Friday, May 28, 2010

A Wish Upon The Stars.

I was about to hang up the phone. He softly said - This is crazy. I have never talked to any girl for 2 hours on the phone! I chuckled.


We went to see his stars that night. Far from the city. I was feeling down and out for some reason. So a surprise plan was made in a jiffy. We went out of the city. To see the clear night sky.
We stopped at one spot. And stood there, lost.
I kept looking up rotating on my own position looking up intently. My head felt dizzy with all the going around. He stood quietly at a distance looking at them blinking.
I felt better.
He said in a low tone- I come here alone when everything feels like it will fall apart. These stars give me my solace. I didn't bring anyone here before.I thought you should see them too..

My heart felt a strange peace
Was is it stars. Was it the words?
But there was my peace for sure..

Monday, May 17, 2010

Urban Melancholy.



It's so hard to write right now. Not because she has any dearth of things to write about. Neither because she cannot find the words to write it down. But because her mind is not staying still. Its flitting, between the present and the past with little diversions to the future as well. Its somewhere else, lost in streets of unbelievable passion and quiet submission, where she is hesitant to tread, cluless as she is of what lies ahead.

She started doing so many things today but nothing was able to hold her interest for long. She would then drift off, leaving them in various states of disarray. After weeks, she had woken up hungry, wanting to have apple pie, exactly how her best friend made it. Yet the apples she cut for the pie got tossed into a zip-pouch and into the fridge. The table-cloth she was embroidering for her mom, was spread out half finished on her bed, the spools of colourful threads a stark contrast to the black satin bedsheet. Seeing her unmade bed made her sigh, thinking of those countless mornings when her mom would nag her into spreading a bedcover. Now there was no one to dictate how she lived. She sat on the window-sill and started sketching Chintu, the kid who sold balloons right outside her apartment. She knew his story, had a strong urge to rewrite it, give it less twists and turns and more pleasant surprises. The sketch-pad now lay on the glass table, the incomplete face staring out through the beautifully etched out eyes.


Next to the sketch-pad, her laptop was open, GTalk signed in. She kept scrolling up and down the list, the long list of red and green dots calling out to her. The red dot against her own name with an ominous "Not Available" as a status message, daring anyone to breach the virtual fence and drop by to say hi. As it turned out, no one did. Neither did her fone ring. Its not like she did not have friends or family. Her fone book was 842 people strong, with a good mix of professional and personal contacts. But a long trend of unreturned missed calls and unreplied messages had led people to leave her alone. The fact that she did not have 9 numbers that she could list down on speed dial was testimony to her uncertain social life.


She looked at the stack of books lying on the floor; the entire 'Shopaholic' series her colleague lent her the other day, the hugely acclaimed Booker-prize winning book, the book which had just been made into a Golden Globe winning movie, 'Feluda stories' that her dad had gifted to her... she had planned to go through them this weekend and each one of them had been opened. But listlessly put aside after the first few pages. She scanned through issue after issue of Femina, Cosmo and Vogue, till it had stop registering which magazine she was leafing through.


Finally giving up on everything, she made another one of the jasmine smelling, weird tasting tea that she had started getting used to and settled down to write. And this is all she could come up with....


Silent whispers in lonely nights
Unsaid emotions in loud fights
Dark shadows in illuminated rooms
Evident scars when the camera zooms
Crowds which suck you to its core
Conversations that leave you wanting more
Magic which lies only in fairy-tales
Bright purple polish on her nails
Measured footsteps echoing on the street
Writings where fact and fiction meet
Old wounds that refuse to heal
Strong, firm nerves of steel
Life hidden behind closed doors
Steering a boat without oars


She cant write anymore. Her hands refuse to type. Her mind is playing games with her again. And slowly, very slowly, one teardrop, just one truant drop, flows down her cheek and nestles itself on her neck. And so passes another night in utter solitud.


Thursday, May 13, 2010

Her on Her

"I like you. Another world, another day. I would have definitely pursued you. But that does not change the fact that we are in this world, this day."

"Why? Why not now? Why not today? Why not in this world?"

"I have shared some beautiful years with her. She is very close to me. She has taught me so many things. She makes me look good.. In my own eyes. She loves me. I love her. All the crap that we keep going through to time to time. We have come out stronger every time. And its not just what we have been through. The understanding we have is perfect. I know what she thinks. She knows how my mind works. We know exactly what to do to hurt each other. She is very important to me. I cannot just give up on her one fine morning."

He had spent hours before this, explaining the same thing to her. He had been honest, from the beginning. Sometimes to the point of brutality. Yet she had refused to understand. And then a few sentences said about someone else. And in an instant, realisation had dawned.

She didn't begrudge him anything, or her, for that matter. They were perfect for each other. They had history. They had love. They had a future. They deserved a fairy tale life, the kinds with happily-ever-afters. The longing she felt for him, the craving, the love, she blamed him for none of that. He had done nothing to lead her there, had never encouraged it. But he indulged her. Knowing the fragile state of her ego, he let her play make-believe.

But today, it had hit her. And with that had arrived a tidal wave of memories. Every guy she had been with. Every 'relationship' she had try to build. How it was almost like a routine. Falling in love with the most complicated guys, agreeing to the most complicated setups, just to feed her million insecurities. Walking into each one of these "relationships" with full faith that she could make it work. Even if she was at it all alone, she would manage to sustain the bond. And then eventually, the crumbling would start. The shelf lives got shorter and shorter. So many years, so many guys, so many 'relationships', nothing to show.

What pricked her though was that nobody would say those words for her. Nobody. Not to her. Not to anyone else. She just did not mean that much to anyone. Nobody loved her today. Nobody would probably love her ever.

So while I try to bring a smile to her lips, Cheers to all those women who are with men who love them. They are a rare. Something very precious!! Cherish them with all your heart. :-)