tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30638708896299361882024-02-21T16:30:27.394+05:30KaleidoscopeAritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-33228410115415300572016-09-02T00:25:00.000+05:302016-09-02T00:40:43.894+05:30A Hidden Gem called Slovenia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9_unPRwzuAQiolyEkbMC3WonW57VxZu97LRHcaPuDE0NkfR2X-ptIZgkiHLNJtV9poHBAY0nBZukV2_9-NxMvRKYcZNb9H44PUPG2hN0JgSiT77ljaGGh6-3rIwveyg-qR-KnW7-K5g/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.01.55+%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO9_unPRwzuAQiolyEkbMC3WonW57VxZu97LRHcaPuDE0NkfR2X-ptIZgkiHLNJtV9poHBAY0nBZukV2_9-NxMvRKYcZNb9H44PUPG2hN0JgSiT77ljaGGh6-3rIwveyg-qR-KnW7-K5g/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.01.55+%25282%2529.jpeg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Once upon a time there lived a
sad girl in a faraway village hidden by the mountains and very dense clouds. She
hadn’t seen the sun in a very long time. Every day she would wake up with a
heavy heart, and go to bed at night with unshed tears. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And then one day, she packed a
bag and set onto find Neverland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Slovenia, is my Neverland. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Having reached the third leg of
our exciting Europe trip, we were already a tad upset that our vacation days
were now numbered. With Heavy bags and heavy hearts, we were let off by the bus
from Ljubljana at quite a distance from our stay at Bled. For some reason,
people in Bled have dreamlike houses, with rose bushes, and hanging plants and
the most picturesque balconies. We were already jabbering about how pretty ever
darned thing was. But, you just know your time at a place would be amazing,
when random people catch you staring at their house, and wave at you, with an
excited “Hi” from their window. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">That was our first observation –
Slovenians were a super nice bunch, welcoming, charming and warm. And we loved
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Our hostel was just five minutes
away from Lake Bled on foot, and it didn’t take us much time to freshen up and
head towards something we hadn’t expected would be right out of a photograph. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreIwryxN0TMDBqfKLVmDpQIx66FacqAhmnYTZ7HeioxXQKcvGjlVNgwHASmMTHbxNczEHMsnvPfq2J-Q7p56DtrKZvPC5DxR3ueqcArx0xfC7pDxTz_ZmcIHkMELnu8_yGnpbjuf7zd8/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.01.54.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreIwryxN0TMDBqfKLVmDpQIx66FacqAhmnYTZ7HeioxXQKcvGjlVNgwHASmMTHbxNczEHMsnvPfq2J-Q7p56DtrKZvPC5DxR3ueqcArx0xfC7pDxTz_ZmcIHkMELnu8_yGnpbjuf7zd8/s400/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.01.54.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Lake Bled</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Lake Bled, is a lake in the
Julian Alps, and the entire water body surrounds the pretty Bled island. It is
a beautiful (for lack of better words,) walk around the entire lake that can be
managed in a couple of hours. But I bet you won’t. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is simply that breathtaking. The
lush greens, the earthy browns of the surrounding mountains, the aquamarine
waters, and that little island in the midst of it. This is right out of a dream
of a place where you would hope to retire after you have lived out your years
of toil and sweat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And while you are at it, do not
forget to swim in it. That was our highlight. Jump into the lake (freezing
waters) and take a few relaxed laps. It’s the whole idea that comes in your
mind as your read this – that crystal clear water, a warm sun, people calmly
fishing by the banks, or some swimming inside the lake, along with the ducks – Bled
is exactly a perfect vacation; away from the din of life, from the rush of
traffic, or worries. It was just day 1, and Slovenia had managed to win us over
totally. We knew we would be coming back to escape again, or just to hide away
from the world, someday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Incidentally, The World Rowing
Championships in 1979, 1989 and 2011 were held at Lake Bled. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As the sun set on the dazzling
pristine lake, we made our way back to the hostel. An acute observation that
needs to be mentioned here, is how safe the entire Bled town is. We were not
only assured of this by the locals, we personally felt safe too. The banks of
the lake light up with music and lamps, and an infectious festive mood sets in
after dusk hours. All around the Bled and surrounding areas there are numerous monuments like the Bled castle, and other churches which add dimension to the captivating landscapes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Unimaginable bliss, a detached
quietude and a place where everyone, even strangers greet you with a smile –
Bled stole away our hearts. Even as I write this piece, I can transport myself to
that beauty and find solace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwgcXm-fZ-g2M1xdU93FmYBD3tnyesKXzepPRvLe3gruPnyYULbnSPk0pNXtilqCqj8TcmaDj-nnR5iqXuEBRamMBore0ozGhAz479WnLMTAJAhhcKfqZXnRk6SKH-kCfSSWBFp5OvnU/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.04.39.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwwgcXm-fZ-g2M1xdU93FmYBD3tnyesKXzepPRvLe3gruPnyYULbnSPk0pNXtilqCqj8TcmaDj-nnR5iqXuEBRamMBore0ozGhAz479WnLMTAJAhhcKfqZXnRk6SKH-kCfSSWBFp5OvnU/s400/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.04.39.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Lake Bohinj</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Another mystical, and an even
larger lake, called Bohinj, is a bus ride away from Bled. Roughly about 3 times
the size of Lake Bled, it is the largest lake in Slovenia and located within
the Bohinj Valley of the Julian Alps. A haven for hikers, swimmers and people
who just want to be lost in the wild beauty of the place, Bohinj too, turned
out to be much more than our expectations. Even the fishes were friendly, hovering
around our feet, as we soaked in the cold waters of the endless lake. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Savica Waterfall</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Another bus
ride took us to the majestic Savica Waterfall – whose beauty I will deign to
not describe. I would falter miserably with my words, adjectives and emotions. I
will let my pictures do the talking. It is quite a climb to reach the viewpoint
of the fall – rough cut steps hewn out of the rocks in the greenest of woods,
it makes you feel like you are following the trail of a mysterious fae, who
leaves behind a magical route of sunlight blending in various shades of green,
mixed in with the soft sounds of the forest. It tests your endurance, sure, but
it is worth it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Our concluding feat was a 3 km
ride uphill to the Vintgar Gorge. Given our fitness level was well below the
lower limit, we struggled as we rode our bikes up to the parking area of the
gorge. But we were pretty confident that Slovenia wouldn’t fail us at all.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0lMTrJNzw3u6RveO4UASj5SJ6RGTo5VPSeFclbZubMWIHFnH7i7V2dXDq2ad-NqajKqoqUejD52d8TS-aypb9CoKQx3WlYs31s95ZNAOvFB2b4SPZdAhdhiOxeR1Y6i4aP25I_rPDBtA/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.01.54+%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0lMTrJNzw3u6RveO4UASj5SJ6RGTo5VPSeFclbZubMWIHFnH7i7V2dXDq2ad-NqajKqoqUejD52d8TS-aypb9CoKQx3WlYs31s95ZNAOvFB2b4SPZdAhdhiOxeR1Y6i4aP25I_rPDBtA/s400/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.01.54+%25282%2529.jpeg" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Vintgar Gorge</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The entire
enigmatic gorge measures around 1.6-kilometer and is carved by the Radovna
River, which has created many erosive features such as pools and rapids. A wooden
observation walkway has been constructed along the gorge for public access. I will
urge visitors to walk the entire bridge, to view the mesmerizing green waters
fall and rise, create pools and silent streams all along the way. It is truly a
magical experience. A couple of fellow travelers were mad enough to venture a
dip into the freezing water. Even though I loved swimming in any water body I could
get my hands on, I avoided to jump into the river, given my aforementioned
friends had turned all shades of red in the sheer cold waters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Slovenia, in itself is a little
place tucked in the map of Europe, neighbouring its more famous cousin,
Croatia. Consequently, at times, the number of people frequenting places like
Bled might turn out to be favorably less. And if you are looking to get away,
Slovenia is the place to be. The whole country has a greeting card vibe to it –
pretty sloped rooftops, flowered balconies, majestic mountains, and sparkling
streams, the best of hiking trails, and peaceful roads to bike on. I know i sounds
too good to be true. We had thought so too. But it was just as I had seen in
pictures when I had googled Bled in my browser. I would say it turned out to be
even more beautiful. We were fortunate to be in Bled, during their music festival,
which added flavor to our already seduced minds. Live music, food stalls,
chattering people, sun baked streets and fresh trout from the lake. Need I say
anymore?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">If Europe is on your agenda, I would
plead with you to make some room for Slovenia. It will surprise you, and
entrance you. Almost to an extent that you wouldn’t want to leave till you have
had your fill of the peace that the place exudes. It is more than the pristine
beauty of the place, it is the laidback, warm charm of the it all and its Kremsnita
(cream cake) that touches you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The sad girl found her little cottage
by the lake, or so she tells me. A little wooden thing, just off Bled, and also
a job in the nearest bar where the music is always good, and their music system
even better. She isn’t sad anymore. She is alive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; text-align: justify;">That is what Slovenia managed to
do to me. Make me alive, give me my element back, of the dreamy nature loving
loner spirit that I used to be. Untainted by economy debates, and business
dilemma. Who knows? Maybe someday, I’ll find my cottage by the lake too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNU3V5I5Sn16HYE5VGl-bUJDOR96u5uM2tx445n0PIUFjVYrbU2nXOakJM4-BqGfVEpJcgwjXZ4LohszAIXimVgD3d-qn-hptCrKh2lxtdz-gSdDDjDm5cY24iTAYB5m2tJZU46TB87w/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.04.38+%25282%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpNU3V5I5Sn16HYE5VGl-bUJDOR96u5uM2tx445n0PIUFjVYrbU2nXOakJM4-BqGfVEpJcgwjXZ4LohszAIXimVgD3d-qn-hptCrKh2lxtdz-gSdDDjDm5cY24iTAYB5m2tJZU46TB87w/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2016-09-02+at+00.04.38+%25282%2529.jpeg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com04260 Bled, Slovenia46.3683266 14.11457980000000146.324498100000007 14.033898800000001 46.4121551 14.195260800000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-83764500602841903032016-08-24T12:29:00.004+05:302016-08-25T11:30:12.720+05:30Mystical Praha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prague Castle</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Have you read this book by Laini
Taylor, I would ask? A beautiful tale of how a devil and an angel fell in love.
