DR NEETHA JOSEPH > Quotes

“Indefinite torture, harassment, and intimidation, the grand design behind the scheme yet unknown. I had not expected such a juncture in my life. Humiliated, devalued, dethroned; words of negation afflicted me. Recent years’ occurrences hurled me into an abyss of despair.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“The Last Supper hung on the wall to the right of my throne, the usual seat at my dining table. The painting bearing the signature of a local painter of Italian origin, from whom I had purchased it, showed signs of hemorrhage. An eavesdropper to my tantrums, the high decibels of emotion-packed deliveries assailed the ears of Jesus
Christ and his disciples, forcing their auditory organs to bleed.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“As if there were fewer stranger things in my upside-down world, the interview panel members eyed me with horrified fascination like I was a Demogorgon seated before them. They leaned forward to pick up the uncanny beeps emanating from me with a “Did you hear that?” expression on their faces. In retaliation, I looked down on the miniatures
and gazed at the drama unfolding before me with such interest.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Endearments gave way to disparagements, clumsiness replaced attractiveness, and adulations traded for criticisms; all of which contributed to my frustrations and alienation. Feeling like a prisoner trapped in my own absurd world, I distracted myself by passing the IELTS examination in flying colors.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Tears stung my eyes. A failed parent indeed! To think that JM would stand there and criticize me like he had always been a dutiful son. For one second, had he thought about the innumerable ways in which he had shattered my expectations from a son, he could not have flung those hurtful words at me.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Societal expectations and middle-class upbringing had indoctrinated defeatist views about creators in me from a very early age. Stories about artists' financial struggles and suffering also did not help. Family and
friends encouraged me to regard education as a passport to a well-paid job and a higher standard of living. That was the case with most who did not have family-owned successful businesses to fall back on.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Files staged a mysterious disappearance from the drives. Words erased themselves from vital documents as if in protest at the way I used and abused them. Passwords played hide-and-seek with me, forcing me to search for their hideouts or accept defeat. Constant
coups on my device influenced me to reset it innumerable times, reinstall Office 365 apps, and wage relentless combats to rescue it from a control freak; an authoritarian who seemed to mouth wordless commands like
an AI or to an AI.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Hypnotised by the grandeur of the two-hundred-year-old city with buildings that epitomised Georgian, Neoclassical, and Federation style architecture, most Indians harboured aspirations of working in the oldest Australian city’s CBD. The Victorian
sandstone buildings and Seidler style international architecture lining both the sides of its streets mesmerized the city’s populations. Its hustle, bustle, and its assimilated cosmopolitan staff rushing back to their offices with disposable coffee cups and take away food paper bags in their hands appealed to its visitors.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“The tall eucalypt trees with its widespread branches housed countless humming insects and chirping birds. I could hear the continuous microseism created by the moving road traffic on Hythe Street, and the intermittent noise from the construction sites in the vicinity. The rhythmic tick-tock of the clock, discerned among the dominant sounds, opened the door for a reposeful contemplation.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“The pursuit of transcribing municipal documents ranging from 1860s to 1920s introduced me to Trove’s digital gazettes and newspapers. Trove assisted me in unraveling
the fascinating stories of fearless convicts who rebelled against unfair conditions and refused to comply with the authorities’ orders; stories of issues raised and resolved by the Kew council’s councilors, with the
locales and expenses recorded in communications written in stylish yet
illegible handwriting, different spellings, and abbreviations; and stories of meetings, its dates, venues, and list of attendees, what the attendees discussed, finalized, signed and sealed.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Appreciable moments in life marked the fulfilment of longstanding aspirations leading to one's emancipation from phobias about solitary odyssey and mental entrapment. My liberation from inescapable circumstances came as a planned getaway to Byron Bay, which seemed like biting the bullet on the surface. However, the trip was an absolute necessity for my rebound from failings inflicted by antagonists.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Even before realization struck me, I sailed through the build-up, the spark, the explosion, and the aftermath, which research testified were the four stages of frustration; the root cause of which hailed from the system’s failure to match my skills, qualifications, and experience with suitable jobs; and all evil forces, whether real or imagined, conniving against my efforts to seek employment.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“The place’s transformation first to a military hospital, and then to an asylum for older adults, the sick, and those disowned by families, appealed to my sense of recreational fear. It rendered the history of the dungeon with its myriad cells into which the authorities threw patients with mental illness and rebels horrifying; and the bathroom that had seen atrocities of all sorts, including murder and suicides, fascinating. I couldn't wait to be inside the building.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Jobless life came with guaranteed humiliation and belittlement, especially if you had been in a lucrative one for a significant number of years. Such a life created insecurities not only in the unemployed but also in those who
depended on the former. In my case, conditions forced me to lead that life, which was synonymous with mistrust, unreliability,
antisocial, and contempt.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Tears stung my eyes. A failed parent indeed! To think that JM would stand there and criticize me like he had always been a dutiful son. For one second, had he thought about the innumerable ways in which he had
shattered my expectations from a son, he could not have flung those hurtful words at me.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“Enthusiasm for the new and the unexplored never deserted me. The streak of defiance that dictated my choices in my youthful days lingered within me as I cruised through the different stages of my life. I knew it
was time for the rebellious spirit hibernating within my mind’s cave to wake up and jump into action. What could bring more solace to me than creative expression?”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir

“...the sight of his dead body in a coffin. Gathered around the coffin, petrified, and captivated by the lumps on his face, I fixated on it, smelling the flowers from the wreaths and garlands, incense sticks, perfume, and the dead scent. To shut out the cacophonous
wailing around me, which alternated between crescendo and diminuendo, I concentrated on the beard hair, where the gray outnumbered the black.”
― DR NEETHA JOSEPH, A Recusant’s Incarnation: A Memoir