tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27651032751972661662024-03-14T07:41:47.769+05:30the long searchWhen you have nowhere to go, go back to yourself.Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-73262517232904410392010-01-01T03:55:00.007+05:302010-01-01T10:06:41.152+05:30Past...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBOKb-ENwVvkBBWPy91SVgPFU5wJ_PpZILNrbP2WVUJS6L2unuMNx5PpCW9S9hDIeUas4gFjvD0MFKY3PKO7S6upreg9EgEmWno7l4vwk5624Eu6AvHlktSi3VveW86RyyIQ53t2iwekoS/s1600-h/Steps...jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBOKb-ENwVvkBBWPy91SVgPFU5wJ_PpZILNrbP2WVUJS6L2unuMNx5PpCW9S9hDIeUas4gFjvD0MFKY3PKO7S6upreg9EgEmWno7l4vwk5624Eu6AvHlktSi3VveW86RyyIQ53t2iwekoS/s400/Steps...jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5421530361914728258" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);font-size:85%;" ><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Like the stack of old letters;</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >The books you stored with care;</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Past years grow old too.</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >The dust of memories gets thicker</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Just like that layer of yellowness,<br /><br />Touch of old times<br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >Velvety and soft…..</span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" >*<span style="font-weight: bold;">Wishing you all a very happy new year</span>*</span></span>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-6725304178926353312009-12-18T13:44:00.006+05:302009-12-19T04:41:41.564+05:30Last time...<span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWrmMcxdYKaI-clQkVYyJRJMQw5vpMRsSYaOZOA5qsxOsH4VF4yDqxFZXFArYHyPifgOfU3OMrMjSkIo22vh88YrxGfO4XNGpfFvQcoNhtyQT62flTUYTCMtS4symiS7TK1s4k0a1EZP7/s1600-h/Goodbye.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWrmMcxdYKaI-clQkVYyJRJMQw5vpMRsSYaOZOA5qsxOsH4VF4yDqxFZXFArYHyPifgOfU3OMrMjSkIo22vh88YrxGfO4XNGpfFvQcoNhtyQT62flTUYTCMtS4symiS7TK1s4k0a1EZP7/s400/Goodbye.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5416486962104343074" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br />I.<br /><br />The tender dew drops<br /><br />Falling onto the ground<br /><br />Is all I can hear<br /><br />Shadow of the night grows<br /><br />The silence between the drops gets too long to bear<br /><br />What then was a moment<br /><br />Now seems like a year…<br /><br /><br />II.<br /><br />Last time we met was for the last time we met???<br /><br /></span></span>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-17030881693813917942009-10-02T14:51:00.007+05:302009-10-02T23:46:09.691+05:30Of a season...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLzY6vQx-ELCgnBUaRhtUgPlQiezl7R7qOZtNLnOuSerB9-AK73WBlGseoZN-eG2bfWKc2BH-lVCh6dNB0UK2YGOoyXUuMshha7VFZYltHFZqc2Rx6K91RG2lNZTpQP5ax4-6B81bPEYk/s1600-h/Dew.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLzY6vQx-ELCgnBUaRhtUgPlQiezl7R7qOZtNLnOuSerB9-AK73WBlGseoZN-eG2bfWKc2BH-lVCh6dNB0UK2YGOoyXUuMshha7VFZYltHFZqc2Rx6K91RG2lNZTpQP5ax4-6B81bPEYk/s400/Dew.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388065661176626210" /></a><br /><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">The heartless summer is long gone</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Soon the clouds will sail away</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Rain will no more dance at my window</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Where the dew drops will rest themselves</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Waiting for the winter to come.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Nothing remains forever</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">But for the songs</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Of a season lost</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Nothing will remain</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">But for the memories</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Of a season gone…</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-56245351135147913012009-09-10T04:31:00.004+05:302009-09-10T13:26:39.618+05:30In Sleep<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBCMmwMyJ1XAE6TIWSfe8TQSAE2zpKlTMPZa7Y3u7p6Kmeu2GOusOy6vOdIoLjOa41nRcmBUUJSTQkUFqDdxjvqc6Rd7SZij9gvR_OVp2cSaVG0kK_Svsp4BxUZhZQCTSILtxPz75vg1e/s1600-h/Sleep_by_Black1360.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBCMmwMyJ1XAE6TIWSfe8TQSAE2zpKlTMPZa7Y3u7p6Kmeu2GOusOy6vOdIoLjOa41nRcmBUUJSTQkUFqDdxjvqc6Rd7SZij9gvR_OVp2cSaVG0kK_Svsp4BxUZhZQCTSILtxPz75vg1e/s400/Sleep_by_Black1360.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379607129181498754" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Somewhere deep</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Where no voice can stir it awake</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Where no hand can reach</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Lies a dream</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Somewhere deep</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Where hope does not gleam</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Where life does not seem</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Lies a dream </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">Somewhere deep</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">The dream lies in its sleep…...</span></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;">(Image: www.deviantart.com)</span></p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-48122507536056623332009-08-18T08:37:00.017+05:302009-08-18T09:21:52.138+05:30Growing Up With James Bond<div style="text-align: justify;">Blogging has never been more enjoyable if it weren't for the likes of him.<br /><br />Sib had this intriguing display name that attracted me every time I went to comment on one of Agnes's posts. 'Talk to my Soul'; that was something I wanted to do myself. A couple of visits on his page and I was still unsure whether I should introduce myself and make an entry to his page. His tag line seemed to speak to me: 'When you have nowhere to go, go back to yourself'. Yes, I had nowhere to go back then.<br /><br />Thus started my friendship with this guy whose comments never failed to bring a smile to me. His display picture, I must say, was rather handsome. In the long list of comments that I used to get, I would search for his name and read his comment first.<br /><br />Do I need to tell you what amazing friend he is? I don't think so. But yes there are some I would want to share. Through all these months, through the countless times I was up all night and couldn't sleep, Sib was right there with me. When I seemed to be battling my demons, he was right there, may be not beside me, but always behind me to keep me from falling. I don't have those sleepless nights anymore, but I know that anytime I do, I just have to look for him and he'd be right there.<br /><br />I've laughed with him on his silly jokes, I've cried while he held on to me. My silly childish problems, my immature reasons, my weak logic, and he always seemed to bring out the best in them. I've grown up with him in the last one year with him changing me into someone who's think logically than from the heart; I am so grateful for that.<br /><br />Sib, it's your birthday and I wish I could have had a bite of your birthday cake or played a nasty prank on you on your day! May be I won't be around much longer, I don't know how life unravels. So I just wanted to write here, the place that's home to you, to tell you and the world how very special a person you are. You're a fierce friend, you're kind at heart, you're someone I can always and always depend on; and yes, you're Bond, James Bond.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">*wipes tears from her eyes*</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(Sorry guys I got a little emotional writing this post.)</span><br /><br />Hope you remember your promise to meet me some day in Pakistan in a park under the sun and see me all grown up. I'd recognize you from anywhere, dear friend.<br /><br />Happy birthday :)<br />Many many happy returns of the day, with joys of every thing you'll ever ask for!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKQyyy2rC8eDSytpZnn31IgKPTNcgglgJ_X7sKXCo3Zwizm1ucH-l9_PjthioG6m8lQNxQScuCxkVXW3ntb6wHYUU2-ms_GQM6_cOi4DMuCRAYDvJXKkn8N-TJ3yXE5RnFbtbToqJAaA/s1600-h/Cake_by_f4wn4y.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxKQyyy2rC8eDSytpZnn31IgKPTNcgglgJ_X7sKXCo3Zwizm1ucH-l9_PjthioG6m8lQNxQScuCxkVXW3ntb6wHYUU2-ms_GQM6_cOi4DMuCRAYDvJXKkn8N-TJ3yXE5RnFbtbToqJAaA/s320/Cake_by_f4wn4y.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371142999771106786" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Much love,<br />Mehreen.<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-54229207209141341122009-08-17T02:44:00.009+05:302009-08-17T03:10:28.269+05:30To Life....<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFbxo3zfNfVZZayewhyUUcqzLs5nIY1oOTCLCRVKracrnoGIKSbSqgSkMdFML10ERgiKNYp4oHqOryhS6B0ALynFxrOSFGk7clhFrMcOhb35jeXEeHZBxjQ_jPFElnqjO8D9E-qVFS6Dqn/s1600-h/darkness1.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFbxo3zfNfVZZayewhyUUcqzLs5nIY1oOTCLCRVKracrnoGIKSbSqgSkMdFML10ERgiKNYp4oHqOryhS6B0ALynFxrOSFGk7clhFrMcOhb35jeXEeHZBxjQ_jPFElnqjO8D9E-qVFS6Dqn/s400/darkness1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5370676043509031010" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Are you getting my articles? Long time no see. I am sending you two of my new articles and a new poem. Hope you like them. Hope to see one of them published soon.”</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><i><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ankita never wrote long mails. She never wasted time nor did she waste space.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><i><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Send them directly to me. I will try my best,” </span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I wrote back. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I did not promise her anything but she never gave up. I could not get her articles published since the weekend pull-out for students had long been withdrawn from of the newspaper I work for. It was sometimes in June.