Of romance, and dark spires, of fumes of magic and colours of life mixed in an
imaginary pallete. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">That is exactly how I would
describe Prague. The living beating heart of Europe, streets bustling with life
and music. The city of a hundred spires, looming towers and clocks, of masks
and bridges, art and culture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Needless to say, Prague had always
been on my to-do list, I had to stand at the exact spot where Akiva and Karou
had flown down on the Charles Bridge, and just soak in the fantasia of magic
and dreams. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A complete romantic, yes that
would be me. Would I waste this space to narrate how Praha is? No. Hundreds of
enthralled tourists will do that for you. You would need to hear about that
magical realm from a rosey-eyed dreamer like me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prague’s public transport is
surprisingly easy to get, and there are no dearth of blogs helping you out to
figure out the transit from airport. The best part of the city is how you can
traverse on foot to all the monuments on your checklist. Of course there are
nostalgic trams that cover the city, and give you a nice view of Praha’s
districts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But where’s the fun in that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So there we were, two friends
celebrating their ten years of friendship, of battling adulthood and
adolescence, daily headaches of jobs and the struggles of life. In our best
clothes, our cameras and the best walking shoes. Ready to explore. Step into
the trip of our lifetime.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXAsTugr70qOIDdAAtkn4j47TDOn8d3yOEp2kkCG7DLc_R-fT6Vr3-i6sp8gmyX7F6mWF5_CLGfiKL5ORvRx0fU_HZOQk5FzFKkjTfAiUnE3P9KRdZzuLN1mz6348lVsBNgAsBTLkl3KA/s1600/cathedral.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXAsTugr70qOIDdAAtkn4j47TDOn8d3yOEp2kkCG7DLc_R-fT6Vr3-i6sp8gmyX7F6mWF5_CLGfiKL5ORvRx0fU_HZOQk5FzFKkjTfAiUnE3P9KRdZzuLN1mz6348lVsBNgAsBTLkl3KA/s400/cathedral.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">St. Vitus Cathedral</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">W</span><span style="text-align: justify;">hat Laini has done incredibly well
in her book is painting the city in her words– the enamor, and the faint scent
of mysticism of it. And she was right certainly. I cannot emphasize enough what
the spirit of Praha does to you, as it quietly brews into your subconscious,
lulling you into an ethereal plane of dreams, stories, and fantasy. You feel like
there was an elf that was following you perhaps, or a gargoyle watching you as
your crossed the street. The cathedral and the castle towers piercing the sky,
bathing the city in the hallowed moonlight, as stories conjure up in the
shadows of the night.</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Fairy tale city.</i> Just the right
amount of sorcery, wishes and darkness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We weren’t ready to be awed by <i>each</i> of the corners we took, or the
streets we walked on endlessly. It almost felt like every building spoke
volumes, captured history worth tens of books, a different character in its
spires, murals and carvings. The colours and lights, and especially the old
cobbled streets, full of stories about alchemists and magicians who would have roamed
around years ago, or how the streets witnessed as invading armies stormed in during
war times. Parts of the city remains untouched by the monstrosity of
modernization, or from the twenty first century quirks. Dominated by hundreds
of beautiful gothic spires, the city has a breathtaking view no matter where
you turn your head. Of course the Old town square is the liveliest part –
street performers, musicians, the incessant buzz of the tourists and flashing
cameras – you get the idea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKTdu12DtDjpErQaxg7IDyBauI7vgSu5VFFAsEA9tsM8Zoa1oxUnk-KFjZxFKglzMB3iPtmAmkTpILWT2InC4uOCEa_Q_DYWno4Y2Kv_uubM6oYEw4HJabHUCGRuIoyuwOjTuO4poY0sY/s1600/red+tops.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKTdu12DtDjpErQaxg7IDyBauI7vgSu5VFFAsEA9tsM8Zoa1oxUnk-KFjZxFKglzMB3iPtmAmkTpILWT2InC4uOCEa_Q_DYWno4Y2Kv_uubM6oYEw4HJabHUCGRuIoyuwOjTuO4poY0sY/s400/red+tops.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Frankly, I don’t know which of
the monuments I should list down as a must visit for future tourists. What I can
say, is go without a set plan, or a very rudimentary one. What Praha has established
splendidly is the element of surprise, even in its deserted corners. You cannot get lost in
its magnificent streets. And you will run out of time, and you will not stick
to your plan. You will want to explore the daylight avenues, and lit up bridges
at night. We did have an itinerary, but we had more fun simply breathing in the
air of the throbbing city. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Petrin hill is a nice quaint
spot that you shouldn’t miss out on. The rose garden is gorgeous, and you are
spoilt for choice of photo ops. The view from the Petrin Hill Observatory Tower
needs a mention. You see the Vltava River, crisscrossed with bridges, and the
red tiled houses in daylight – even from that distance the Charles Bridge
stands out – it looks like the travelling wizard who is back from his battles
with his scarred, fatigued yet cheerful face, brimming with stories of joy and
horror, of tales of beautiful people and lands stored in his veins. If you are
an escapist, spend endless hours on the bridge alone, with the tourists,
artists, the river below, and the dazzling Prague castle lit up at
night. It disconnects you from your woes, your worries and transports you into
a different realm altogether.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The weather, thankfully favoured
us throughout the three days we spent in Prague (too less, if you really are
there for the vibe and not just to check it off your list). We covered most of
these areas on foot, cameras clicking incessantly, as we just couldn’t get over
how charming this small city can be. And just then, when you take a right turn
after the endless walking, you come to graffiti wall. Nothing out of the
ordinary you would think?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcJfbjGR2gxcQshvynjpLb2OjFXcP4F7xeiLyqtXU8mAATAJl4C_DD54b0gBx6tIVErIu5UuvLrgFVr7tqh_kqHysRTAyQ1uXOBgUdcni3lZJSHcTajvgraDIyyiZCCqQXUCmkp8BZ3I/s400/lennon+wall.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">John Lennon Wall</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;">An entire wall dedicated to the
Beatles, and more to John Lennon is what you see. The Lennon wall in itself spewed so much
exuberance in its colours, its hard not to be cheered up when you see it. You have
people singing the Beatles hits, and some leaving their own impressions on the
wall. Most of these sights are best viewed in daylight of course, but then that’s
taken care of by the sun setting at around 9 PM.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Czech cuisine is meat heavy, and I
loved it. Don’t forget the Angelato, of course – the tiramisu flavoured gelato
was drool worthy, and worth the wait in a very long queue after a long day of
walking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I fell in love with Prague, with
its bohemian waves, with goulash, and the touch of alchemy in its air. The ability
to make dreamers thrive in its hidden cool corners of the Gothic towers, walk a
million miles on its cobbled pavements and not feel a thread of exhaustion. It makes
you feel like you are exactly where you need to be, right now, at this moment
in your life. Where you need to flee, taste a morsel of free air, and bite into
the beauty of art as it seeps into your taste buds forming permanent memoirs to
be ingrained in the lines of your palms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Prague gets stored in your mind like
a page from an old book that you have reread several times, that one page which
made you feel happy, and safe, its words touched your heart, as love triumphed,
and hope conjured the magic of stardust, each time you read that page with the need to escape. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com0Prague, Czech Republic50.0755381 14.4378004999999849.749331100000006 13.79235349999998 50.4017451 15.083247499999981tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-54943806755147053562016-06-03T15:25:00.001+05:302016-06-03T16:41:39.056+05:30Knocking on Heaven's Door<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimnGBj1JficYtAAiMA10H4qBMRPB8NHxsWPn4ntq9uLzZH6ktJA23qicWXiMGd973vITZf246kq4j4YH0tmmdfHT-bzNzzSJA2ZK29MapGtRJM1Bj8lsxYybUBUN2VTZ2zsFgksRXKixI/s1600/waiting-girl-300x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimnGBj1JficYtAAiMA10H4qBMRPB8NHxsWPn4ntq9uLzZH6ktJA23qicWXiMGd973vITZf246kq4j4YH0tmmdfHT-bzNzzSJA2ZK29MapGtRJM1Bj8lsxYybUBUN2VTZ2zsFgksRXKixI/s1600/waiting-girl-300x200.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Token no. <b>89330011294297667</b>?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The guard with a very silly
wreath on his head stares at me, as I hand him over the torn parchment with my
token on it. It was generated, as soon as I died. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Child, we are still at numbers
starting with 3…, are you sure this is correct?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ask your Daddy dearest – His queue
machine gave me that, I say in my head. I nod at him again, reminding myself my
sarcasm would get me into trouble here. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“You will have to wait till the
numbers before you are done – the machine must have malfunctioned. No worries,
see that park there? Go wait out – you will love the place, your transcript
says you love nature and painting. You will have plenty to keep yourself busy.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
For an angel, he is quite chatty,
and I hate his plastic smile. I take my parchment back and glide over to the
park.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I am not exactly surprised that
my number isn’t up. I take a nice deep breath in – the cherry trees are in full
blossom, in January nonetheless. The grass crunches beneath my feet as I find
my spot beside the smooth steel sheet of water in the lake. There is already an aisle, some sheets and
paints waiting for me. The perk of being dead, I think to myself, is that you
no longer need payment gateways. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The other people, or souls that
come after me, wave at me at times, or simply trudge through the gate to
Heaven, after handing over the token to the guard. I feel pity for him, quite a
boring gig. He would have done well as a model for Vogue. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Your brush strokes are lovely
Mia. You must be so talented.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I nod. I smile. I know the drill.
