Being Invisible Results

‘Invisible’. This word has a lot of power associated to it. With power comes responsibility. If you were given the power to become invisible, what would you do? Our Indian Bloggers came up with a lot of brilliant stuff, all creative in their own right. The task of judging them was bestowed upon Poonam Sharma, who is the brains behind the blog ‘Visceral Observations‘. Poonam. it is all yours now.

Poonam writes:

Ponder over the subject of ‘invisibility’, and possibilities seem immense. Naturally I was super excited to discover what the blogs had in store for me. however, after reading them all, I had a mixed reaction. Why, I would explain in a minute.

My criteria for choosing the three best posts were simple; I was looking for imagination since subject demanded it. But plagiarizing shenanigans of Darth Vader and passing them off as ‘imagination’ wouldn’t have done either. So, originality of the thought was the second criteria. Since this is not a college-level writing and composition contest, I decided to overlook the proof-reading errors and such. However, the style of writing mattered. A distinctive style, well-knit narrative, allegory, engaging prose, insight, wit, humour, lyricism – every such nuance was noted and appreciated. Lastly, it all boiled down to my reaction as a reader – did the post make me laugh, did it evoke an emotion (any emotion for that matter – pain, love, regret, longing, craving and so on) and finally, was the post fun?

Half of the posts fell in a single category where – most thought of whacking someone (bosses, irritating neighbours and exes beware, you will be most endangered ones once invisibility prevails.); eavesdropping (Celebrities, please unite to find a solution to beat invisibility. Bosses you too must jump the bandwagon), others were wannabe spies, bank robbers, corruption-slayers, Robin Hoods or some just wanted to play ghosts and be naughty. Usual sundry ‘secret’ wishes. What’s worse, most of these were assorted bulleted lists that curiously resembled my Mama’s Things-to-do list. 😛

Some posts had noblest of thoughts but they were not quite backed up by the style of writing. Also, I did not understand why so many people wanted to be invisible first to be able to do good and comfort people? I didn’t think visibility ever proved such a hindrance for Good Samaritans. I was quickly losing hope until I read the other half that had bountiful of unusual perspective. In these posts, even if invisibility led them to explore aforementioned not-so-unique courses, there was a well-strung narrative, humour, sometimes a plot (yes!) and some interesting observations. For example, Shraddha notes, reading blogs and checking out people on facebook is also like an invisible fantasy. Intriguingly, she wanted to be invisible to be around her ex just so that she could enjoy the camaraderie between him and his buddies. Now, of all the reasons to be around an ex, that sure was a new one. 😛 Some like Tuppence were reluctant about being invisible:

“If I were invisible,

I will put my courageous best to live this world without my soul-mate and not succeed.

I would replay some past moments with the hope to make me happy but in the bargain get emotionally moved.”

And Abhilasha professed aloud the smallest yet keenest of desire that perhaps every woman will echo: “I could wander endlessly, alone, in moonlit nights at midnight, me, only being invisible.”

Some other notable mentions are Rakha‘s post that recounts a blind, little beggar girl’s hopeful soliloquy to be as invisible as the rest of the world was to her. Then there was Saffire Blue’s brush with not-so-perfect invisibility.

Yet, in the end, the three best posts that I chose were those that covered three completely different terrains in befitting prose/lyrics: sexuality, social psychology and citizen woes.

First is an unusual post by Ramya Ranee, an erotica actually, that unabashedly explored the gift of invisibility. Apart from its being well-written and apt, here is a reason why I chose this post: While on one hand, several other entries suggestively ‘wished to touch women, celebs’ –which dealt the whole issue of sex/desire in an undesirable manner; the openness and forthrightness of this post was welcome in the face of alarming sneakiness of the former. To me, the fact that such a post was entered in the contest that had nothing to do with sexuality was an act of courage and honesty. Oh, in case you are worrying, I assure you there is no obscenity. Go on and read it for yourself.

In second post, GNSD weaves a story where invisibility serves as a ‘third eye’ for a girl caught in an arranged marriage setup. While invisibility commonly finds place in fantasy (By the way, I sorely missed not receiving any entries that dwelled on sci-fi/magic/paranormal fantasies), this is not how one usually dreams of employing invisibility: an earthy setting where invisibility neither offers any whopping advantage nor aids in an ulterior motive. Barring few little linguistics errants, I loved the way different reactions were captured in the story.

Lastly, here is an unassuming poem by Suranga; where by being invisible, she covers lot of simple, daily rues of a ‘common man’. Her poem ends on a stirring note:

Actually, there are folks
who are born invisible….
The government ignores them,
schools ignore them,
housing ignores them,
documents ignore them,
water ignores them,
food ignores them…..

I am looking
for something
that will make them visible…

Hope you enjoy the posts as much as I did. Thank you, Blogadda, for putting your unconditional faith in my judgement. I am humbled and proud at the same time. 🙂

Poonam Sharma blogs at ‘Visceral Observations‘ and is also the brains behind the ‘Avant Garde Bloggies Awards‘. You can read her wonderful interview at our Adda.