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The first time I met her, Ankita was a bundle of energy; almost erupting in excitement in her chair. Her mother showed me around, showed me Ankita’s paintings, terracotta crafts and all the poems she ever wrote. That was four years back. She was 14 back then. And that was the only time I met her.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Back then, Ankita was the story I was writing for my newspaper; story of a 14 year old’s fight against a discriminatory system which refused her the right to study in a normal environment. She was the story of the indomitable human spirit. But yes, the first time, I met her she was just a story for me.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Born with scoliosis, a condition of the spine which had rendered her incapable of walking because of lower limb paralysis, Ankita always wanted to do what others of her age did and she more than excelled in everything she did.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“I want to meet President APJ Abdul Kalam. I have seen him on TV and read a lot about him. I also wrote to him,” she once wrote.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ankita made it a point to send me each of her journals, poems and articles. Every New Year Day and each Diwali ever since I came to know her, I always found a mail from her in my inbox. And I always replied.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">She once wrote how scared she was inside the operation threatre where she was waiting for her turn when a little girl, an accident victim, was rushed in. </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The experience has made me stronger, </span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">she said. By the time she was 14, she had undergone at least 16 surgeries for her condition.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It was mid-July this year when I received a mail from her. “</span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This is my first dance video. Do send me your comments. Bye.” </span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Like always, she did not waste any time nor any space.</span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><i><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I was then setting off for a week-long travel which promised to be hectic as well as chaotic. I decided to reply upon my return.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It was a Saturday and I was back to work.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">When I reached office, my colleague asked me, “Do you remember Ankita?”</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Of course, I do. I have to reply her mail. It has been more than a week,” I said.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“She passed away two days ago. It was a cardiac arrest. I am carrying an obituary,” she said.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">*******</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A moment is a lifetime…but only for a moment….</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">By the way, I was born on this day.</span></span></span></span></b></span><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-bidi-font-family:DokChampa;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif;color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(Image: www.zastavki.com)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#330000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-49792041171860106672009-08-01T15:10:00.016+05:302009-08-03T23:03:21.895+05:30The Sleeper Class<p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">The overhead light was in its full glor</span><span style="font-size:100%;">y, showering golden illumination on a crowded platform where she stood with an army of family members and friends, chatting with them incessantly unaware of any attention that she drew.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">She looked pretty excited. She was very fair, beautiful</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> and appeared pampered to me at the first look. Guess what! She was traveling with her parents.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>Duh! She was married. Newly married! Damn! I came across a familiar face in the group who turned out to be her father-in-law. Oh! I knew him darn well. Jeez!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">My idea of a clichéd <i>nice journey</i> suddenly appeared screwed up. I was taking a mini-break from work and on my way to attend an old boys’ </span><span style="font-size:100%;">meet.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">My biggest problem was something else - the timing </span><span style="font-size:100%;">of travel. The train departs at 9.35 pm from my City which meant I would have to slee</span><span style="font-size:100%;">p as soon as I got on board. Not that many – why many, not any – co-passengers would have disagreed to such a proposition. But every time, I took this train, I was annoyed to see 70 percent of my co-travellers asleep. How could they?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">For record’s sake, I am a near insomniac. By the time, I hit the sack, half the world, at least those in my neighborhood, is awake.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">I got into the train. So did they, after an elongated session of farewell embraces and blessing dispensation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Berth no 16!!! What the @##@??? Was that not the upp</span><span style="font-size:100%;">ermost seat? I hated that place up there since it meant unusually cold air from the AC blower caressing me all night and every time, I got up my head would hit the cold roof of the coach. God!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">“You are on 16? We have 13, 14 and 15,” said the elderly man. He appeared a nice person, pretty talkative. There</span><span style="font-size:100%;"> he was with his wife and daughter, our Lady in Maroon.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeh2zLT7KZlDO56DEdoob957Lo9CkTMqgDJZ3I4W2AOQdxiQNNlZytrq9YP1N9wiySMB4DI7VlD7DxkpWPXkK1b2ouP6ISEltEKVOE1bQjuhvFZxln_4w05TDL5gebN82IYtNgp43zjNP/s1600-h/Night+Train.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364933961968482370" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKeh2zLT7KZlDO56DEdoob957Lo9CkTMqgDJZ3I4W2AOQdxiQNNlZytrq9YP1N9wiySMB4DI7VlD7DxkpWPXkK1b2ouP6ISEltEKVOE1bQjuhvFZxln_4w05TDL5gebN82IYtNgp43zjNP/s400/Night+Train.jpg" border="0" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">The luggage was soon tucked away below the seats, above the head. Water bottles placed on the side grids. They had made themselves comfortable by the time the train moved away from the station. She shared the seat with her mother and I, with the father.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">At least four hours earlier, when I was beginning to pack my bag, I received a text message from my friend M who was on his way for the meet. It said: <i>On board. I have the side lower berth and a beautiful woman for company. As we sit face to face now, our legs come in contact sometimes. AHEM...<br /></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">“You guys are headed for Chennai?” I shot the first volley of the conversation though I am not much of a talker.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">“Yes. Her husband works there. She was home for her exams and we thought we will drop her back,” the father replied. Cool.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">“What about you? You work there too?” His turn now. “Ah! No. I am meeting some old friends after a long gap. Plan to relive some good ol’ days.” I said.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">I looked sideways. Most of them were merrily asleep. It was just 10 in the night, maaan!!!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">“These guys sleep so early.”<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>I looked up hearing the Lady in Maroon saying her first words. God! I finally have company, I told myself. I won’t have to pat myself to sleep now.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">A mobile phone rang. I heard the “Hi.” The <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Hi</span> was pretty whisperingly soft. Must have been the husband at the other end. I never understood how people managed to whispertalk over the cell phone. I almost shout.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">I brought out <i>Burnt Shadows, </i>Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie’s latest novel and tried to get back to the page where I had left. The train had settled into a nice speed, moving in a serpentine motion through the cloudy dense night outside.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Fifteen minutes later, I could sense the urgency. The sleep-iness was apparently getting contagious. My co-passengers were beginning to catch the virus.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">I picked up my book, my head phone and climbed to the uneasy seat. I had a cold, now the AC and the cold ceiling so threateningly close. And I had to sleep since the lights are going to be off soon. Huh!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">The father took the upper berth opposite me, the women took the lower ones. The Lady in Maroon right below.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">I tried to read a little but it was getting difficult under the conditions. I pulled out the blanket and decided to get myself some sleep, some early night sleep.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>And I slept like a dog.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQW-FI85px9cDYiRvosDcMbK1wMgSZbA-cLV2EYJSZVpF8yATU-dlVUCGGC-sNcQFn1m0_dAAHoSfUPzvIxLrg_J84dfYIcoALQlb-xJofxrgp6Knxuym4SgoQj__UhtGPluEhxTQB9Bc/s1600-h/Polar_Express.