I did that when I was alive as well. I check the ornate calendar hanging on the
wall by Raffe’s station. For an angel, his name seemed cool. He had hideous
choice of wall décor though.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>One month, 24 days since I died.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“Your friends miss you - Tanya
and Yvonne. Even Jay. Such a pretty boy he is.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I wish he would stop talking to
me. I have never responded back. I guess nonverbal communication is just as
sucky here as on Earth. Tanya has a son now. She won’t miss me. Yvonne is busy
with her dreams, she couldn’t make time for my funeral. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And Jay. Dear Jay. He had all the
time in the world to fall in love with me, but would only realize that as I lay
in my coffin. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
They were all waiting for me to
be happy, and getting tired of it. I was too. My death was well timed I think.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I sigh and check the pile of
books beside me. New books have already been added overnight. I clap my hands
at the dragon shaped bookmark fashioned out of steel. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Two months, twelve days.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I look at the meandering queue in
front of me, and their tokens still starting with 4. I think how their lives
have been – sad, happy, triumphant, pathetic. Atleast death was seamless. No waiting
around in the park and sharpening your hobbies for them. This anomaly had
happened only twice before me, since the birth of man.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Ain’t I lucky?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Four months, five days.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The sky always changes colours
here, blue, inky black, purple, red. The Powers-to-be gifted me a husky last
week, who is always around. Nipping at my feet, licking my face. I love Hugo. And
I know, my wait has just been extended. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I am used to waiting, I tell
myself. I nod, smile and wave as I should. Raffe gets promoted to some other
post, as I don’t see him anymore. As the year turns, he is replaced by Amy. She
is nice and quiet, and would sometimes come sit with me by the lake and watch
the earth go around the sun, ever so slow and consistent in its pace. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I see my room being used by new
tenants in our old house. The appointment letter from Ogilvy was thrown away in
the dumpster. It had arrived a day after my accident.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I see Jay getting married. I hear
his sad monologue by my grave. I don’t feel a thing. He isn’t the one who had
to live without being loved back. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Yvonne and Tanya have become best
friends. That didn’t irk me. I had always felt like a filler with them. Tragedies
seem to bring people closer. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The huge oak trees in my
neighbourhood are cut down, despite my initiative to save them. I guess,
whatever I did when I was alive, crumbled down miserably at the end. I laugh to
myself. I realize, the larger part of my thirty years of existence was spent in
waiting for things to happen. For the reader, this must sound sad. Why didn’t you
make things happen?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I did. I went to Europe. I worked
at an animal shelter. I rescued a bird. I
tried dating apps, gave it my all. I read so much. I loved Jay like Icharus
loved the sun. I created five different resumes. I lighted candles in the
church. I studied products, and business, and marketing. I cooked. Painted a
lot. Danced. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And then I waited.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Enough efforts, and effort to be
enough are two different animals altogether. And somewhere in between, I was
stuck in limbo, counting down or up, I never seemed to know.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>One year, twenty days. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The park seems just like my life
sometimes. Frozen, beautiful on the outside. Perfect in its dimensions. Glowing
with adulation. But you delve deeper, and you see no life of its own. It is as
it should be to each waiting soul. A library to some, a jogging track to
others. To me a park. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Five years, three months, two days.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
You would think with the number
of deaths in the world, my turn would have come eventually. I’m sure it will. As
I’m sure you always had a plan for me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But with the stated arguments
above, or rather with the detailed journaled case that I have sketched for you,
I reject your offer of being admitted to heaven. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
When I died more than a year
back, I had thought I would be at peace, just silent, as always, but above
tears, and heartbreak, and the hopeless chasm of living. But the offer came
with an additional burden of replicating what I had seen as I was alive, and
that doesn’t suit me anymore. I understand that no soul can just drift around
to survive on its own.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But sir, let me take that chance.
As I am done waiting the chance to come to me. I don’t want chances anymore. I just
want to separate myself from the rut of the so-called competition for jobs, for
love, for entry to heaven to rest in peace. I lose either way, alive or dead. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I’m rather tired. Even after
dying.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Hence, please accept this as a
formal letter of rejection.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Raffe and Amy are brilliant
soldiers of your cause, and they have been good friends to me. I leave this
letter with the parchment token with her, respectfully declining to be a part
of your games. As unnoticed as I have been all my life, I hardly think, my absence
would cause any inconvenience. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I would make sure, though, that
you are aware of my location – I won’t make things dramatic by completely
disappearing. My postcards would be with
Amy. I apologise, but I will take Hugo with me as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I hope we meet some day, over tea
and cupcakes, and discuss about life, worlds, origins and everything. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But I am not waiting for that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
Respectfully, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
Soul no.: 89330011294297667<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-83391924941807532752016-01-25T12:15:00.000+05:302016-01-25T13:16:12.715+05:30More or Less<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOSkSwP5D4mahWKTSC_bctKQmGtk1ag3z2iBiRfgwGFsQGmnUHp4mvcqBIuFfI34-bSUJKqS7h19HuN9J4QQEComIcNOSQIvirELZblh6KSVr0NfYiOBWRfZ3dK-hm689bn9UQVSo22o/s1600/il_570xN.223100123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinOSkSwP5D4mahWKTSC_bctKQmGtk1ag3z2iBiRfgwGFsQGmnUHp4mvcqBIuFfI34-bSUJKqS7h19HuN9J4QQEComIcNOSQIvirELZblh6KSVr0NfYiOBWRfZ3dK-hm689bn9UQVSo22o/s640/il_570xN.223100123.jpg" width="444" /></a>As a kid, there would always be
someone, be it parents, role model, the neighbour’s cool kid or your teacher,
who told you to be more. More than just an average Joe, more than a good
student, or a passable singer. More than just a good human being, more than
loving. You always needed to be more than where you were, or what you were.
Success, would be scaled on how many mores you climbed, or how many such levels
you crossed. Social, academics, spiritual or emotional. Hence, growing up, you
never rested with just 90% in your grades, or just one friend or a degree.
There was so much more outside your window.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
However, after 27 years of being
alive in a world full of mores, I have realised how we forget to tell our
children to draw the line somewhere. That sometimes, being lesser works for the
best. Works better for him. We don’t tell him that with all the mores that you
accumulate in your hat, you are pushed farther away from others and from the
normality defined by our skewed society. We don’t teach him how to separate the
mores that are accepted by people as good, wanted, and those that just make him
weird or too much to handle. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
You cannot be too good, too
sweet. You cannot be too open or too strong. Too talented, or an over achiever.
Not to the extent that people around you feel uncomfortable. For being normal,
in the banal definition of the world, the standards of more are defined as
well, and the moment we exceed that, the red lights of “Outlier” flashes on our
heads. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
We don’t tell him that somewhere
down the line, in 20 years, people with lesser range of emotions, lesser range
of achievements, somehow end up happier. Content. We don’t tell him that at the
end, being happy is all that matters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So, after a mindless struggle of
conforming to nonsensical rules, and being torn apart by others’ expectations and
our own responsibilities and desire, we reach at a point to wonder, was it
worth it at all? It isn’t enough to be more. It isn’t enough to want to know
more, be more, and learn more. Explore or feel more. You have to eventually
garner the strength to tolerate isolation. As this is the breed that is never
satisfied with the mundane normal levels. They look up to the sky and feel the
need to fly. To travel to a thousand worlds on an imaginary ship made of
shells. Or paint pictures of the sea on the sand with a permanent dye. Intensity
and passion is what their blood is made of. Their minds are beyond cages of
normalcy. Yet, such a thing is dangerous. So many levels, so many layers to a
person is exhausting, it is a thing of fear. It doesn’t excite people to take
the pleasure of peeling such layers off that person, to know a different
version every day, every night. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
To know that today she is the
lamb, tomorrow the vixen. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
That today, he is my saviour, and
tomorrow my destruction. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In a world that is over simplified
with science and technology, with intelligence and detachment, why would such a
wondrous task not fill us with enthusiasm, the joy to look forward to learn of
more such dimensions, to tear through till we reach the core, and hold his/her
beating heart on our skin to warm our own. What is the point of extending our
reach to more than just three dimensions in reality, if, in life, all we are up
for is dealing with one dimensional humanity? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
No, don’t get me wrong. I have no
objections to simplicity – in liking just one flavour of ice cream, or just one
movie. Having read just one book end to end. Or being simply nice. Or
completely evil. I am not advocating to complicate your life just for the sake
of it. For the sake of being more. The thin line separating those two
existences, of why we don’t fully grasp the concept of accepting it as it is,
worries me. Simple. Complicated. Circle. Square. Hideous. Fresh. Straight.
Jumbled. It just is. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So, I would tell my children,
that it isn’t enough being more. That there is a clear choice in being different
and being accepted. I would tell her to have the strength in order to be a
misfit. In order to be complicated. If she likes both blue and green, it
presents a problem to the concept of simplicity. If she wants to be nice and
slutty. If she enjoys parties and her isolation. These questions, these mere
thoughts cause confusion, a hassle to people, as loving her would be
exhausting, and require so much efforts to just know her all. I would tell her,
to be prepared to be alone, or to bear the pain of breaking her bones to fit in
the box. I would tell her to not look beyond the simply sweet girl for a
friend, to only be reliant on make-up hobbies but not to cherish a monster
truck fetish along with it as well. I will tell her to reduce the number of
dimensions she adds to herself, as it makes her exotic – a thing worthy of a 10
minute discussion, or jealous whispers, but never a cherished possession, or wanted
company. Very few would dare to delve into her depths, or find joy in the
layers she adds to the diurnal mundane walks of life. I will tell her, not to
be too much. Too much to be herself and be rejected. Or be rejected, and yet
find that happy bubble of self-worth to keep her life afloat, even when I am
not around anymore. I will tell her, the world is only ready to walk on moon,
and understand the core of the earth. That the world wants to fight over God
and be moved when animals are slaughtered. But they are yet to understand their
own need for acceptance, an insane desire of being a part of the society when
most of them are misfits. They are yet to overcome the fear of isolation, of
being associated with that weird kid in their class. Of being responsible of
understanding and embracing the many layers within them and others. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Simplicity is a treasure to
enjoy, and cherish. Of course. But were we made to be simple, at all? With 206
bones, and the inexplicable lines on our palms, with the grey and white matter
both, and an appendix that can be removed with no visible harm to the body
functions. If nature designed us to be a complex jumble of sweat, blood and
bones, of emotions and wisdom, why do we settle for lesser, why do we force
unwilling participants to join an abysmal race of normality? Where is this book
of normality anyway? Who wrote it? Why do we adhere to it with such fear and
vigour?<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Why do we always aim to fit in
the box, when we could fly to the stars and conquer our dreams? Why reduce the
purpose of being alive to commit to the rote of monotone, when it was to enjoy
and bask in the wonders of the world? Until our wings fall off, or we are burnt
away to cinders. Until there is so much love connecting us, that no one is left
alone. Until we stop defining the mores and lessers.</div>
<o:p></o:p></div>
Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-4441554228036616782016-01-17T02:37:00.000+05:302016-01-19T14:50:30.829+05:30For the love of Thira<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
If I were to sum up 2015 in a few
words – I would say, a crappy year. That’s it. But, then, I will take a pause,
breath in and let my mind astray into the closed box of memories that I keep
away from the reach of my monsters. And there, by the end of the lane, where
the bulb in the lamp post flickers incessantly, while the rest of the area is
plunged in darkness, I arrive at my hidden portal. It houses those bits of
happy places that still warm me, when the cold outside is biting or the heat is
intolerable. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Amongst the sheaf of memories is
my Christmas of 2015. Amongst those very heaps is my new year of 2016. That snowy
night, counting down to midnight in a small club by the road, hidden from view by
more of those pretty houses and the rocky roads. A shot each, with best of
friends. Music thumping in our ears. Pretty, pretty Fira. You stole our hearts,
locked it away for good in your mystic enthralling air. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
A note here for the people who
plan to visit Thira – everything is closed on January 1. We walked on for
endless miles in search of highly reviewed eateries, only to be disappointed.
