Dearest Naina,
There are moments when we feel as if we are mere spectators to the game of life and worse still, you realize that the game is on you. That the gods have abandoned listening to your prayers. Rather they have conspired with all the elements of the universe to turn the table against you, while the whole world stands back to watch…and laugh.
Right now Nano, I feel much the same. So close to you…for I’m right there in your lap yet so far off…for you have put those barriers of tears between us. I watch speechless as those thick tears roll down your cheeks and fall down on me, etching the last love letter on my face. A letter full of pain…and memories. Oh please don’t cry babe. No matter what winds carry me, what water body I travel in you can be sure of one thing that your secrets are safe with me and I haven’t forgotten a single moment we have shared over those laughters, tears and just like that ordinary days that life gives each one of us in abundance.
14 years…is a long time, but then it seems just yesterday when your mom had introduced us on your 10th birthday. She had told you to treat me as the sibling you had so badly wanted all the time. You had given her a disgusted expression which had shouted out the fact that you didn’t like the “strange sibling” that had arrived as a birthday gift at all. Why couldn’t parents think of something better to gift to their daughters? A Barbie for instance, or maybe a pup…that would have been so much better. I was scared out of my wits that I would be shelved for a lifetime, but my fears were unfounded. Your mom with her usual calmness and patience explained out the benefits of having a sibling that wouldn’t touch your toys or fight for your dresses games or books. What more, she said, you had every right to yell at me, hug me, tell me all your secrets and what not. Well, you were well, impressed, if not convinced outright.
2 days, I just sat in the bed side chair looking at you, observing you. When I was almost tired of your silly (oops sweet heart I’m sorry) talks with your dolls you actually picked me up, caressed me and introduced me to Annie (your doll, yes I remember her name still after all those years). It felt good…I felt I had found the family with you playing the role of a surrogate mother. Annie was nice but then she was dumb…she would just stand and stare with that fixed smiling expression of hers…Oh God! I just wanted to punch her sometimes(don’t worry, I never went ahead with the plan)
Within 2 weeks we became the best of friends. Every day I would wait eagerly for you to come from school and then you would recite all that happened. Sometimes when you had nothing better to do you would write letters to me and if you had more that enough time to kill you would continue the chain to your mom, Sir, Jaya(your classmate in the neighborhood), God and I don’t know who all. But it was fun. I would read your letters, (when you slept) and within days I knew by heart what you liked or disliked or why, besides of course the daily flow of things at school and home. But I must say…you had an opinion on everything…Oh I know you are smiling now…reading this. I on my part had nothing to tell…for you were my life, my soul. I lived the world through your eyes ears and senses.
Time passed. We became inseparable. You insisted on taking me on all picnics, school trips and vacations. As you entered the teens I replaced Mouglie (that huge teddy of yours) as your bed mate. By that time you had become conscious of yourself and would constantly be worried about getting too much attention or too less of it. I often smiled inwardly looking at you. But did I ever, ever tell you that I loved the thin, dark, serious looking bespectacled girl who considered herself a wall flower and aloof (with an attitude of sun and heart of gold) but had so many wonderful thoughts inside her head? Call my love selfish for I prided myself for being the only one who knew you inside out. The one who knew and believed right from day 3 (yeah you read it right, day 3 and not day 1) that you would be a writer? And I prattled non stop about my role in it to Annie and Mouglie while you slept? Yeah the same creatures I had called dumb a few years back.
My letter would be incomplete without the mention of the Mumbai trip on your 17th birthday. It was there sitting alone by the sea that you had christened me “Sagar”. I had actually cried that day…cried those tears of joy for you had written “ I call you Sagar because you are as deep as the sea…I’m the river who starts from the mountains and travels for innumerable yards, giving, receiving, learning…but then at the end of the day I find peace in the depths of your arms.” You had also contemplated on the strange nature of our relationship…we were siblings, friends, lovers…everything. Or should I say…I was your heart and you my soul?
I get tired now…for the memories are too many and time too less. My end is near. No don’t cry again…we all have to die. Maybe you would relax a bit when you know that I’m dying a happy satisfied death? I had a rocking life at your expense. I went to places, met people and had a wonderful person like you for thought sharing? What else can one want? Also, Sameer is a great human being. He would take my place as your hubby and maybe change you a bit but then you would know that someone in another part of the world loves you exactly for what you are- silent (“I do not speak, I let my silence speak for me”), watchful (“the first time I met Prachi in her short t shirt and chor-type shorts, I felt that she would rush out to meet her nth boyfriend outside the hostel the moment the clock will strike 10 AM”) , strong(“I don’t expect anything from anyone”), care-less(“Who cares, anyways?”), forever optimist (“sub theek ho jayega”) sun lover(the thousand times u clicked the sun and I was jealous of the attention it got), bouquet hater(“Oh, y do people give flowers as gifts. They end up in the dustbin the next day”), HR person in the clothes of a marketing professional (“Kabhi kabhi mujhe lagta hai ki I should have got into HR, maybe I did a mistake taking marketing as a major.”) the born writer(all your letters are a testimony) and a bit dirty (at times) :-)
And sweetheart, I’m not mad at Sameer for taking my place. Not the least bit. You needed someone for I was getting all old and tattered. And also because I couldn’t complete your family or contribute in any way to the dream of having three kids. :-) Jokes apart, Naina…a diary is a diary. It cannot replace a husband (haan haan, the vice versa is also true). Just promise me 2 things:
You would never ever keep a diary again. I pray and wish Sameer becomes the mirror image of your heart, thoughts, and dreams and together you accomplish them, no matter how weird.
