pod...

Picture credits:https://www.freepik.com/premium-photo/pigeon-is-standing-wet-street-front-city-street_49268940.htm What's the worst thing that could happen on a Monday morning, when you are already running late to work and while on your journey, you are stopped by an injured bird in the middle of the road?  Frustrating, right?  Let's us go back to that particular Monday morning... It so happened that I saw a car a few metres ahead of me being slowed down by something, and as I reached closer, I realised it was an injured pigeon which was trying to take off but fell on the ground every time it tried. The car swerved in an attempt to avoid running over the poor little injured bird and drove away.  As I rode nearer, it was my turn. I decided to slow down and take a quick look. But the bird had other plans on it's mind. It tried to fly again and landed right infront of my tyre, making me hit those breaks and stop immediately!  The bird just wouldn't move from that spot. ...

(Image source:https://www.teamly.com/blog/procrastination-benefits/) Procrastinator !  A term I truly identify with. For example, it took me three long years to get this blog post up. I've been telling myself to write something worthwhile. But guess what, I might as well do it tomorrow!  Been convincing myself to get my hands on something crafty or artistic, coz ofcourse I enjoy it (or maybe I used to, atleast). But let's begin tomorrow, right?  The other day I heard an old familiar voice in the corner of my bedroom and I figured it was my 11years old guitar, begging to be strummed. I did fulfill it's wish. Just took me a couple of weeks.  I am known for procrastinating. It's a personality trait I possess. No matter what the reason, for not having completed some task, everyone already concludes that I might have had procrastinated to do it later and then forgotten about it. Everyone already assumes, even if not the case. That's how bad being a procrastinator feels l...

Picture courtesy: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTHilBWQAYDU0OWI1_rAObo4V_wzEEKdloEx58hK8CiGJISvWMw&s Woke up to the sound of pouring rain, Wrapped in my warm blanket this morning, Nothing on my mind to do,  Days, months just passing. Almost the end of another month, It's like, the year just started yesterday, but  July will soon go away!    Facing new kind of challenges in this new decade,  Never thought, the movies we watched  would come true to such extent, The pandemic situation is like a movie we watched back then, It all seemed scary to deal with,  Now we are starring in this movie called 2020 at present! Spread so quickly, one by one, every nation was hit, Lives lost, numbers kept increasing. Economies fell, livelihoods destroyed.  Some took measures and recovered well, For others it's a nightmare from which they haven't woken up yet!  Home, transformed into workplace, school, gym.., Online is the new outdoor...

St. George Island Last year in November a family friend told us about a place, an island to be specific, that is located in Vasco, Goa. She told us that people are allowed to cross the waters and visit the island just once annually and urged that we should go there. In addition to that, we were told that the same day, the Holy mass is celebrated at the island marking the feast of the Cross that is located there. This seemed like a good opportunity and a once in a lifetime experience for us all. We decided to go there with only this little information.  The journey On the day of the feast, that is 17th November, we left home early morning as we live in Salcete and had to reach the Baina dock by 09 a.m. On our way to Vasco, we stopped by and had our breakfast in a small hotel and left for the adventurous journey.  We reached the dock on time and had to wait a while till a motor boat/fishing trawler was arranged for us. It was jaw-dropping, the way more than 30 people in a single...

Picture courtesy: https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2020/04/black-lives-matter-it-must-be-said A few days back a storm of thoughts crept in my mind. How primitive we've regressed to remind ourselves that lives matter? Black lives, women's lives, gay lives or can I just say lives of those not born with a silver spoon, those born with a uterus, coloured skin or out of the mainstream, so-called normal sexual preferences..., Shocked, as I could be to hear a close one say to me that blacks are just too arrogant and violence is one of their characteristics. I was all ears to hear what came next. Heard till I could and then I spoke.  How easy and effortless it is to assume, to come to conclusions, to generalise, to discriminate, to differentiate, to throw opinions, to shut ourselves to opinions and views different from our own?  How can we say that all blacks are arrogant or violent? Can all be identical? Can we generalise this opinion to all of them? Defin...

Closed my eyes and tried to sleep, Cause the night's too late to overthink! The perfect moon, sky glittering with stars,  I wonder what's keeping me up so long? Silence, I adore the most,  But now it feels like a noise! Although calm as I could be,  why am I so restless I wish I hadn't been? Trying hard to fall asleep, Distracting my mind from thoughts that keep showing, What if..? why not..? why me..? Can the night answer any? Again I try, to get some sleep, Eyes cooperate, but my mind doesn't seem to get convinced, Trying to find answers, mind still wandering, But what if the sleepless night is just another dream?

Imagine waking up to a day you can't find our smartphone, nor the computer set that stood in the corner of the living room of the house. You try to look out for it everywhere but end up in a state of confusion and chaos. You panic, thinking you've been robbed. In a fearful manner, you run to the cupboard and check all your valuable things to find every single penny, all your precious things safely lying in their place. Where could your phone and computer disappear with all the other things safe and intact in the house? You rush outside and ask your neighbors if they've seen your missing belongings but their replies are just too shocking and hard to believe. None of them know what you are talking about. You are the only one who knows what a smartphone is, or computer is. People are beginning to call you insane and ignore you. Then, you realize you've just woken up from a dream about a so-called "smartphone" and a computer. You begin to think about ho...

It's 5:30 in the evening and I am wondering what I should be doing right now. I stand at the window of my room upstairs and have a glimpse outside but not a single soul do I see in the vicinity of the chapel that once used to be so full of life with little ones having the time of their lives, not knowing how each passing day would change to what it is right now. I recall my childhood days and how we would be overjoyed and eager for the summer vacation to start. Being so lazy during school days and making a fuss to wake up early for school, we would show our parents a completely different side of ourselves by waking up before anybody else in the house during the vacation. This was not done for any other reasons but just so that we could get some extra time to play outdoors. And yes, it was not just us but every child who I knew at that time, was like this. As for me and my sister, we would wait at our doorstep for our friends early in the morning to arrive even before we could...

Good music and entertaining movies have always served as my life savers after a tiring day or to refresh my mood or simply when I'm too bored and lazy to do anything else! Talking about movies, usually I enjoy horror, animation and adventure, I also watch romance and action. Recently having watched the newly released Bollywood movie Simmba, there is no denying the fact that the movie is quite entertaining, it also is more problematic. From having a male hero (more of a villain in the first half of the movie) who is over-masculine and fears none takes the spotlight throughout. The idea of male dominance and masculinity is clearly portrayed from the opening scene till the end of the movie. Like any other action movie, Simmba conveys the message to the viewers that it is only this masculinity that is going to save the females from whatever they are facing i.e. Female on her own is highly incapable and weak without a heroic male. Also, the female lead character doesn't play a ma...

One cold December night as I lay in my cozy bed, tucked up in my blanket, unable to fall asleep, I realized I'd been staring at the ceiling since a while. Deep in my thoughts, I decided to take a ride! The thought of being invisible has always fascinated me and it still does. Although in my room, I lay in bed, I reached my frequently visited wonderland! What would I do if I was granted the wish of being invisible for a night? My mind was bombarded with thoughts. The first thing I'd do was, go for a walk at the beach alone, sit on the white carpet of sand and feel the cool breeze touching my skin as I stare at the stars in that flawless black sky. I wouldn't bother what clothes I wore and if my hair were perfectly fine, I would go places I am not allowed to go alone, do all the things I'm not expected to do and as new thoughts kept me engrossed, it struck me, 'why do I need to be invisible to do all these things?' But my mind murmured, 'I AM A GI...