Not even the towns, or churches were open. But that’s the catch, as, dear
traveller, I cannot begin to tell you what that does to you. That you are there.
In the cradle of that unsurpassable beauty, alone. With no sounds of modernity,
the din of human intervention. You are there, alone, to absorb in all of that
intoxicating aura, undisturbed. That your voice echoes through the small steps
leading up to a blue domed church. Pine cones litter the streets, and you walk
on them to reach this place, where, as the sun spreads its splendour in the
horizon, the colours brewing in front of you make you feel small and yet so
lucky. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So, before we start, even the
idea, that I can describe Santorini and pen down an experiential treatise, is
laughable. This can only be a mechanical journal of the places we covered. Because,
to write down, what that experience actually did to our minds, is an impossible
feat for mere mortals like me. So, just take my word, save up a little and take
that trip that you have been planning unconsciously, when those blue domes and
white walled pictures creep up on your social media pages. Nothing can do
justice to what you behold when you are there. The caldera, the calm sea waters
and standing aimlessly at the Ammoudi Bay. That is exactly what I did. Stared.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
And I walked. Walked in those
narrow lanes of white walls, looking over the sea, and a hint of sunlight bouncing
off the bluest of domes, and that stationary windmill. I heard my heart race,
and my breath mist in front me, swirling into shapeless forms, dissipating in
the chilly winds, and the shallow snow. I was blinded, breathless, almost as if
my soul, at that moment left my body to fly over that mesmerising sight. Oia,
that little village of those ethereal pictures captured by travellers. And I stood
in its narrow lane, trying to memorise every particle of that moment in my air,
my taste buds. The magic of the gods and humans to create such a thing of pure
joy and wonder. The touch of two shades blending in with nature to burst in
your eyes into a plethora of all things good. And finding that little book
shop, tucked in its corner, a smiling cat and a happy dog. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
A slice of heaven, is what I would
say if someone were to ask me to describe that moment. For it is a place where
colours come to life and dance mysteriously to hypnotise you. Where rocks,
water, trees and earth twist and turn to make you wonder at how such beauty is
even possible. The red sea, the black sea, the meandering passages of those
little towns of Firostefani and Immerovigli, the village of Pyrgos. I don’t think
I can ever cease this list of the secrets of Thira. The secrets that you
unravel with your stay, the little moments of pure awe and then a feeling of
thanking your stars for this moment in your life, where nothing sad, no misery
can touch you. Thira makes you feel special, beautiful, it makes you embrace
all the happy parts in you and hug yourself in joy. You don’t want to leave. You
don’t really want to leave. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It was, in a way, truly
fortunate, that we chose to visit at a time, when Santorini isn’t crowded. At
all. It almost felt like we were the only people there, basking in all of that
majesty. Summers would definitely have a lot of holidaying crowd. But I am
told, early December, is an ideal time to visit this breath taking Greek island
as well. Although, if you were like me, you would have fallen in love with the
isolation, and the feeling of getting lost in those pine shaded roads, or the
white washed little homes, the majestic volcano view and the bright and
riveting Aegean Sea. No man can return from Santorini without realising what
true beauty is, without being awed to the marrow of his bones. Without wanting
more, a slice, a morsel of that, forever in his blood. Without leaving his heart
behind, to mesh in with the air. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Somewhere down the line, I would like to hope that petty money matters will cease to be the purpose of my life and,
marriage and children wouldn’t be the sole destination of my existence. No,
they aren’t unimportant. Don’t start bickering with me on that. But a 21<sup>st</sup>
century female participant of the rat race, is hardly a master of her destiny. All
I say is for hungry souls like mine, for thirsty eyes like I have, for taste
buds that want to forever churn the salt and sugar of wonders and fear, for
ears that yearn for the sounds of magic and the tinkle of fairy dust from the
church bells, for brains whose nature is too volatile to be contained in jars
of jobs and happy homes – that we take that one way ticket, get a job in the
bakery round the street in Fira square, right next to the music store and never
come back. Till the senses have had their fill, till the art in your veins have
flooded the air, and you have soaked in all the glory of the place. To be lost
to something of worth, of dreams. Just once, for a while.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com3Santorini, Greece36.3931562 25.46150920000002336.1886847 25.138785700000025 36.5976277 25.784232700000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-51201739838968748312016-01-11T23:27:00.005+05:302016-01-19T14:45:27.431+05:30Istanbul's invisible magic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6TR64lDhYEjp_6dynX_A3hqGrFFACRNeGiy2N83F3haCsPc0XcTP30HLSbShlP_P9mM5WM-T70Odsn25prgB0B0ZFg93i895hGF9teEWRN5B96z5Q7S9uSrSylIqLpYk15-On81i9Xpw/s1600/IMG_3714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6TR64lDhYEjp_6dynX_A3hqGrFFACRNeGiy2N83F3haCsPc0XcTP30HLSbShlP_P9mM5WM-T70Odsn25prgB0B0ZFg93i895hGF9teEWRN5B96z5Q7S9uSrSylIqLpYk15-On81i9Xpw/s640/IMG_3714.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: justify;">I have often wondered about déjà
vu. How some things would suddenly feel like a part of you, like they have
always been under the skin – running through your veins quietly. How you have
been here before, maybe aeons ago. Or many lives ago.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Istanbul. Having read so much
about it, to prepare for the dream tour, and, more so in one of my comfort
fantasy novels, nothing could have prepared me for the pulse in that city. Like
one of those echoes that sometimes rings through your soul. The ones that go
unnoticed. The regular day job of living, leaves no scope of listening to those
unnerving sighs from within your heart. It just doesn’t. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
But Christmas 2015 was like a
trip to the boulevards of my mind. Istanbul, you have made me more than the
usual invisible wreath of bittersweet blossoms that I paint myself to be. More
than the whining winds that rattle in my head. There is a place between the
mysteries of the times past, and the fast paced modernity of the present – a place
where time stops at wonders, smooths over rough patches and flows on
effortlessly. Yes, Malachi had it correct in his words. Istanbul calls out to your
soul.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Was I biased to the streets and
monuments that I had read about numerous times? Istanbul was a place, where
angels fell in love. How could I not be? Just with the vibe. The air. The music.
An almost physical presence that I could, if I wanted to, reach out and hold
for a beating second. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I don’t think words would be
enough to summarise my three day visit to the magical city. I don’t think it
can be summarised in three days. I would take a week to just walk around in
Sultanahmet – the old roads, the tram routes, just walk past the shops, the
little cafes, the road signs to different cities of the world. Walk aimlessly. The food that you see through the glass, or the thick black coffee.<o:p></o:p><br />
Hard bread and cheese. So much cheese.<br />
And you stand near the Hippodrome, surrounded by the majestic architectural wonders of Topkapi, Blue Mosque or Aya Sofia. And you breathe in the old air, with the cackling electricity of life's secret - the way all religions had been churned together to create such glory.<br />
So, all you can do is walk and soak in. The summer
air, the winter chills. Not too cold. Not hot at all. The buzz. The talks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The incessant sounds of the Grand Bazaar.
The colours. The vibrant, seducing colours. Some muted, or incandescent. Shining bright from the glass shards in the lamps in consecutive shops. Or the flavoured teas, so many, calling out to us tea lovers. A cacophony of life, music and joy.<br />
I don’t want to pen down a
travelogue, about the mystical Aya Sofia, or the Galata tower. And the
effervescence of Istiklal. The ancient charm that still kissed some parts of
the city, yet the present times meandering through Beyoglu. I would rather talk
about that constant presence of something, a spirit, a whisper, in the streets
there. A mix of everything that I can think of to define life. Of sometimes a
glimpse of the misery. Of people in love. Trying to escape. Just being. Different
colours. Tongues. Of a fleeting moment of joy in finding a Bengali trying to
refill her Istanbulkart. Of the man by a restaurant balancing 5 wine glasses on
his head, in tune with the street musicians. There was never a moment vacant. Of
not wanting to explore more. To stop. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
There was nothing empty there. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Could these be the rantings of a
tourist? Yes of course. But as I stood there, staring at the cavernous, magnificent
Underground Palace, wishing a little wish, watching the fishes swim past the
coins, I would always be filled with awe for that moment. That breathtakingly,
still moment of my life, where I was a character of history, fantasy and dreams.
Out from the book, looking at the normal people. Basking in the magic. I almost
had wings. Or maybe fins. Red horns. Maybe a blue beak. And feline eyes. A mythic
creature, in a mythic land. And then again shape shift into a human to melt into
the streets of the bazaar, the city. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
This article wasn’t meant to be a
journal to point out what you should definitely try, or the tops 10 things to
do in Istanbul. It was more on what you would feel. Just beyond the horizons of
beauty, the wonder and the city itself, the realism of the brick and the roads,
is that realm of magic that you would feel inside you. I hope that you do. Atleast once. No pictures,
or pen would do justice to what the city is.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Istanbul, you chimera. You have
bewitched me. And I would crave for that magic in every turn of my life. And I would
suck on the spirit that I borrowed from you to imbue in mine. And carry that
charm, in my blood henceforth.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
An awestruck, hungry-for-more
tourist, signing off. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-13118475819525183782015-09-23T19:18:00.001+05:302015-09-24T03:40:47.973+05:30Soulmate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQ5fPYg_cCvLfWjS6kMLdZ1vafRQVdQ04W8hTB_6TaKNOZW7g6D9PSSXUayL_jGU1r3Eul-TN_QnMbX11zvsQdvfXdVMqbboBuWw5Q-1rcHt18poQY3jOvMqNFZsNdj3FpZtLC0Ag6lQ/s1600/flowerhead-woman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsQ5fPYg_cCvLfWjS6kMLdZ1vafRQVdQ04W8hTB_6TaKNOZW7g6D9PSSXUayL_jGU1r3Eul-TN_QnMbX11zvsQdvfXdVMqbboBuWw5Q-1rcHt18poQY3jOvMqNFZsNdj3FpZtLC0Ag6lQ/s320/flowerhead-woman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soul. That diseased, ignored fragment of life within her.