I know you are going to burn me in the next few moments. No it’s not wrong and you aren’t killing me, you are consigning me to my last journey-giving me a honorable ending. Keep my ashes and when you go to Mumbai next time just sprinkle a bit of them at the Juhu beach (exactly at the place u had christened me) so that I, Sagar meets his sagar.
With love and lot of happy memories, I end….the sea (Sagar) handing you over to the winds (Sameer). God bless both of you.
Sagar-(your diary)
PS: Nano, tum gaadi (car) nahi ho. I know you get irritated when I use this short name of yours, but you’re my “one in a million” Naina.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Shape of Our Lives - Part IV & V
PART IV
Right now there was nothing that could be done, except walk. If he reached his destination maybe a day or two in advance he could convince the Gods, to let him go off and spend the rest of his life with the creature with whom he had fallen in love with. He decided not to think of what would happen if the issue invoked the wrath of the Gods. The thought itself was so cold that it made him shudder in the hot midday sun. He decided to walk fast so as to cover the distance in shortest possible time and then maybe, maybe he had a hope….Maybe….
As luck would have it he reached a week ahead of his scheduled arrival. That gave him sufficient time to get to know the chain of authority and approach the right person. He knew in a hierarchical society like this one miss and the news spread round like a wildfire and all in the wrong ears. It could kill him even before he could realize what was happening.
By the second day of his stay he was pretty well settled and had a couple of friends around. Ra, who was his escort 24*7, Un his nearest neighbor and Kum, the pretty damsel with whom he was supposed to “copulate”. In the evening he was supposed to meet Yagya the supreme being of the place, the mighty lord of the worlds. Astitva had decided he would broach the topic as soon as possible, that very evening. But nothing had prepared him for what the day had in store for him.
Evening came. Astitva drove to Yagya’s palace. To say that the palace was a masterpiece was an understatement. The doors were made of fire and the floor of crystal clear blue waters, the walls of ice and curtains of wind…it almost seemed illusionary….one moment it was there and the next moment all you saw was vast expanse of clouds. For a mortal like Astitva it was divinity at its best or how else could he pass through fire and walk on water? But then his eyes registered nothing. For all he saw was Maya and all he thought was of ways he could get back to her.
What surprised Astitva was the fact that Yagya looked pretty simple enough. He had imagined (an imagination fired by the pictures he had seen of the Gods on earth) him to be an imposing persona with maybe 12 hands 100 heads and sitting on some gold throne. Mighty, unreachable kinds. Contrary to all this, Yagya looked like a normal being who invited Astitva to sit beside him on the grass in the Garden of the thousand nightingales. Pretty normal. So much so that Astitva started thinking if he was addressing his problem to the right person.
Yagya: I see son, that you are unhappy. Haven’t you being cared for adequately? What gives that troubled look to your eyes?
Astitva (smiling apologetically): Nothing my lord. Just that I’m humbled by the ways of the supreme being. He finds time for a servant like me and even makes me sit beside him.
Yagya: Oh! The disappointment is then for not seeing the lord as you had wanted…right? Well to tell you the truth I haven’t adorned that form for the last thousand years. Who wants to live in that pomp and show? Tell me if I offered you my seat would you want to sit all day long on the throne with all those hands and heads? I mean, it’s pretty cumbersome…when your own body starts coming in the way of your day to day activities. Besides I have no intention of intimidating my subjects by looking ferocious. (laughs)
Astitva: Hmmm…that’s really kind of you my lord to think so deeply about your subjects.
Yagya: So tell me son how was your trip? I hear from the winds that you had a night’s stay at a Maya’s place. And I assume that you left your heart there only for I have seen Gods go breathless at the mere sight of her
Astitva (taken by surprise): What??? You know Maya? I mean you know that we stayed together. Forgive me father for I know it’s a sin but then the situation was such, it was raining so heavily…
Yagya: Now now, come-on son, for a strapping youth like you rain isn’t a valid excuse (smiles) Tell me now what do you intend to do now? I mean shouldn’t we put you upside down in the Fires of Hell for your deeds?