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364933497073369010" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 225px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQW-FI85px9cDYiRvosDcMbK1wMgSZbA-cLV2EYJSZVpF8yATU-dlVUCGGC-sNcQFn1m0_dAAHoSfUPzvIxLrg_J84dfYIcoALQlb-xJofxrgp6Knxuym4SgoQj__UhtGPluEhxTQB9Bc/s400/Polar_Express.jpg" border="0" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">It was 6.</span> I sneaked out of my bed, headed for the toilet. While traveling in trains, I always got up early to brush and refresh.<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>That’s mostly because no one knocked the toilet doors. That also meant the toilets were mostly clean during early hours.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">I returned. Everyone was still asleep. I went back to my seat. I'd lie for an hour by which time, everyone would be up, I told myself.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">7.20 am.</span> No change in scenario. I wanted tea. I wanted to spread my legs. I wanted to look what the morning looked like. But.....I pulled the blanket again. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">8.30 am.</span> The attendant came calling for tea. Finally. No one else was awake to be interested. I think the father was up but still lying on his berth. The women, still in slumber.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">9.30 am.</span> I was hungry. “Idli or bread and omelet?” I heard the attendant a few feet away. Sitting like a student in his dorm, I ate my breakfast. Still no one cared to wake up. No, I guess, the father was downstairs. And the mother was up. Lady in Maroon still in bed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">10 am.</span> She lazed out of her seat. “What time is it?” the first salvo of the morning. Lunch time, I wanted to yell.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">The cell phone rang. “Gooooood morning,” the husband again and the whispertalk started. I finally got to come downstairs and sit. Dammm, my legs were aching..</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:+0;"></span><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">The family had breakfast and I read a little more of <i>Burnt Shadows</i>. "I slept a little late, did not I?" she asked her mother. I wanted to answer that question but I read on. I, at least, acted like reading and they talked on. The sequence was sometimes broken by phone calls and whispertalks.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">Lunch time and we, finally, were doing something together. Fifteen minutes, and I saw people hitting the sack again and the bug did bite my immediate co-passengers too. Will sleep again? That means I will have to sleep again? Gawwd!!! But I did. I had to. The next three hours were siesta time again but when the mother shared the lower berth seat with her daughter, I got to sit with the father and read on.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">At 5.30 pm when the train finally reached Chennai, I was happy the sleep-traveling had ended.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">As the friends reached one after another and we began to leave for the City, one of them announced: “This re-union is happening after a decade. So no one will sleep for the next five days. This is final.” And no one was actually allowed to.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justifyfont-family:georgia;" ><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justify" face="georgia"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: georgia; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="font-size:100%;">(If you think the post is very long, you are right. My apologies.)<br /></span></p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-9191782388915768272009-06-25T15:38:00.005+05:302009-06-27T17:07:01.446+05:30The Storm Outside<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qdW7Z7b0LfAr8r3bURbuKCUH5tHmmMAkrTIw43mHy3aHbcXmNSTntPn-qBO_nShl2kr3HFSVp1ANjqUEPX4zKmgK1YemL_Kg6OXNQqU0ywkXuvSdqHyoAXjaz0HQkSIILZaHnFOL-Tn7/s1600-h/misty.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351207452492135826" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 288px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0qdW7Z7b0LfAr8r3bURbuKCUH5tHmmMAkrTIw43mHy3aHbcXmNSTntPn-qBO_nShl2kr3HFSVp1ANjqUEPX4zKmgK1YemL_Kg6OXNQqU0ywkXuvSdqHyoAXjaz0HQkSIILZaHnFOL-Tn7/s400/misty.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I stood there just outside the gate and watched the storm beginning to rage. There was a strange sense of anticipation in the air which made me anxious; almost unmindful of the strong wind and the rain to follow.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I looked at the house for a moment and then searched for my cell phone in my jeans pocket.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">“Would you open the doors?” I said when she picked up the phone.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">“Oh! You are already here?” She asked, a tinge of surprise laced in her voice. She probably was not expecting me so soon.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I reached early, I told myself. All my life, I have been late though. I always had a strong feeling that I should have been born in the ‘50s but it too was delayed. By two decades, I think. Terrible.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">“If it’s begun to rain, it must be me at your doors. I am the Rain Man, remember.” My reply smacked of my self-obsession.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I pushed open the gate and reached the porch. She was not there yet. I stood there in front of the main door. The creepers and climbers had grown longer on the wall, almost covering an entire side of the entrance gate. Soon I could feel little drops of rain on my body. Oh! It’s raining, finally. This has been such a long dry spell.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">There was no sign of her yet. I stood there, looked up at the evening sky fast turning dark with clouds getting low. The wind was getting stronger, the rain drops bigger. I stood there waiting for her. Several minutes passed by. Several memories came rushing back.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">“How long have you been here?” she suddenly appeared from inside the house. </span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I looked at her for a few moments. I looked at those deep dark eyes. “A little while ago,” I replied.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">“Come on in,” she said.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">For a second, I wished she had not showed up. It has been an age since I met her last. My yearning to see her, for a moment, appeared more powerful an emotion than that of the joy of meeting her.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I stepped forward leaving the storm raging outside.</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-family:georgia;">I will meet you yet again</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I will meet you yet again</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">How and where? I know not.<br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Perhaps I will become a</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">figment of your imagination</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">and maybe, spreading myself</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">in a mysterious line</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">on your canvas,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I will keep gazing at you.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Perhaps I will become a ray</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">of sunshine, to be</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">embraced by your colours.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I will paint myself on your canvas</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I know not how and where –</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">but I will meet you for sure.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">Maybe I will turn into a spring,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">and rub the foaming</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">drops of water on your body,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">and rest my coolness on</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">your burning skin.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I know nothing else</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">but that this life</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">will walk along with me.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">When the body perishes,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">all perishes;</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">but the threads of memory</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">are woven with enduring specks.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I will pick these particles,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">weave the threads,</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">and I will meet you yet again…. <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Main Tenu Phir Milangi </span>by<span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"> Amrita Pritam</span></span></span></div><div style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><strong></strong> </div><div style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><strong></strong> </div><div style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><strong></strong> </div><div style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><strong></strong> </div><div style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justify"> </div><div style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><strong></strong> </div><div style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0); TEXT-ALIGN: justify">(Image: <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/">www.deviantart.com</a>)</div>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com49tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-14468787386080748942009-06-01T02:32:00.006+05:302009-06-01T03:02:39.684+05:30To Her<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN3anVlQyLJNUzsSwaTczTm_yrbGyXFZ_clgVhE4cILFl0ffV4ZWyq0FxYv61TcLXKseui_t1PIRiS5-ywhPBFl4jY0lfpPxZqjN4Dpi6KxOR29DVwNaaOESnxnHpp1uyFDBexGKYHsTx/s1600-h/Bird7.