Tearing her apart with its words. Making her whole with its love.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That white, glowing floating entity, remember? That part of
her attending the judgement call, after her body is turned to dust. Her soul
peeked in from the heavens and laughed when her friends recalled memories, and
cried when her father held on to her sweater and cried. Each night.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Whoever said that her soul was just one? She was comprised
of tiny bits of those white incandescent things. They floated around in her
body, free, bouncing off one another, filling her with light. That day when
this journey started, her mind was filled with their babble. All of hers in a
chaotic tunnel.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They talked to one another, giggled when her tongue was tied as that tall geeky guy said hi. They wanted her to flirt, to change her social
media status so that he thought she was so cool.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They poked at her, when she thought about ways to exact
revenge on the bitch who flirted with him, some of them at least, the rest of
those bits gave her a thumbs up. “You don’t always have to be an angel”, they said.
And when her friend in the adjoining cubicle jumped into conspiring further about
how to swap her compact with chalk powder, those tiny “soul” bits in her revered
her, and did the hula dance. Soulmate, her friend was – hating the same bunch
of god awful pretentious women. Bitching, hating, sassing was only ever fun
with company. And that girl next to her cubicle was the perfect piece to this dimension
in her. She even liked the same boys. She found what she was missing – that one other who understood the illusions of life, the charm of music and the liberation in
dance. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But you told her, there was something still missing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those tiny soul bits would explode with joy when she headed
back and found her roommate waiting up for her, with a hot meal. Talk about the
day. The intolerable boss. Those never-ending spreadsheets. They hated her
boyfriend who was too perfect to be true. They even made you think what was so
special about her. But, some of those bits in her fell in love with her
roommate each day, when she braided her hair. And when she smiled in ecstasy as
she gave her a head massage in return. She found in her the peace of home, away
from home. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You told her, don’t you see how incomplete you are?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of those bits fluttered with joy, when after ages, that
boy, who she helped cheat in college exams, who watched all those super hero
movies with her, fought with her over who got the Wonder Woman figurine, called
and chatted for over an hour. He asked, did she know about the Suicide Squad
movie? No one understood the importance of graphic novels like he did. Who
would get, why Batman could beat Superman, and why Jean Grey died so many
times, if not him? She felt alive, talking about those movies, and that series,
which she couldn’t make head or tail of, and he would calmly explain what DDOS
in Mr. Robot meant. Those tiny soul bits in her, shared an immense tub of
popcorn with similar bits of him and laughed till they gagged while watching
Shutter. It <i>was</i> a funny ghost movie,
wasn’t it? She found the wings to her imagination, the endless watchlist of
movies and the perfect partner to duel with about the same. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You pointed out, that she had to realise what was missing,
what still wasn’t complete.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of those bits in her rejoiced at the sight of fried
chicken, and the others revolted, and put up banners of, “Eat Healthy, will
you?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She found reprieve in eating till she burst with her friend.
She hated her thick thighs, and those soul bits made her sigh when a skinny
female walked past her. She found serenity in exercising, for just a week, with
another one of her best buds. Those soul bits made her head ache. To eat or not to
eat?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those bits in her found solace in the girl next door, heart
broken, suffering alone and a lover of wine. Twin sisters. Her bits and yours
wiped each other’s tears and hoped for a better tomorrow. Her friends wouldn’t know
how to stitch up a broken heart. But she did. The girl always in black and
three piercings, shy smile. She would look at her and tell her in no words,
that somethings never really lasted in reality, but it was okay to try and make
them last in your mind till as long as you wanted. It was okay to remain wounded
till you wanted to heal. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She burst into tears when her brother came back from the
city with a bundle of books. And when the both of them read to each other, stories
of war, history, myths and magic till the sun came upon them. Her soul bits
loved the sound of his voice. She would never have known the wonder
of reading if not for him. That little escape window. That little treasure hunt
for the deepest secrets of life. A Book. All her soul bits would wait till the
weekend, to go huddle in the café shop, and wait for her brother and for the
next story. She thought she found her missing pieces every time she read. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They found home when she picked up the paint brush and
followed the strokes of her father on the empty canvas. Her mind rode free,
found a new light in the myriad of colours, in the crinkled eyes of her father
when he smiled. Life seemed complete. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Was it, you asked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those bits glowed more with pride, as she successfully
closed a big deal. Added another certificate, and a small medal to her cubicle.
They made her think, how lucky she was, educated, smart and going places. What else
would she need?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Are you sure, you asked her again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You asked, and you questioned, and filled her head with an
absurd idea of completeness- a wholeness that clung to our eyelashes during our
last dream of the night. In the sighs after reading a fairy tale. Your questions
gradually silenced those glowy bits in her.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then she had to grab all those pieces and glue them
together. Hold them all in her hands at once, even as some slipped away, fell off,
spilled over, never to be collected. That thing she made, as the pieces were stuck
together, never thought freely again. Never watched a movie without thinking of
spreadsheets. Never ate with a smile. Never found the time to read. She hoped
that those pieces would together find a match, who would give her all – the
highs and the lows, the warmth and the cream from his coffee cup. The words and
the colours. That's what you were hinting at all along, weren't you?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You made her stitch them together, and match with something,
someone who would make her complete. Whole. Surely, there was someone, she
thought, ecstatic – who would fulfil all that she had found and more. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And hopes turned brittle with time, as the pieces were
eroded by the storm, and none could escape. Stuck together in a two dimensional
form, stored in an obvious visible alcove of her heart – that entity was robbed
over and over in a journey that, in reality would never have a destination. Which
in fact, never had to be a journey at all. Maybe, if they were free, some would
have escaped, some survived to preserve a semblance of her in the book
of life. A memory of her laughing, crying or maybe just reading. A blush on her
face as he stroked her chin. And then let her fly on the wings of her imagined
beast with three horns. Maybe if they were free, he wouldn’t have left her, because she was too much. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why don’t you ask now, if that was complete?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As her body turned to dust, those bits in her exploded
within. They weren’t meant to be together, you know. They weren’t meant to be
for just one person to trap her. She was a phoenix of the tales, a butterfly emerging
from the caterpillar. Sometimes that brooding owl as well. Her separate forms
were what made her a wonder. A spell. How could just one be a supposed soul
mate? Your idea of the perfect wholeness ripped her apart, while gluing those bits together forcefully. Those bits in her found their mates in that boy who smiled, in that friend
who she shopped with, in her brother’s voice, in her father’s eyes. Even the
stranger who played online quizzes with her. Until you forced her to hold those pieces together. All in the quest for something that could never be. A
person that wasn’t possible. Could you be so many things to another? Would you
want so many things from another?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Was that fair? Was it needed?<o:p></o:p><br />
How many lost souls would be bartered for your idea?<br />
She was stranded on a lonely road, as slowly those bits lost their light. Gradually, the spark diminished in the thirst for the match.<br />
How many such stories would you see, running in time loops?<br />
Do you not see, that the farce you created was like a mirage in the desert, like the belief that a fairy sat on our shoulders guiding our paths, like the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Generations ruined, dreams buried, lives burnt in the search of one answer, when there were several, waiting to be embraced. All those bits that made her, deserved to live. Each could be loved.<br />
All the glowing embers of the fire within her. All the stars on her body. All her forms. All her souls. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, she asks you, did her soul, have to, have to be just one?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-58050105292834295832015-03-04T01:23:00.000+05:302015-03-04T11:57:03.565+05:30The Perfect Matrimony Pic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuvz0Y_lpDMUCHp3vjUoDw-3SrOriQQX1IBl2ARnN_ysX_8y6NUP9f0IaG1e8KHj0jsyb3-Odh6ZXV1LC1rhsh7R-zLnTeqWF3QTDlYrZhzVgvB2OUei5poW0xScWAdFdkqjI7MmXV2s/s1600/819431d0-18ea-43fe-abab-366a7e634766-620x372.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuvz0Y_lpDMUCHp3vjUoDw-3SrOriQQX1IBl2ARnN_ysX_8y6NUP9f0IaG1e8KHj0jsyb3-Odh6ZXV1LC1rhsh7R-zLnTeqWF3QTDlYrZhzVgvB2OUei5poW0xScWAdFdkqjI7MmXV2s/s1600/819431d0-18ea-43fe-abab-366a7e634766-620x372.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuvz0Y_lpDMUCHp3vjUoDw-3SrOriQQX1IBl2ARnN_ysX_8y6NUP9f0IaG1e8KHj0jsyb3-Odh6ZXV1LC1rhsh7R-zLnTeqWF3QTDlYrZhzVgvB2OUei5poW0xScWAdFdkqjI7MmXV2s/s1600/819431d0-18ea-43fe-abab-366a7e634766-620x372.jpeg" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">To Future Husband,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">That picture you have of me- The gums are visible, you
see, in it. The smile gets ruined, they say – makes me look too enthusiastic.
And too happy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">That’s not right. Why
should I look too happy in the picture? I’m only having fun with my friends in
the pub. And damn, those legs are visible too. I know your paternal uncle, the
one who visits you once in every two years would really dislike such a shameless
woman to be included in the family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">Would you not drool at my
exposed back? But then so would the 150 men liking my picture on Facebook. I
mean, come on! How can a girl from a respectable family, unmarried,
independent, working, educated, smart and funny at that, even think of doing
that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">As for me, it would make me proud
when I think of the things you have done, of your degrees and achievements. Of
the people who look up to you. That the family adores you, mine and yours. That
no matter what, they’ll know you are around. I’d smile, (with my gums visible,
mind you!) and show off, that I’m so lucky to have you in my life. That
you didn't judge me by the fact that I like clubbing, and that
it isn't boring that I don’t drink or smoke. That I have
had boyfriends before. That I’m hilarious, and talented, and always interesting
to be around. That you like the corners I keep painting about, that I dance
while I make tea. And I sing. A lot. And the house is strewn with papers with
poems and stories scribbled on it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">That<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>was</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the reason, wasn't it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">And you would know more of me,
when you step away from the typecast pinned up in your mind, and put in an
effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">Let the reason not be the fact that I can
feed you, and your friends and family. I don’t mind doing that. But
it isn't my job description. That when you saw my picture I was thinner, I had
lost weight, just for that purpose. And if you do turn me down, please let it
be not because I don’t laugh at all your jokes, and that I can conjure better
comebacks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">That I love my long hair,
faded grey tee and shorts. And I hate make-up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">That there can be things
in the world that I<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>would</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>know more about than you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">I would choose you as
you wouldn't stereotype me as a feminist when I refuse to be
responsible for the evening tea every day. I would choose you because you
can talk about Wilde, Dexter, the Avengers, F1 racing and books. For at least
an hour. And that time wouldn't matter when I’m with you, just
talking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">I would choose you
because you wouldn't be worried if I knew more about sex. Or have
questions about it. Or that the fact that I can initiate a
conversation doesn't mean I’m over smart. And that I can be
interested in football too. And have an opinion and not be afraid to
express it. I would choose you because you would respect my space, my crazy
artsy space. And I would understand your deadline chasing, jock jokes world. I
care about family, so do you. I like having fun, so do you. I like books, and
you like your evening jog. And this would carry on too, and
life wouldn't be just about settling bills and buying groceries.
