QUIRK PRESS

 A satirical look at how rural living quietly exposes the stress-laced myths of modern city life while sipping tea under a mango tree Somewhere between morning traffic jams and overpriced coffee lies a curious myth. The belief that anyone living in the upcountry is one candle away from prehistoric existence. To the urban mind, the countryside is where ambition goes to die and goats rise to power. But perhaps it is not that simple. Perhaps the real delusion is assuming that sophistication lives in tall buildings and wears Bluetooth earbuds. Modern society has crafted a genius illusion. It equates busyness with success, stress with progress, and noise with relevance. The person buried under three meetings before lunch is seen as productive. The one who wakes to crowing roosters instead of calendar alerts is suspected of laziness. This narrative is so well polished that many believe it without question. Surely anyone living away from malls, fast internet, and gourmet fries must be plo...

  When the aliens arrive, will they meet our minds or just our followers? If intelligent life from a distant corner of the universe ever arrived on Earth, we might imagine a majestic encounter. A ship descends through the clouds. Humanity gathers in awe. Scientists prepare data, translators activate, and world leaders step forward to speak on behalf of an entire species. But reality, it seems, would take a stranger turn. The visitors would pause, scan the airwaves, sort through our signals, and politely ask to meet whoever is trending at the moment. Not the engineers. Not the poets. Not the quiet minds mapping galaxies or decoding genomes. The ones who have become the face of the planet are those who turn attention into currency. The ones who can generate millions of reactions with a raised eyebrow or a spontaneous monologue in a luxurious kitchen. Those who move products, shape opinions, and offer advice on everything from protein shakes to personal healing—all without needing a c...

Happiness is a strange thing. Everyone wants it, few define it, and most are convinced someone else already has it. It has become the world’s favorite scavenger hunt. We chase it in bank balances, in beach photos, in busy schedules, and in motivational quotes posted by people who are probably crying between captions. Modern life is a comedy of contradictions. We meditate through apps that interrupt us with ads. We pursue peace while multitasking five tabs at once. We buy books about mindfulness, then speed-read them on the toilet. All in the name of catching this elusive creature called joy. Meanwhile, happiness sits quietly in a place we rarely search, inward. Not on a plane to Bali. Not in a partner’s validation. Not in a raise, a diet, or a trending hashtag. Just within. Calm. Undramatic. Waiting. The problem is not that happiness hides. The problem is we are trained to look everywhere except where it lives. The culture profits when we stay searching. The world keeps selling while w...