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaN3anVlQyLJNUzsSwaTczTm_yrbGyXFZ_clgVhE4cILFl0ffV4ZWyq0FxYv61TcLXKseui_t1PIRiS5-ywhPBFl4jY0lfpPxZqjN4Dpi6KxOR29DVwNaaOESnxnHpp1uyFDBexGKYHsTx/s400/Bird7.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342100874783928866" /></span></a></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Love</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Until I loved you,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I wrote verse, drew pictures,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">And went out with friends</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For walks…</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Now that I love you,</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Curled like an old mongrel</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">My life lies content</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In you…</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Freedom</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">II.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You planned to tame a swallow, to hold her</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the long summer of your love so that she would forget</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Not the raw seasons alone, and homes left behind, but</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Also her nature, the urge to fly, and the endless</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pathways of the sky…</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To love. To freedom. To women.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To Madhavi Kutty.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To Kamala Das Suraiya. In her words. RIP (March 31, 1934-May 31, 2009)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(Image: Shamim Qureshy)</span></div></span></div>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-41986512884278635742009-05-09T22:11:00.003+05:302009-05-09T22:20:14.911+05:30The Smoke<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5SJMiW__yWINyHRNsgyVKP1SssBhoV1n4KFTpbhDoM5hXzw29SFiQugZWk97slwOZ1gtkT3NVpsqSU5kYCyMQrFqSoLQdEblu_krDui4J8PL8GREsVHPD3cjA11HyGEhL8O9OqA0GGE9/s1600-h/smoke.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333865914044576242" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY5SJMiW__yWINyHRNsgyVKP1SssBhoV1n4KFTpbhDoM5hXzw29SFiQugZWk97slwOZ1gtkT3NVpsqSU5kYCyMQrFqSoLQdEblu_krDui4J8PL8GREsVHPD3cjA11HyGEhL8O9OqA0GGE9/s400/smoke.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;">It's always going to be between you and you. When you start smoking, you don't burn others...........</span><br /><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-49706103304673703952009-04-28T04:39:00.010+05:302009-04-28T10:30:34.861+05:30Wish & Rain<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"></span></div><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;">I wish it rained. This has been far too long a dry spell.</span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"></span></p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0mjGkLVm76aoOZdKpjqjR0nJtZpcX85XjuXp_1ssFvJ7asf7TathSdK4JMMPENBnD2gPZCWRJeHbx8kkY-WQs65aAcQ9dyI5CoYxDWg6tB4_Vpu9WXDilOxee6v9gCVvhN1u2wlMdxJl/s1600-h/Raindrops.jpg"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5329513177256406274" style="WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 280px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0mjGkLVm76aoOZdKpjqjR0nJtZpcX85XjuXp_1ssFvJ7asf7TathSdK4JMMPENBnD2gPZCWRJeHbx8kkY-WQs65aAcQ9dyI5CoYxDWg6tB4_Vpu9WXDilOxee6v9gCVvhN1u2wlMdxJl/s400/Raindrops.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;">For quite some time, it’s raining fire. Everything appears so lifeless, so barren out here. It’s, as if, the world around me is crying out for the heavens to open up; for a sudden downpour which takes you by surprise but gives a pleasure which otherwise cannot be described or measured.</span></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </p><p align="justify"><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;">This dry spell sometimes is so reminiscent of the lives we live.</span></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </p><p align="justify"><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;">Parched earth. Parched life. Parched soul.</span></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </p><p><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </p><p align="justify"><br /></p><p align="justify"><span style="color:#330000;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span></p><p align="justify"><span style="color:#330000;"><span style="font-family:georgia;">I wish it rained. </span></span></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p><p align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color:#330000;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span> </p><p><span style="color:#330000;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"> </span></span></p><p align="justify"><br /><strong><span style="font-family:georgia;">There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,<br />And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;<br />And frogs in the pools singing at night,<br />And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;<br />Someday soon, there will come soft rains……</span></strong></p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-79802373003205265472009-04-16T12:26:00.009+05:302009-04-16T15:08:11.939+05:30To Hope<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Beyond hope, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">there is memory. Years back, I had read this line somewhere.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size:13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size:48px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZAKgZjGj1JA-594hzigODMbazEAOUAB8nINzT_cLC8Apl1GDYk3x43AJn4eS9IuwNX0ThNr0ofVou9EfbFt4ZOXX6GLmpbZuw3UiBEmMDHFS6jN0RS0sJAi_h2tWTvWTIL9vGxb0nVwrw/s400/Ocean+Hope.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 250px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5325181111205472946" /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size:13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">B and I. We rarely met. Whenever we did, we did not have time for each other. Just enough to exchange pleasantries. But I knew B well enough. He was a part of the extended branch of the family tree.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I have not met him in last three and a half years. He lives a few hundred miles away.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Last time I saw him, he was on a hospital bed, unable to move. An accident had left him immobile. Doctors said he had hurt a nerve somewhere along the cervical vertebrae.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">B was a good student, did well for himself with a Government job. He was a better painter and a writer. He was passionate about his after-work life.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">That January night, three years back, he was on his way back after a game of badminton when B met with an accident. Nobody noticed him though. He was lying by a desolate roadside for the next six hours till the day break when someone spotted him. There were some minor bruises on his body, ones which would not need any hospitalization. But he had hurt himself bad.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In the next few hours when he was rushed to the hospital, I saw him lying on his bed. He appeared normal. He felt no pain. He felt nothing below his neck. No sensation at all. In clinical terms, it’s called quadriplegic.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">B was married just for seven months. I remember attending his wedding. He looked very happy that day.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">His family worked very hard for him. He was put through severe physiotherapy regimes but there was little or very slow improvement. Sometimes, at low-levels of quadriplegia, limb functionality returns. Sometimes, when the degree is severe, it takes years. Sometimes, it just does not.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">B’s improvement was slow. There were times when he, out of sheer desperation, would want his near and dear ones to leave him to die. But his family never gave up on him. His wife M just did not.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I have not met B ever since.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A few days back, when I returned home, as usual after the mid-night, I saw a book lying on the table. It was short story collection and B was the author.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I turned the cover. The first page read: To M. </span></span><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I owe this book to you. And, this life too.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">*****</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">One need not always hold on to memory. Beyond hope, I believe, there is still hope. Even in the depths of hopelessness when every light of faith and belief flickers out, there is still hope. We just need to know where to look. I am sure B did find out.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">To B. And, to Hope.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(Image: </span></span><a href="http://www.manywallpapers.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">http://www.manywallpapers.com</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">)</span></span></p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-12623072960805283972009-03-14T15:35:00.005+05:302009-03-14T18:30:32.050+05:30Free - II<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSti5Lo2Iem9logNNuSIp0lRQyuhTj9S_VZldJ0_vCCGhRQWLTPLrHc9o2ElQ_dOPcHlNKw_ECHli8sQAMS1HvI0rrwWvYtIRHmhMpM9nU9mjUiVtPG59c4tM8U_viuRYCrmKcd5tsvNh_/s1600-h/wanderer1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312986886425478786" style="width: 400px; height: 264px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSti5Lo2Iem9logNNuSIp0lRQyuhTj9S_VZldJ0_vCCGhRQWLTPLrHc9o2ElQ_dOPcHlNKw_ECHli8sQAMS1HvI0rrwWvYtIRHmhMpM9nU9mjUiVtPG59c4tM8U_viuRYCrmKcd5tsvNh_/s400/wanderer1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div align="justify"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><em></em></span> </div><div align="justify"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><em></em></span> </div><div align="justify"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><em>Single. Footloose and fancy-free.