And that’s our world put together with the scraps of our imagination. Not with
one picture of what you or others painted in your mind revolving around your
world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">MBA, and a prior
engineer, with a plethora of hobbies, working as a consultant. I have crazy
work hours like you. Isn't it perfect that I would
actually sympathize with your work schedules as well? And
I wouldn't complain when you forget dates, as, hell, I would too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">So before you go any
further, take a good look, I’m imperfect with that too enthusiastic smile,
having fun at a beach, with a tan. I’m 26, and not waiting for my knight. I
prefer being my own knight. I even prefer being the wild horse running across
the sun kissed sands of the same beach. Not worrying that my hair is out of
place, that I’m not always surrounded by gawking men who think I’m way too hot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">I want you because you
would love living with me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">I’m me. I commit for
life. I love unconditionally. I come with my burden of mistakes and joys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">I respect you and what
you stand for. And that’s what I ask in return.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">I don’t mind the millions
of pints of beer you had, or that you enjoy staring at beauty. I do too. Only
human. Doesn’t have to do anything with the chromosomes we have. But at the end
of the day, there’s nothing more I’d love than to share a tub of popcorn with
you over an action flick, or just share coffee and go back to our monotony of
work, sitting beside each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">With
love,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 150%;">The
prospective Bride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<u1:p></u1:p>
</span><br />
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-KCv03rePcKo%2FVPYBoIO9iYI%2FAAAAAAAABnE%2F-Kwe7NMJjmM%2Fs1600%2F819431d0-18ea-43fe-abab-366a7e634766-620x372.jpeg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuvz0Y_lpDMUCHp3vjUoDw-3SrOriQQX1IBl2ARnN_ysX_8y6NUP9f0IaG1e8KHj0jsyb3-Odh6ZXV1LC1rhsh7R-zLnTeqWF3QTDlYrZhzVgvB2OUei5poW0xScWAdFdkqjI7MmXV2s/s1600/819431d0-18ea-43fe-abab-366a7e634766-620x372.jpeg" -->Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-69728497751136852582014-11-28T12:19:00.000+05:302014-12-01T08:47:35.118+05:30Lucifer Lost<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF07m6D9LkGXexR77N5uy7VTr5B5QWq-48vgyHY_4u3i__vtEzGxZhtIm2UpJ41c4zxDys6FxuS8tv9l7Ol7RO9llzXER7K61UArbb9nYBQJRpfUQMR9CvxQdUl6oRmZq7cWIV87b8I8Y/s1600/6c9772876ea5f8bb51dd4b61ae4951dd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF07m6D9LkGXexR77N5uy7VTr5B5QWq-48vgyHY_4u3i__vtEzGxZhtIm2UpJ41c4zxDys6FxuS8tv9l7Ol7RO9llzXER7K61UArbb9nYBQJRpfUQMR9CvxQdUl6oRmZq7cWIV87b8I8Y/s1600/6c9772876ea5f8bb51dd4b61ae4951dd.jpg" /></span></a></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I say,
have you seen my cat Lucifer around?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She is
never late, annoyingly too time bound<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I tell
myself I don’t like your piggy eyes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They
dart about, windows to your soul of ice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I know,
I am sure, I sent Lucifer to you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I saw
you alone on your porch, weak and blue<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lucifer
could cheer up zombies, did you know<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was
sure, she would get you out of your low.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now
I search for her everywhere<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the
streets, greener fields and those too bare<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Don’t
you tell me, she would be back eventually<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Who
knows if she is hurt, or dying in a dark alley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You've
had your fill, I scowl and say<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now,
of course you wouldn't care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">She is
afraid of the dark, of the voices in the wild<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A heart
of gold, a soul so mild<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Didn't
you laugh when she rolled over and back?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And made
you smile as she toppled on the books’ stack<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Did you
fondle her fur of satin, the blacks of midnight?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And tap
her pink nose, as you held her tight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Look at
you now, happy and singing all the tunes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Your
voice makes me want to scream and run to the dunes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do you
not care, she was here a while before?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What if
she never comes back anymore?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Alone
and hurt, in the darkest of lands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No
footprints of hers left on my garden sands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">People
chasing her away, as she hunts for dead mice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I sigh,
and think, couldn't just some of them be nice?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I look
at you and my heart writhes in rage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Foolish
you, I know you never had the courage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You
would lose her, maim her or worse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Not even
care, although she did but nurse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Your
evil, your tears, your horrid dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And even
shared with you her cookie and cream<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Have her
heart torn out if you wanted it ever<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Made you
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now,
I search the high and low<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“Lucifer!
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I cry as
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I wouldn't
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Or
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And playing with my paints, the reds and the teal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In those
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Slave to
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Broken
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Would
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That the
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That her
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That she
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That you
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br clear="all" style="mso-break-type: section-break; page-break-before: auto;" />
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</span><br />
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sigh!
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For you,
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now,
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A stray
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hated by
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Would
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Would
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I shed a
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The tiny
beacon of bliss, the winds of the coast<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I still
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Singing
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">No, as
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> be home</span><br />
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Buried
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<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whisper
to the air, of the spirit she had<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Of the
fate of men, in her mewling ballad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Know
that the sounds would haunt your sleep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Breach
the locked doors of your safe keep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Though you
may escape from the gallows of men<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That
song would seek you, find you and when<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You
cover your eyes, and block out the tears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The pink
nose would grin, clap and roll and cheer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To say,
“Here’s to you, my friend!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-85977919562086495652014-03-11T17:36:00.001+05:302014-03-11T23:00:57.179+05:30A New Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSqF-nznggAxmZ4n8Wg94FCMy4NLesrKM8WfAZi4EDFwmaqIhMp7c_rCOkiR8bI_vb0UvMNiu8ecEEpLyKu3tSArXRbLpk-sGqWuwTRj3qLiUq4lHChjHDCdGX8Xn9DTR0y74i5qqOu4/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSqF-nznggAxmZ4n8Wg94FCMy4NLesrKM8WfAZi4EDFwmaqIhMp7c_rCOkiR8bI_vb0UvMNiu8ecEEpLyKu3tSArXRbLpk-sGqWuwTRj3qLiUq4lHChjHDCdGX8Xn9DTR0y74i5qqOu4/s1600/image.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Today as the sun comes up, it
would be because sleep was slow and at the supposed right time</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">It wouldn’t be to the last moment
hassle to resume slumber in the lectures</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">It wouldn’t be to kick you out of
the bed or to scream at you that your class starts in 5 minutes</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">It wouldn’t be to the ritualistic
coffee and toast or to the loudest room in the corridor.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">A new day to an unfamiliar
silence, the sounds of life that you weren’t wont to for quite some time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Today as the freshly mowed grass
is bathed in the blistering heat, it wouldn’t be to that open window
overlooking the campus and the best view in it</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Wouldn’t be to the best room in
the hostel, with that just right cool breeze and a built in natural thermostat</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Not to the road to the endless diet
journey, and yet that led to the hostel mess.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">A new day with timely meals and
not four hands in one tiny lunch box.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">There wouldn’t be that din of
life, of happiness and sorrows wrapped in the waft of good food and Coke
Studio</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Nor the need to hide my tears in solitude
for the fear of being caught by the too attentive roommates</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">There wouldn’t be the dread of
the days ahead, of the incessant calls and the gravest discussions in the
dingiest room.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">A new day with lesser worries and
even lesser people to grumble or laugh about it with</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">You have run out of excuses for
food binge, will not have ethical dilemmas over Chinese or North Indian</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Who would tickle those creative
feathers for further demolishing the walls?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">You wouldn’t run around booking
rooms and sending mails, all through complaining about the lack of infrastructure
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Yet loving that alcove nestled
beside the lake with music from the otherwise silent smartphones</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">The new day has a promise of the
grown up world – of morphing relations and sleepless nights of materialism</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">This new day heralds for
everyone, brings in hope for some and perhaps fear for others.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">But somewhere that insolent child
demands that time stops just this once, let this moment freeze for a while</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">In a room of 3 beds, speakers, the
multi-hued crowded walls and those ever present souls</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the laughter and nonchalant
bitching, in the shared food and fears, in what felt like a happy fraction of
life tucked in a safe corner</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the classes with those drowsy
faces, even in those DCPs with their hands up, always</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">In the rush of local trains, in
that mellifluous walk by the Marine Drive in the wee hours of dawn</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Let those moments reel back to
where it all began</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">The journey we embarked to carve
out our niche, to make a mark on the sands of the slippery mistress called time</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">I know not if the destination
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dinners, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">I recall that idli, and the bhel,
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">And I smile.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">I smile at fortune’s favour, I
sigh at the speed of the time</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">And I wonder where the diverging
roads might meet again. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Surely we will, the insolent
child pouts</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">He cares not of the tempestuous treachery
of time and fate, he doesn’t look at what life brings to each.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">He holds on to those gossamer
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">He sleeps to the music of silence
under his friends’ loving gaze</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">He learns to try and hope for the
better as he looks back at his tears and joys, sublime and real.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">He runs barefoot on the sun
kissed sands and hugs you for the reprieve from life</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">He cracks jokes on you thanking
you for never giving up on him, even when he did</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">And he sings along, high pitched and
noisy, to the tune that bound us all together.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">As we aged a little more than
yesterday, as we set in to lose ourselves a bit more to the world</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">I hope that the child finds his
home by the sea, of azure waves, white clouds and golden memories</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">And that someday, one new day, we
all would find our way back to it too.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-48218666991850593772013-05-30T14:39:00.001+05:302013-05-30T23:47:45.602+05:30The Last Breath<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I think I am
drowning- at last</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtIsxLAjJF_l8Bmk0DwlEfZnRfdv7eXcgImFXxd1dbeuHumZKpmLRfnc136lBy9Uv9Pi5BKKgQUxeBo55HOowx-XXaJZ2eG0Q-MSDkRrlnF1gAH7zuUxZbunQJCQC7t4hRQu485l3vKwI/s1600/tumblr_mdi2mcpGrT1rjx9neo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtIsxLAjJF_l8Bmk0DwlEfZnRfdv7eXcgImFXxd1dbeuHumZKpmLRfnc136lBy9Uv9Pi5BKKgQUxeBo55HOowx-XXaJZ2eG0Q-MSDkRrlnF1gAH7zuUxZbunQJCQC7t4hRQu485l3vKwI/s320/tumblr_mdi2mcpGrT1rjx9neo1_500.jpg" width="204" /></a>I think it’s
over, finally.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
That mass of
land that I held onto</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Slipped away,
melting away altogether</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
The salt
waters gush in through my senses, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Blinding me,
stealing those last streams of sunlight </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Cutting off