</em> Ah! I am so familiar with these words. I have often been accused of, panned out, trashed, dismissed and sometimes envied too for being these three. You know what! If I were a blog post, the trio would have been my “tags.”<br /><br />Hold it a second! Did you say footloose? Is not that supposed to be a compliment? Reminds me of a great line.<br /><br />“It should not be denied that being footloose has always exhilarated us. It is associated in our minds with escape from history and oppression and law and irksome obligations. Absolute freedom.”<br /><br />What say!!<br /><br /><br /></span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"></span></strong> </div><div align="justify"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"></span> </div><div align="justify"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"></span> </div><div align="justify"><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">(Image: <a href="http://photo.net/">http://photo.net</a>)</span></div>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com63tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-29207667759601051252009-03-01T23:04:00.013+05:302009-03-02T02:52:50.835+05:30Free<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMoa3qLg8zx_ZzVqVCFs-1pJmsvkMHDPK2lZQf2QgAYw-YHkzWVpJFhI3lYOXqhzo-dYJ4HvKGiFrbc2YMHJl2CFF85Cpswy791cNhUewOxzqec0dlJGzLjVRJ59YlnMsIez8xg5eFgSe/s1600-h/SIMPLY.JPG"><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308277006210799010" style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 308px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMoa3qLg8zx_ZzVqVCFs-1pJmsvkMHDPK2lZQf2QgAYw-YHkzWVpJFhI3lYOXqhzo-dYJ4HvKGiFrbc2YMHJl2CFF85Cpswy791cNhUewOxzqec0dlJGzLjVRJ59YlnMsIez8xg5eFgSe/s400/SIMPLY.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:georgia;color:#330000;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#330000;"></span></div><div><span style="color:#330000;"></span></div><div></div><div><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </div><div> </div><div><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </div><div><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color:#330000;">I opened my hands</span></div><div><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color:#330000;">And let the moments fly away<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color:#330000;">They had grown tiny wings<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color:#330000;">Guess, it was time to go</span></div><div><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color:#330000;">I set them free</span></div><div><span style="color:#330000;"></span> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); ">And I found freedom...</span><br /></div><span style="color:#330000;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Image: <a href="http://simplybutterflies.com/">http://simplybutterflies.com</a>)<br /></div></span></div>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-74653959450802451772009-02-18T03:20:00.007+05:302009-02-18T03:36:00.611+05:30Silence & I<div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7wZ4U1byeKXvYo_Xs2Heb6zCIwGeOiRa_xymrzHWG3M2Ixp8E-YjRlhG1r246H5WFGFoMxrTdeUXSXhqErXdOMDNeHubJis1mZSeiTgnoSugrPY5fOB72V5kIzAKD3Zx8Xy-GfvdW6Lj9/s1600-h/Echo+Of+Silence.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7wZ4U1byeKXvYo_Xs2Heb6zCIwGeOiRa_xymrzHWG3M2Ixp8E-YjRlhG1r246H5WFGFoMxrTdeUXSXhqErXdOMDNeHubJis1mZSeiTgnoSugrPY5fOB72V5kIzAKD3Zx8Xy-GfvdW6Lj9/s400/Echo+Of+Silence.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303888714092924786" /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Silence is pure beauty</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Beauty without imperfection</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A space between sounds</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A deadness between noise</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Quiet, you can hear it, yet you can't hear anything at all</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So you could say silence is nothing</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A nothing like me</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Nothing is there and so nothing there is to judge</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-size: 13px;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I wish I was silence, so no one would judge me……</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Sunny Sethi</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Image: www.pavelsmid.eu)</span></span></p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-75477918589405625222009-02-11T08:53:00.015+05:302009-02-11T11:21:33.551+05:30Back To The Classroom<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" >I virtually chased everything I saw – from a dazzling yellow-black striped fish to a mudskipper with a wing-like fin; from a tiny red long-clawed crab – which moved at a Charlie Chaplinsque speed - to a scorpion which I had, at the first glance, mistaken for a crab.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsyWLtHzBsD16a8PQovGzgLUS00SR18LpIpLeounIliq5WI85Z5Gd0j9kAYCHxqPjO5r5TzBM1u5O99BeHkZrh7QpORQek5pPizR7Nac42sDaoXfcUt8tAnuX2OORmDoAnwsLeiQjNKz4/s400/red.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; width: 318px; height: 400px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301380276501767698" border="0" /><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">“Can’t you push it out of its hole? May be, you can pour a bit of mineral water. It’s acclimatised to salinity and might just find mineral water, for a change, interesting,” Ajay said. He was our man behind the camera.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">I tried. In vain though. It just wouldn’t leave. I had to virtually push the scorpion out using a small twig. The little thing hurried out of its shelter and headed towards a small stream and rolled over many times on its way down. Looking at its plight, I realized why human beings have emerged as the biggest encroachers and Mother Nature, the best teacher notwithstanding how badly we have treated her. The scorpion, as I noticed, had found a new burrow for itself in no time.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">I spotted cone-shaped shells. </span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">Oh! There are so many around here, I told myself. A villager, curious at what the camera crew was doing at the spot for the last one hour, corrected me: “These are snails, and are alive.” I literally jumped in the air. Damn it! I realized I was standing on so many of them with my shoes on. They must have been crushed, I thought. They were not. Under pressure of my body weight, they were pressed deep into the mud though.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">“But how do they live around here without water, on this dry muddy surface. The sea is about a few kilometers from this spot?” I asked. “It can live inside its shell for days together and comes out when tidal waves flush the area,” he explained. Unless of course, the snails were crushed by someone like me.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">** ** **</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:12;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">Before you start wondering why I am up to all this, I must tell you what I was doing. I went back to the wild with an environment documentary film team. For full five days, I worked with them looking for the smaller details that make Nature so beautiful. Like the crab, the scorpion and the snails, the sensational mangrove species that withstand such high levels of salinity and tidal inundation to protect the coasts, so crucial to the human beings.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6fDZu4evzZ7HzbBuvVB1uNFaiDyJY3Ydnd3OmXVr-zeFnqPXyHDvif7alp9EM8rlqPcZ9eZUHcXzx25HlGNXXCh3oLuLhhp9-97ns7fpj4vx3P9H86cCGM9C8E7rmzB3I-djUAuaEqIx/s400/mud1.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; width: 383px; height: 400px;" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301376836403785058" border="0" /><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">And of course, the mudskippers which look like big-sized larva. They kept jumping on the shoreline of the river like mad. They are said to be more active on wet, moist land than in water. I am even told this amphibious fish species was among the first aquatic organisms to have come in contact with land. And boy! They enjoy being on land even if they are a fish, as if kids playing on a beach in the afternoon sun.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">I had always loved exploring the wild but this one was terrific since I was watching everything so closely. For the film crew, it was probably part of their job; for me, it was learning. I had a 6 am to 6 pm work-hour (God! That was back-breaking although I never dropped tired) during the five-day shoot and had to trek long distance inside the dense mangrove forests, along the coastline, travelled in a large brackish water lagoon for hours on end as the sun beat down hard.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">We shot a range of </span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">floral and fauna species that make the wetland ecosystems – that’s what the documentary film was about – tick, came across some real large animals like the salt water crocodiles and even the smallest ones like the colourful beetle.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></span></span><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">I felt I had gone back to the classroom. Of the real kind.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=";font-family:Georgia;font-size:9;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">(Yes, I did tan my skin in the process and no one can recognise me now. Not even me.)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">(Image: </span></span></span><a href="http://www.aquariumofpacific.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Aquarium of Pacific</span>)</span></span></span></a></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);font-family:Garamond;font-size:13;" ><br /></span></p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-65821018502182347642009-01-30T04:37:00.015+05:302009-02-01T03:52:42.149+05:30Into The Wild<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Georgia">I always wondered why connecting with nature was sometimes so easy yet the bond so strong.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""></span></span></span></span><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297014369663857346" style="text-align: justify;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; width: 400px; height: 266px; " alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgux1kbnJvuNpSQFz_4dFm5cLPH91G-n9zzWxQGCAGcIcBfdB-F9ymEquYZImQOHoTOdBN8nCgd63Sp50B1-Jtk4O1iIo2uSDp7Z1Sedt_9cQ66qscI2Iy5RQz6v97QVDXfep687i17ghVp/s400/SIBA2.JPG" border="0" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:9.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">My weekend took me to a place which virtually is nestled amidst rivers and their creeks. Across the miles are dense mangrove forests where I could almost hear the rustle of every leaf, chirping of every bird and even my heart beating away silently.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:9.0pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></span></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297013810025330370" style="text-align: justify;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; width: 400px; height: 266px; " alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP5KW-l5gT2x1btGqpLdwu4YFx_BAUmyCE_JuVwlWwDIVBmAVClbOZDh2-xnkrAjTUk7krv9Lm8n41MiqyxXH2WMnpeq_pYCGZORXpokbJrDKxiaV07bktTfLrYE9Jh8lNGL5wpwc657Mq/s400/SIBA1.JPG" border="0" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p class="MsoBodyText2" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">And in the swirling waters of the rivers and in those mudflats were a few hundred salt water crocodiles. A thousand five hundred and seventy two was what the latest census said. Some of these reptiles weigh over 1,000</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background- background-position: initial initial; font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;color:yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">kgs</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">each, measuring more than 20 ft in length. The</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">GuinnessBook of Records says it's where world's largest</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" background-image: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background- background-position: initial initial; font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;color:yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">croc</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">lives. At times you could forget that these are nature's most menacing animals and can kill a man with just one swing of their tails. They have, in the past. But that's beside the point because men have killed more; more of their own tribe and that of others too. Basking in the sun, the crocodiles were so much at peace with themselves and with nature.</span></span></span></p></span></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297013394732684834" style="text-align: justify;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; width: 400px; height: 266px; " alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONJGtKZrmRIYOgXR-4yDQ_ctkeCQnoEEYKZ4w0e5x4E3cxSY0OXq6Ccyjqi4djQmr82WvPpHd7Pqv4CjI6k22KQtz3AZY-fh9wn4UvhA2phg0iZf-ntKOkjSsvgPCoUNFUjrGDAwru7Ia/s400/SIBA.JPG" border="0" /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">Such was the tranquility that I did not seem to realise where I stayed did not even have electricity supply. The night was never more dark and the sky, never so much star-studded. I did not want to come back.</span></span><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">Someone had so famously said:</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">You are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /><br />And about connecting with nature, I guess, we all belong to it and will go back to it someday. It, therefore, is so easy to connect to and the reason the bond is so strong.</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /><br /></span> <em><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">(</span></span></em><em><span style="font-style:normal;font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">Image:</span></span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span><em><span style="background:yellow;font-style:normalfont-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">Shamim</span></span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span><em><span style=" background:yellow;font-style:normalfont-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">Qureshy</span></span></em><em><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">)</span></span></em></span><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;font-size:9pt;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText2" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></o:p></span></p></span></span><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></div></div>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com56tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-62608660581948752312009-01-20T23:17:00.033+05:302009-01-30T03:33:52.997+05:30The Past<div align="center"> </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_b1hXcj32odVWsHcIXlGQSIQLNGwFkAV-LUaRvwGraw2tb5EAaB6ey4UqccyOQIK7vpXqjaJ7dKI5VvugDmZ7Y_tO0ytCWECsPvIMn8Ixdg6T-j7xjA7f3r8iZ8jO0L5YIS2wVvoKDrpd/s1600-h/Deep+Shot.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293442497289111218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 272px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_b1hXcj32odVWsHcIXlGQSIQLNGwFkAV-LUaRvwGraw2tb5EAaB6ey4UqccyOQIK7vpXqjaJ7dKI5VvugDmZ7Y_tO0ytCWECsPvIMn8Ixdg6T-j7xjA7f3r8iZ8jO0L5YIS2wVvoKDrpd/s400/Deep+Shot.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><p align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><strong></strong></span> </p><p align="center"><span style="font-family:arial;color:#000000;"><strong></strong></span> </p><p align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p align="center"><span style="color:#330000;"><strong>Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span> - Christopher McCandless</strong></span></p><p align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-5475332943264357152009-01-13T22:07:00.050+05:302009-01-30T21:55:01.990+05:30Smiley Girl<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1cTSvFU0H901uZXmA8VwQkcn4CDQsJdbCKTa0TaZBAirGQQpNDEtE0mjoqQug3NS7Df75w5quRBcTJVNqWTybNo8XUceYC1WBsfKQtd5O1YPF0oB5ebd573tguDVMq2OmASREXwzkJH1/s1600-h/smiley1.jpg"><span><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296658944372503010" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn1cTSvFU0H901uZXmA8VwQkcn4CDQsJdbCKTa0TaZBAirGQQpNDEtE0mjoqQug3NS7Df75w5quRBcTJVNqWTybNo8XUceYC1WBsfKQtd5O1YPF0oB5ebd573tguDVMq2OmASREXwzkJH1/s400/smiley1.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span><div><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">The one with an ear-to-ear grin, another sulking and a third one shedding tear drops like a dark bulbous cloud bursts into rain were the smileys she used most; the first being her clear favourite. I never thought internet icons could actually define anyone but the smileys did characterise her in a strange way.</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">Like the smileys, she seemed to laugh heartily. Just like a child. Sometimes, she appeared to be crying inconsolably too. As a child would, after losing the doll she loved most. Now she would be on cloud nine and the next moment, she would be lost somewhere.</span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">She was completely in love with life even though she seemingly had no clue of it sometimes and tried very hard to pull herself together to stand up to it. No matter if the odds were stacked against her. That's what I liked about her. She never seemed to give up on hope even in the depths of hopelessness.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">******</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">"Are you writing some short-story or what?" I asked as I read through the lines standing quietly behind him on the computer last evening.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">"Why do you ask?" he replied without bothering to look at me. Incorrigible is probably what he wanted to say but didn't. He knew I had this tendency of barging in. He did not try to stop me. It would have been futile. So, he got back to the keyboard like I did not exist.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">******</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">Last time, I caught hold of her online she was pulling her hair out in frustration over some office work she had not been able to wrap up. The computer ‘hanged’ one time too many, she complained before realizing and correcting herself - ‘it hung.’ She did that often and I always pointed it out.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">Sometimes I thought she used smileys with such frequency that the mis-spellings were anything but natural despite her possessing a fine flair for writing. Mamma made a ‘yummg’ curry, she said the other night before making amends for it – Ooops! It was ‘yummy.’ I guess ‘yummg’ is yummier than ‘yummy,’ I told her. The ear-to-ear grinning icon was back.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">******</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">“Will you tell me what this is about,” I was getting curious and clearly losing patience. “Is this some kind of dedication or what?” I shot another query.