my breath</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I hear it
gurgling in my lungs, as they seep into them</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
The last
straw floating away from me</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I don’t move,
I don’t even try to catch it</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I don’t see
the point</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
The straw was
a mirage – was always out of reach</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I realise it
was never really there</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
And all the
memories of my fool’s paradise</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Come crashing
down, and melt away in the waters.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
As I slowly
drift below the surface, away from the world</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I look up and
glance at the sun kissed land, and I wish I’d know one day how it was</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
To revel in
hope, and rejoice its realization</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
To grow in
love, and bask in being loved</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
To be
cherished for how wrong I was, no matter how vile I was</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
To know the
sweet taste of revenge, and then heal wholly</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I can't waste my last breath in futile struggles</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
That I know, I
have done</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
That has
always ended with a broken neck off the cliff</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Every rebirth,
every time, was an alter-ego I hoped to be</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
While I slowly
drifted away in false illusions</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I see it – the mirror crashing, breaking and falling apart</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
All the light
sucked away from my side</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
And in my
last moments, as the fire ebbs away</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I know, I feel
it was never to be</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
My world
never really existed</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
The people,
the emotions, the life as I’d known</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
The touch,
the laughter I had felt</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Was just the
other side of the mirror.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
And the big
bang of realisation has cleared my mind</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
So, I wish to
slowly fall asleep in the dark.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
All the days I
spent staring at you, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
For the clouds
to clear,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
For the storm
to pass</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Wishfully staring
at the rainbow on the other side</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
In the
darkness I know –I was never in the picture</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
And I was
hoping through the clear mirror of lies, of mere words, </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Of the warmth
that never lit my heart</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I know my
questions are now answered, the mystery lifted</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
As the veil
dropped, people on their safe lands</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
And their
pity and love from a distant shore</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I have tried
so hard to reach out and touch them,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I have
struggled against raging waves to reach their home</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Fruitless,
spineless and hopeless</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Was I not
told? Over and over in the mockery and spite.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Did I not
know of the thorns and deserts? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I did. I always
did. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I just didn’t
know that the destination wouldn't last either</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
And as the
ship slowly sank, as my land gradually melted</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I held on to
the last piece, that piece of throbbing life</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
And now its
time, as the night is the thickest,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
And I’ve let
go of the rotting lying piece of life</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I feel the
salt rubbing the wounds raw in me</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I hear the
lungs gasping in the dirty waters</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I see the
vision cut to a black screen of a starless sky</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I know it’s
the end – not of life, not of despair or bliss</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Of ever
trying to reach, of trying to hold onto the fortress </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
My source of
strength was eroded with the ship, and now it was at the bottom</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Musty,
corroded and covered in weeds</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I don’t wish
to die, I don’t wish it to end</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I just don’t wish
anymore</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I slowly
float towards rock bottom,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
With flashing
images of smiles and sighs, of a life in lies</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Of brittle
hopes, of shielded truths</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I was out of
reach of the light now, melting away with my life in the smelly water</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
With no
tombstone, no memories behind</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
No tears or
empty houses.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Is this
solace? Is this defeat? Is it giving up?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
I close my
eyes, block all the sound – to revel in what was always there</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
Forceful,
catatonic peace.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-20848573989034045802011-05-30T21:32:00.002+05:302011-06-06T01:03:03.344+05:30A Tale of two murders<p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;" id="internal-source-marker_0.2613418105433566"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I regret to say that I had no choice</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But to kill you, quell that irksome voice;</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The cold stone floor eclipsed all the bliss</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As I watched you fall lifelessly through the abyss</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But I think, I hope, it didn’t cause much pain</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">After all it is a much traversed lane</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For you, your dreams and your foolish hope</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And the thousand sharp blades you were forced to cope</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I looked at you and couldn’t bear</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">That unspoken torment and veiled despair</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You would have died anyway</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">At a torpid pace, rotting a bit each day.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I feared the lament of your numb eyes</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And shirked away from the echoes of your silent cries</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I see the unjust creepers writhing in your inside</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Plotting, scheming, blocking out the light</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of life, of love and all those songs</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As you lay dying in the nights so long</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Stop! I beg, please no more</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In such serrated bits my heart you tore</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">They sting, they bite, they cut through me</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And yet I’m bound despite your plea</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I have to, by some means, free your soul</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When the lights dim, it haunts me, that infernal ghoul</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I bury your corpse with every sunrise</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And a tarnished you comes back, clinging on to lies.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Fool! Begone, you own nothing here</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A bit more dismembered you’ll be I fear</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why don’t you learn and stay afar</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Imprison yourself in an impervious tower</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The little that remains would see the light</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And hide from that mirage, and the humour’s plight.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It stabs me to death, your preposterous lunacy</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And we are kicked and struck by death with glee.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Forgive me! As I see no other path</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve come to dread your martyrdom’s aftermath</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Know that with this I cease to be too</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Though more lenient it is than the poison you brew</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My laugh, my light, my touch would be gone</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The cadaver would merely breathe in the sand and thorns</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And mature to become a monster of the pit</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But then, that’s just how you would fit</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In these cavernous smothering tunnels of hellfire</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Where numerous such demons were sired</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To cage, and mock and rape fools like you</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And so, I’m sorry, but I had to, I had to</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As my breath recedes on the cold stone floor</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And you drown away from the lifeless shore</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I smile as I saved a little of you</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And set the bird free against the skies so blue</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To fly away from the burning bodies and hair</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The shell that is left behind will survive there</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">A drop of your innocence is frozen in my heart</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And I’m happy that you always played your part</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You failed, but see, that the chains were stronger</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Do what you may; you could never feed the hunger</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of the soulless men of this earth</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">They would suck you dry yet curse your birth.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I slaughtered you, and I plead guilty</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">to have saved you from the reins of an absurd slavery.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">None but I would survive your loss</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And find you, once I swim through this malign gloss</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So, find peace in your death and in my rest</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Bloom in the flowers and nap in the lost nest</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of true bliss, beauty, hidden in the alcove</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of the soft plush meadows and Love's treasure trove.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></p><div style="text-align: left; font-family: times new roman;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></div>Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-79308954569858398172011-03-26T01:35:00.005+05:302011-03-26T01:53:28.757+05:30Mirror on the wall..<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">Large forlorn eyes stared back at me;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I wiped it clean –<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">The fluorescent lamp exposed the ghostly shadows in them;<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">And the death creeping into the pupils.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%; ">You </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; ">wouldn't</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 115%; "> find the exuberance of sand castles in its depths<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Just dank endless tunnels leading onto an impenetrable darkness<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">And I was lost in those dungeons.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">The call of the ocean from afar –<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I heard the sound of laughter and mirth;<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">The smell of fresh grass and sun-<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Scratched and bruised – I had to find my way<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Today I would reach the door,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">The night held no fears for me.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I gazed back into those eyes<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">And I heard the scream, piercing the silence of my graveyard<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">The bright light didn’t blind me<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">It shot through the eyeballs and tugged at the lifeless organ;<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">The sudden gush of warmth dazed me<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">And I found my core<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I delved into those layers and reached the nerve<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Of those hidden desires, pleasures and bliss<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Of unspoken wishes<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Of the untainted truth obscured by numerous veils.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I found me –<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Blushing over love ballads<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Drinking in the intoxication of life.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">No, that couldn’t be me!!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I prodded the silvered surface and it touched me back<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">With so much warmth and life<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">The murky mischief vexed me<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">The small curl at the corner of its lips filled me with wrath<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Its ignorance burnt my soul in jealousy.