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">“No. I had promised I would write about her once in my website before she went away,” he said.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span><span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">“Where is she going? What do you mean by ‘before she went away?’ ” I followed up with more.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span><span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">“I can’t tell you everything, can I? All I can say is she will be gone soon.” He got back to writing.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">******</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">It’s a tough phase for her. Defining, perhaps. And she was sacrificing a lot for it. Still she foresaw herself in disasters sometimes. For a 20-something, it must have been unsettling but she never complained. </span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">“I am worried about you,” I told her once. “Even I am worried about myself,” she replied.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">“I wish I could do something beyond praying for you.”</span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">“Prayers are all I need,” she said.</span></span></span><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoBodyText"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:#330000;">One more smiley followed. This one was immersed in deep thoughts.</span></span></span></span><br /></span></span></p></span></span></span></div>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-65928501992017250802008-12-31T22:03:00.019+05:302009-01-30T03:26:47.260+05:30Soul's New Song<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWc_skG3eMNztRoCrtseyKuK1ZGOpqNByOWD8ukGiz9rRcscSIIcA9hLjGFFpj50wrDsLInxqMH_fplSlTSSiwqlIEw2rOkOrw-EdxX-Cp_ZGjq3HIumpf2HhiU34opTAoM8smftHEf4u/s1600-h/Sun.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296657907362168034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 267px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVWc_skG3eMNztRoCrtseyKuK1ZGOpqNByOWD8ukGiz9rRcscSIIcA9hLjGFFpj50wrDsLInxqMH_fplSlTSSiwqlIEw2rOkOrw-EdxX-Cp_ZGjq3HIumpf2HhiU34opTAoM8smftHEf4u/s400/Sun.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="COLOR: rgb(51,0,0)"><div> </div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Don't look back</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It will tug at your heart</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Let the past go</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Let go of the memories</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">And the clutching pain.</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Soon the stars will fade</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The blackness of the night will melt</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In the soothing lights of a new dawn</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Tomorrow will be another day</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Tomorrow will have a new sun.....</span></span></span></div><div align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">*Wishing you all a soulful New Year*</span></span></div><div align="center"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(Image: Shamim Qureshy)</span></span></div><span style="color:#000000;"></span></span>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com56tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-72600517395268609942008-12-27T15:04:00.024+05:302009-01-30T03:36:20.295+05:30A-symmetry<div style="" align="justify"><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sG-r6c3TEB3ZKUDqWbraPuyxyoIK2-iSROm7uBhAsB0_r2Z6MvMFdgkXA3GOpRpoKqhjurRVy74qkc2UucNWFMHl2Eeh8z-p7uXHXQynayC9KedZs5UAdoLuvEmaC-j5Q0q4nlkxMPq-/s1600-h/dark.jpg"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284410539710484066" style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 270px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sG-r6c3TEB3ZKUDqWbraPuyxyoIK2-iSROm7uBhAsB0_r2Z6MvMFdgkXA3GOpRpoKqhjurRVy74qkc2UucNWFMHl2Eeh8z-p7uXHXQynayC9KedZs5UAdoLuvEmaC-j5Q0q4nlkxMPq-/s400/dark.jpg" border="0" /></span></span></a><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span></span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span></span> </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">About half an hour ago, he had showed up at my place seeking my escort service. “I need to drop this packet at a friend‘s place and pick up some pictures from another person,” he said.He was always lousy about finding houses. Most of the times, he would lose way in the residential colonies, often making circles of the same place.</span></span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br />I was reluctant. On my day off and for a chilly evening, staying back home seemed a better and warmer idea. But knowing his style, I decided to give him company. </span></span></div><span style="font-family:arial;color:#330000;"><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />“I have not been to their place very many times. I guess, this is the second instance though I keep meeting them – both the husband and the wife - at their corporate offices and outside. They had a baby in October and this is the first time I will meet them after that. They have moved to a new flat.” He was introducing me to destination number one. </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />* * * * * * </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />As we waited for a few minutes, V opened the door. Slowly. Almost carefully. I saw the baby, looking like a bundle of white wool, fallen asleep on his left shoulder. “Come on in,” he said, with a whispering tone.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />It was quiet inside. It was kind of cozy. Bright and warm. The light green wall-hangings clearly stood out on the shining white background. There were two portraits on the wall behind the cane sofa. The cabinet right in front boasted of different kinds of toys. A large curtain separated the living space from the dining hall. It was dimly lit.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />“I returned from office only a while ago,” V said, gently patting his daughter and gestured us to sit on the divan.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />“You seem to be enjoying every bit of fatherhood,” he asked.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />“It feels great to be with my daughter. She sleeps and sleeps and is barely awake when I return home,” V said as his wife walked in with a dropper in hand. The baby’s medicine, I thought.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />“Did you manage to put her to sleep? Or is she still awake?” she asked. V just nodded as he gently brought the baby back into his arms for the medicine.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />We kept chatting for quite a while before he realized it’s time to leave the family alone.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />* * * * * * </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />He drove silently, keeping his eyes on the road; his mind apparently was elsewhere. Twenty minutes later, we were in front of an apartment that appeared to have lost power supply. </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />E – Block, Flat No 3. Straight towards the end of the line and first floor, the security guard pointed out.<br /></span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;">The apartment looked worn out to me. Flat No 1 and 2 were locked and No 4 was had some men working on renovation.<br /></span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;">He hit the doorbell this time. “It’s open. Come on in,” said the voice. As we walked in, B greeted us with a feeble smile, which did not, in any manner, hide its affection. He taught English literature, I was told on my way. </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The floor was cold; the tube-lights did enough for the two-bedroom flat though. But it was very quiet in there. The white walls looked pensive and the almost-no-furniture rooms exuded an expansive feeling. </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The living room virtually had nothing to show. One room across the hall had a computer surrounded by books and more books, all of them littered in gay abandon gathering dust at some places. The bedroom had a TV set just across the bed and a moulded chair. </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />B was a bachelor. Almost a genius and wasted to a large extent. He lived a solitary life (Someone wise had said: Only God is entitled to solitude) and was not keeping good health. The failing health showed on B’s face. </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />The curling smoke from the cigarette he held was the only thing that made some “noise” in an otherwise somber ambiance of the flat.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />“My doctor would be furious to see this. I was categorically asked to stay away from smoking but have had three since the morning. Just can’t help,” laughed B; his laughter had a tremendous sense of honesty in it.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />A little later, we left B alone with his life.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />* * * * * * </span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />“How disturbingly contrast were they,” I said as we drove back home.</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />“I found them happy and quiet in their own ways,” he replied, “It’s all about how you look at it.”</span></div><div style="" align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;"><br />(Image: Flickr) </span></div></span>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-75472869894545594312008-12-12T04:40:00.025+05:302009-01-30T03:44:38.486+05:30déjà vu<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFTtD2IcPNwGMoBIV6nnn0kkXy11OP1lzEPPKTs7ITjKWhYfHURvUopmzNup7XmRp1QFsq-pzH5LRfXYXvh9RYuNPr4VIKAmA84EipcT9-EP_3acVAYFi_rTKz5vM4qSfI_xqXkNT0756/s1600-h/dark.