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">No, it isn’t me –<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I couldn’t find the drooping eyelids<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">The war torn ravaged face of a defeated soul.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">And yet there I was – all that I used to be<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Or, all that I am, choked up by the sands of time.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I sighed.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">That surreal realm is oft called an ill wind<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I turned away from the mirror<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">From everything that I miss and rummage in corners everyday<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">As they retreat further into oblivion.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">I wiped the foggy glass clean, to find those desolate eyes again<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; ">Pleading, sighing, giving up yet again<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span">As I prepare to walk into another day.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13pt; "><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"High Tower Text","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-43077797372516328232010-11-11T00:59:00.002+05:302010-11-11T19:12:52.373+05:30A Letter<p class="MsoNormal">To the heroes of my life,</p> <p class="MsoNormal">I apologize profusely to cause such a callous monotony in my blog, but I somehow cannot restrain myself at this point from pouring down all those unspoken streams of gratitude for some very special people in my life to whom I owe a great amount – who made me laugh, slapped the truth right across my face, taught me to suck it up and learn to walk on my own, reminded me of the inner self that was somewhere lost amidst the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">bacchanalianism</span> of love and eventually muster up enough courage to live life the way it should be lived. So, a little message to my sister, a certain <b>pseudo roommate</b> of mine, the cutest guy I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ve</span> ever been teased with and another person who <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">wasn</span>’t just a senior in age, but also in the diverse forms of art, creativity and life– I’m free – finally … I have stood up to life and have taken my first tentative steps to transforming from that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">dumbass</span> sighing crybaby to a stoic warrior. The journey to this establishment <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">wasn</span>’t what one would call a bed of roses, but it was somehow less thorny, easier with your support, like the cool shades of a giant oak tree to a lost traveller, and an oasis to disillusioned void eyes. The inspiration from each of your words, your company somehow was the Midas’ touch that my parched life craved for. You let me get hurt at the right times, and held my hand when I needed the most.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Thanks a lot , my best pal, whose abysmal sense of humour and unconventional doses of harsh truth was the last straw that saved me from drowning. Nothing more needs to be said between us, really..!! I wish everyone gets a talisman like you.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">All my best wishes to one of the greatest human beings that God manufactured. May he get all the wonderful things that life offers, all the success and bliss. No one could have inspired ‘<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">mojaaaa</span>’ as he did, even in a dead soul. Thank you for listening to all the whining and making fun of it, for all the warmth, all the healing that you did. Thank you for the untimely notes and late information and the silliest idle <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">addas</span>, the breathtaking songs and your unspoken care. I’m deeply moved. Thank you, for seeing me off one last time. Know that, life without you loses the very essence of living and laughing along the whole path. The cup with milk written on it stands still, but it misses that impish grin across the table with a ready joke on my meager diet. Your sunshine flooded my recuperating soul, and acted as a strong pillar throughout. I can never forget that.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">All my gratitude to one vexed senior of mine, to all those calls explaining about the struggle for existence and the mirth of life, to his patience in listening to a puny girl complain and bitch about someone, to act as a guide in the littlest of matters, to have made all the fine arts events in college such a pleasure to have been associated with, for all the true and false flattery over whatever I have written till date, for his undying support in all the steps I took, for his undaunted belief in my love, and his untainted confidence in my strength. You made me realize my worth in my eyes. The lost symbol, that elixir, is, as I discovered a little too late, friendship-the power of this beautiful bond. Few come to know the absolution of friendship. I was one of those lucky few, thanks to you. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have met a handful of people who could influence my thinking, impress me, but your depth of knowledge and perseverance still awes me. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Afterall</span>, how many could have had the patience to work on a lab copy twice – once for yourself, and then for someone else?! Jokes apart, I’m grateful that my journey featured you in the few crucial chapters. Your footsteps cannot be erased over time. And don’t worry, someday you’ll surely learn to swim, and then you can equal me..!! I hope this dedication works as a belated birthday gift to you.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And finally, all my love to a doting sister, who has endured all my tantrums. She’s been everything that a girl needs to be a girl – a mentor, a guide, best friend, a sister. I cannot imagine the past few months without her, I cannot imagine the future without the long and endless nocturnal discussions spent on deciphering the purpose of life and the fairness of it all.. she’s my fortress and punching bag, she’s my hidden floor tile and my mirror. No words can express what I feel for you. Thank you for being there. Always.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">This said, I’ll wrap up. The letter was for the aforementioned people. I need you to know, I have learnt a new lesson, I have grown up a bit more, my branches have spread further, roots have strengthened. A new journey has begun with no blemishes of the past. The golden memories you bestowed on me is safe in my treasure box. They have been a constant source of strength and inspiration in every trifle matter I ventured into. I cannot put enough emotions in these words that I scribbled to justify my gratitude. Thank you for my rebirth.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right">Ari.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-18768867213612702672010-10-04T20:44:00.002+05:302010-10-04T21:03:45.752+05:30The Original SinLet me unfold a story untold-<br />About a li’l cherub born in a crib of gold.<br />She had white creamy skin and large dark eyes<br />Little feather hands and a smile as heavenly as sunrise;<br />She was brought up in a paradise of bliss<br />With thousands to attend to her every single wish.<br />Her playful fingers made clouds curl,<br />And her naughty feet caused rivers to bend and swirl.<br />The Gods showered their love upon her;<br />And said she would live happily very after.<br />An enticing creation she grew up to be<br />You could call her the Heaven’s crowning glory-<br />But destiny had other things in store;<br />A blooming life of blithe is not forever more..<br />Far away on a no man’s land<br />Was a shining aura, a mystic hued band,<br />Floating in the black mass of sky;<br />The sinister land isolated by citadels high.<br />A spark of curiosity brought the feet of qualm<br />Of our little cherub to the land of death and calm.<br />The stillness of death, silence reverberating,<br />Darkness ruled and the winds kept wailing..<br />It was a trap, a devil’s snare;<br />A mystery hole, a demon’s lair-<br />Where sly laughing shadows of sins did loom<br />Drawing her, charming her to her doom.<br />The brambles and thorns bruised her face,<br />Lost and alone, she felt the terror of that place;<br />She cried out loud, she wanted to flee<br />In her frenzy of hopelessness she fell on her knee<br />Pleading and praying for that guiding light<br />But alas! The demons then blocked her sight.<br />Shrouded her with their gloom and sin<br />And see! None of the Gods came to save their kin<br />From that pain, that death, that unbearable misery,<br />The silent onlookers of her death penalty.<br />She lay there breathing, her heart still beating<br />A battered dark remnant of a once beautiful being.<br />Still hoping that her savior would come one day<br />Heal her, embrace her, show her the way.<br />Her ugly remains burnt in agony<br />As she felt life retreating slowly.<br />She reached out for the nothingness in the air..<br />But for her, the Gods had no more to spare<br />The tears came in a despairing flow<br />She lay there aghast, in the wilderness of her woe-<br />Waiting for those sunlit hours<br />Waiting for those purifying showers<br />Desperate to leave the darkness behind<br />And to breath in and embrace again life’s sunshine.Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-82552728635435504972010-09-27T00:14:00.000+05:302010-09-27T01:13:35.874+05:30Home ..The receding memory lane in the rear view mirror narrows down into oblivion;<br />the familiar greens, the loving shades, that culvert<br />flash past speedily, melting into time<br />the last day all muddled up in a blur<br />as I leave behind my Neverland.<br />I've watched thousands of splendid suns<br />rise everyday to console my fears<br />Set each day to give new hope -<br />the wondrous moon with all its brilliance,<br />peeking in through my window<br />The twinkling stars scattered over a beautiful midnight blue<br />The refreshing gales rushing in through every directions.<br />A Harry Potter reader hid in a blanket with a torch<br />in the silence of a hot summer night;<br />the red overslept eyes in the morning -<br />I'd miss the lazy afternoons,<br />the blissful slumber enveloped in a warm rug<br />the terrace of my mischief, my sorrows, my grudges and mirth,<br />the guardian of my fearless love; of my exuberance,<br />of the Tulsi plant.<br />Of that unforgettable moment of true love.<br />My magic mirror which never failed to lie to me,<br />my beloved treasure in papyrus.<br />The cemented pathway of unselfish bonds, of callously wasted time,<br />Of irresponsible careless days and sharing of tears and joys.<br />I'd miss the air whooshing past my ears<br />the tinkle of bells, the rhythm of wheels,<br />the sloping campus roads beneath a bicycle;<br />the crunch of dry leaves in an early winter morning;<br />the peaceful walks beneath canopies of mammoth trees,<br />the enticing rainbow of seasonal blossoms,<br />a freshly washed horizon with sun baked clouds -<br />All slowly dissolve into the glorious past for a glimmer of the future through a crack in the wall.<br />The grass that captured a child's first steps<br />and the frolic of innocent caprice -<br />of hushed gossips in the long wee hours,<br />the memorable picnics in warm autumn afternoons.<br />I still feel the revered echoes of the dhak , and the wafting puffs of incense and sandalwood<br />and the way my entire world converged within those four fences - thrived, hurt, fell and rose.<br />Now with the retreating of the golden hours I wish I could hold on to this haven for a moment longer.<br />call it "home" for one more minute<br />As unsure steps surge me forward -<br />Looking back, I'll find peace in that fortress of strength and love<br />A place always to fall back upon-<br />to hide;<br />to revel;<br />to get lost in that maze of memoirs and find myself again, every time.<br /><br />P.S. : this one's for mom and dad .. and all those who make my home the way it is - insane, loving and fun..!!Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-84052972636756114982010-08-15T17:02:00.000+05:302010-08-15T17:22:46.476+05:30The first chapter's last line....A couple of hours more and I'll loose another of my favourite persons to the flow of time and the tale of life.<br />Hundreds of leagues away, somewhere on a different planet - the one person who I always fell back upon, who vexed me like hell, whose sluggishness drove me crazy, a devout chocaholic who never got tired of chocolates in any form, who never studied, packed nor did anything except in the last minute, who could cheer up a lost soul with her obnoxious PJs, the one who could talk of fried fish when your pet fish dies, and yet could deftly guide you through the harshest roads, and most importantly, whose confused too-much grey matter never remembers anything on time.....<br />It can never matter that one gets a payslip now, or that the other sits in a state of the art NYU computer lab, my heart would yearn to go back to those lanes, the streets bazaars, the pasta and the icecreams( devoured by just u..!!) sighing over out-of-reach brands and the head banging in rock concerts and crying our eyes out over Korean romantic flicks.<br />As the seconds of the mundane life trickle by, vivid images of the glorious past materialise in the mind's eye, with a hopeless lament of how the swiftly flowing sands couldnt be grasped and preserved forever. Terrorizing guys and late night maggi will simply never be the same ever again. Petty boundaries of distance and time cannot dissolve our bond nor dim the plethora of the wonderful memories of four splendid years. So, here's to you,my BFF, all the best wishes from the bottom of my heart, to you every success and timely food...!!<br />Years from now, when serendipity would bring us back together, I hope we'll have lots of foolish pranks, awful guys, silly crushes , drooling over clothes, serious mistakes and happy moments to share over a chocolate mousse and a brownie delight. Till then , the world is in peace.. :P<br />Best, always..!!Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3063870889629936188.post-44129341441588382382010-08-12T23:31:00.001+05:302010-08-12T23:54:02.332+05:30my note to the reboundFlashes of the journey fade in the blurring speed<br />as the wheels screeched onto foreign grounds;<br />a new smell tugged at the senses-<br />of the salty waters and freshly washed earth....<br />so different from the thick chilly fogs and the suffocating taste of tears<br />different from the confused shallow streams.<br />The blissful greens and the temporal sea<br />the selfless rains and the fresh cool gale<br />pump blood back into a lifeless heart;<br />and it soars in blissful ignorance when a new sun shines-<br />breaking through the misery and the infinite gloom<br />to make flowers blossom and songs flourish.<br />So, i rebound to the waters running away from my feet,<br />to the narrow lanes winding upto a wondrous place unknown,<br />to the majestic cascades through a bus window,<br />to the loud beats private to the ears<br />to the rocks on the shores inspiring my words,<br />to escape the looming shadows of the past<br />the blood and the pain coursing through the soul;<br />I run away from the hapless chains of compromise<br />to search for life in the dense free wilderness...<br />to drink in all the liberty<br />to shine forth when the sun smiles on me everytime..<br />to hold its hands and walk by the coast<br />and watch the dimming horizons and the giggling stars.<br />And then when a tiny boat afar struggles for its existence<br />I rebound to the new found soils; my new home<br />my magical potion of amnesia<br />and fly freely, wildly where the heart wants..<br />my rebound is that sanctuary, my strait jacket<br />where I can hide my face and drown in silence.<br />But, somehow, the footsteps would be washed away<br />Some day, looking back, I'll still be awed by the crashing tides and the glimmering mirages<br />and then, it will be time to move on..<br />to migrate to some predestined chapter<br />but, you, splashed across my mind's canvas,<br />the brush strokes that hid my disillusions<br />and helped me escape the plague... will be a sacred retreat<br />my pillar, my sanctuary<br />where the salty waters and the damp earth would always bring me back to life.Aritri Guptahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13181975893375390849noreply@blogger.com4