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5278680705657788674" style="WIDTH: 303px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 400px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFTtD2IcPNwGMoBIV6nnn0kkXy11OP1lzEPPKTs7ITjKWhYfHURvUopmzNup7XmRp1QFsq-pzH5LRfXYXvh9RYuNPr4VIKAmA84EipcT9-EP_3acVAYFi_rTKz5vM4qSfI_xqXkNT0756/s400/dark.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">Last time I met him, he hardly spoke.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br />Sometimes, he would just shut up and shut himself out for weeks together. And, when he does that, he can be pretty much insufferable. It is well-nigh impossible to know beneath that frivolous facade does lie a gloomy persona. Someone suffocating to the core.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br />Years ago, when I first ran into him and this side of his, a friend said ‘it’s his way of unwinding.’ He probably was looking for another word to substitute ‘unwinding’ but did not get any. I think he meant 'self-examination.'</span></span></div><span><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">I met him last night. He stood there on the terrace, bending forward over the dwarf wall, as if attempting to catch hold of something that was flying by. There was nothing I could see though.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">I made no attempt to talk to him. It would have been an exercise in futility. I respected his philosophy of respecting people’s space. “Let them be,” he would always say. Some mistook it for his aloofness and indifference to others.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">I left him alone on the terrace and walked into his room. As I drew closer, I could clearly hear Mehdi Haasan’s rich baritone (if I can say that) from his computer’s speakers. The volume was set very low. As if the great singer was whispering away. I turned the speaker volume higher. The voice was resonating:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><strong></strong></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><strong></strong></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><strong></strong></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span><strong><blockquote><span><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">Keh do in hasraton se kahiin aur jaa basein<br />Itnii jagah kahaan hai dil-e-daaghdaar mein*….</span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"> </span></span></blockquote></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">His personal diary was lying on the table. I know how he loved his diary. He has been writing since he was 17, he once told me. For the last few months, he had stopped though. “I write only when I feel compelled to,” he had said. You could well substitute it for “when I am either happy or sad.” </span></span></div><span style="color:#330000;"><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /><span>I opened it. There were blank pages. I saw one. Then I saw another. Some more…..and more. So many. Do blank pages mean he is sad? Because it meant he was not happy.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /><span>I reached December 10. There were just two lines scribbled on it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /><span>It read: It's a sense of déjà vu. But when people choose to walk away from you, all you can do is wish them well in life.<br />----------------------------------------------------------<br />*The lines by Bahadur Shah Jaffer mean:<br />Tell these desires<br />To go and settle down somewhere else<br />Where is so much space<br />In this scarred heart? </span></div></span>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-29952142093491780432008-11-30T03:18:00.014+05:302009-01-30T03:31:17.509+05:30Fear, Love & Loss<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4e8ctY7Xhq3PE82kRIasaATN389d_7DCIqnDXBZARkOlkkKnXyRtPFTwhTYt6BeEEPHJxZ9uA3U3P1wqg7su8U4tKws6tEB3fsXkfn7W2WTrWloP97g5UPqAIisYTlCLg24tYYPke4kh/s1600-h/Mumbai.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5274200074525406866" style="width: 186px; height: 400px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL4e8ctY7Xhq3PE82kRIasaATN389d_7DCIqnDXBZARkOlkkKnXyRtPFTwhTYt6BeEEPHJxZ9uA3U3P1wqg7su8U4tKws6tEB3fsXkfn7W2WTrWloP97g5UPqAIisYTlCLg24tYYPke4kh/s400/Mumbai.jpg" border="0" /></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"I always believed that fear belonged to other people. Weaker people. It never touched me. And then it did. And when it touches you, you know... that it's been there all along. Waiting beneath the surfaces of everything you loved."</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=";"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"When you love something, every time a bit goes, you lose a piece of yourself."</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Loss, like love, is deeply personal. Only the one who has suffered, knows the depths of it.</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Table : Wikipedia )</span></span></span></span></span></span>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-24626758279790529542008-11-19T14:35:00.024+05:302009-01-30T03:46:23.495+05:30My Post, His Story<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style=""><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizwAOOBHeYFQ_fXNmqCRzVoOqwmMLlrxwmvyRxi8-z8tK5xK1YIawIIq8SXRGYuLFkj-V3uiRdF8ZDqw5UUej3iQ2m_SBQ3WpOLOGZ-XZRrKX3zhyphenhyphenH5AeKzhhURxUoW4EUAXj-rQeUdFqb/s1600-h/diamond.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270315065645346210" style="width: 339px; height: 400px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizwAOOBHeYFQ_fXNmqCRzVoOqwmMLlrxwmvyRxi8-z8tK5xK1YIawIIq8SXRGYuLFkj-V3uiRdF8ZDqw5UUej3iQ2m_SBQ3WpOLOGZ-XZRrKX3zhyphenhyphenH5AeKzhhURxUoW4EUAXj-rQeUdFqb/s400/diamond.jpg" border="0" /></span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As usual, this is my post. But this is not my story as usual.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I was struggling with my post. Then I took a look at my blog-roll. I saw most of my blogger friends, barring probably Agnes, have fallen silent. May be this is the season of slience. Then quite a few things came to my mind. Some dark, some cheerful. Some did excite me, some left me cold. I knew I was struggling.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This morning, I reached office when my colleague handed out a photograph to me. "Today is World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse and it's a related picture," he said. I should be honest, I did not know such a day did exist. These days, there are so many that one loses count.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Soon after, I logged into my Facebook account and saw a link from NY Times my friend Lala - he is pursuing his doctoral degree in Purdue University - had sent me. It had something to do with children in Congo. I read and did not just stop till it ended. At the end, it saddened me no end.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I don't intend to make any statement although I know I am sounding like a hypocrite here. For, such stories are not exclusive to Congo. Stories like this one abound in Asia and Africa where governments have failed; where civil war is the norm; where mineral resources have been plundered by outsiders, ably assisted by forces from developed nations. It's not as if we have not come across such tales of human tragedy before. Not as if it has not happened anywhere near I live. By saying all this, I am probably ridding myself of the feeling of guilt of not doing my bit.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Do read the following link. I just wanted to share what I call His Story.<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; "><a style="" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/world/africa/16imani.html?_r=2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">15 and Broke in a Cut-Throat Congo Mining Town</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span></span><span style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This post is dedicated to the two blogger friends whose compassion in their last posts is still lingering around in my mind. To Mehreen (for that post on child labour) and Trevor (for that moving photograph on Children's Day).</span></span></span></div>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com39tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2765103275197266166.post-9674031867996713962008-11-11T02:20:00.010+05:302009-01-30T03:47:27.892+05:30Memories<span style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyrgH4e4kMyJQE9E0g5edp5RJgYy63FRCkqYNfrav-2pj6eT6Yc0A4D5Xv1A5DKkF33tDIPCAdRODGSlMgWntTQWbnRJis7c1FEfkq3gvZNzbX1JBBXcZDLXI-PqDyek2pjMTK12CX4no/s1600-h/memory.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267128845169068210" style="width: 400px; height: 297px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYyrgH4e4kMyJQE9E0g5edp5RJgYy63FRCkqYNfrav-2pj6eT6Yc0A4D5Xv1A5DKkF33tDIPCAdRODGSlMgWntTQWbnRJis7c1FEfkq3gvZNzbX1JBBXcZDLXI-PqDyek2pjMTK12CX4no/s400/memory.jpg" border="0" /></span></span></span></a></span><span style=";font-family:arial;" class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span><div style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);font-size:130%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">I looked for you. But I found some memories.<br /><br /><br />I.<br />The memory of you<br />Is a million million stars<br />Stabbing a black silk sky.<br />I wait for day to take away<br />The stars, the memory<br />The pain..... Raynette Eitel<br /><br />II.<br />I held that memory<br />For just a second longer.<br />I held you<br />Before that memory would vanish away<br />From my fingertips..... Lulu Muffin<br /><br />III.<br />Last night your faded memory came to me<br />As in the wilderness spring comes quietly,<br />As, slowly, in the desert moves the breeze,<br />As to a sick man, without cause, comes peace.<br /><br />(Raat yun dil mein teri, khoi hui yaad aayee,<br />Jaise veerane mein, chupke se bahaar aa jaye,<br />Jaise sehraon mein hole se chale baad-e-nasim,<br />Jaise beemar ko be wajah qarar aa jaye)…. Faiz Ahmed Faiz</span></span><br /></span>Talking To My Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18336292806750622910noreply@blogger.com45