Astitva (Looking straight into the eyes of Yagya): Sir, I’m sorry for being rude and imprudent in the presence of mighty lord. But then at the start of the journey I never knew the fate that awaited me. I’m deeply in love and cannot think of anything beside her. I’m sure if you consider me your child Supreme father you would let me be with her. If you still feel otherwise I would be more than happy to die, for a life without Maya would render me useless.
Yagya: Your courage gives me faith son. And I am no one to come in the way of Cupid. You shall have your darling but then I have my conditions. Are you sure she loves you back in equal measure?
Astitva: Sir, I am willing to give my life if she says otherwise. I’m sure my love is reciprocated in an equal measure.
Yagya: Hmmm…that puts me in a difficult place for I see trouble brewing up at Kum’s end. She wouldn’t let a handsome young man go just like that. And then you might not welcome the news but Maya is also supposed to be married off soon to one of the Gods.
Astitva (winces): I’m sure the mighty lord can meander the flow of thoughts of any being….
Yagya: (laughs aloud): Son, if that were the case I would have made you forget that woman in the first place. I’m just the care taker and cannot disrupt the balance of the worlds by putting in my little tactics.
Astitva: But then there must be a way out……..
Yagya: Hmm…Ok lets put it this way. If I were to ask you what is one thing that you would want of Maya, one thing that would make you complete.
Astitva: (without a moment of hesitation) Her sea green eyes that paved the way to her beautiful soul.
Yagya: Hmmm…You shall have her eyes and soul then, son. Say no more for that is the best I can offer you. You may leave now. Say not a word of what transpired between us to a soul. For if you do you know the end better than me.
Astitva: (bows, with a troubled look) As you say sir. I would be grateful to you for what you are going to do for me.
PART V
The same night, Yagya appears in Maya’s dream disguised as a holy saint.
Yagya: Behold the kindness of the lord! Daughter, oh queen of the end of the world I see you pining away for someone. Forget him for your destiny is shaping up elsewhere.
Maya: Baba, I know that in everyone’s life there are points when desire and destiny stand at crossroads and from there on wards they take different paths. I pray to the lord that my desire and destiny may meet somewhere on the cross roads again….what if in the next birth (a tear slides down her cheek)
Yagya: You speak intensely. Your love will find ways to quench you thirst. So, tell me snake- princess what is one thing about him that would want, just one thing, if you could have no more.
Maya (dreamily): His strong arms that took me to his godlike form…
Yagya: Very well princess, you shall have what you want.
(Saying this he disappears)
Maya wakes up only to realize that it was a dream. She smiles, for weren’t dreams the foretellers of future?
Right now there was nothing that could be done, except walk. If he reached his destination maybe a day or two in advance he could convince the Gods, to let him go off and spend the rest of his life with the creature with whom he had fallen in love with. He decided not to think of what would happen if the issue invoked the wrath of the Gods. The thought itself was so cold that it made him shudder in the hot midday sun. He decided to walk fast so as to cover the distance in shortest possible time and then maybe, maybe he had a hope….Maybe….
As luck would have it he reached a week ahead of his scheduled arrival. That gave him sufficient time to get to know the chain of authority and approach the right person. He knew in a hierarchical society like this one miss and the news spread round like a wildfire and all in the wrong ears. It could kill him even before he could realize what was happening.
By the second day of his stay he was pretty well settled and had a couple of friends around. Ra, who was his escort 24*7, Un his nearest neighbor and Kum, the pretty damsel with whom he was supposed to “copulate”. In the evening he was supposed to meet Yagya the supreme being of the place, the mighty lord of the worlds. Astitva had decided he would broach the topic as soon as possible, that very evening. But nothing had prepared him for what the day had in store for him.
Evening came. Astitva drove to Yagya’s palace. To say that the palace was a masterpiece was an understatement. The doors were made of fire and the floor of crystal clear blue waters, the walls of ice and curtains of wind…it almost seemed illusionary….one moment it was there and the next moment all you saw was vast expanse of clouds. For a mortal like Astitva it was divinity at its best or how else could he pass through fire and walk on water? But then his eyes registered nothing. For all he saw was Maya and all he thought was of ways he could get back to her.
What surprised Astitva was the fact that Yagya looked pretty simple enough. He had imagined (an imagination fired by the pictures he had seen of the Gods on earth) him to be an imposing persona with maybe 12 hands 100 heads and sitting on some gold throne. Mighty, unreachable kinds. Contrary to all this, Yagya looked like a normal being who invited Astitva to sit beside him on the grass in the Garden of the thousand nightingales. Pretty normal. So much so that Astitva started thinking if he was addressing his problem to the right person.
Yagya: I see son, that you are unhappy. Haven’t you being cared for adequately? What gives that troubled look to your eyes?
Astitva (smiling apologetically): Nothing my lord. Just that I’m humbled by the ways of the supreme being. He finds time for a servant like me and even makes me sit beside him.
Yagya: Oh! The disappointment is then for not seeing the lord as you had wanted…right? Well to tell you the truth I haven’t adorned that form for the last thousand years. Who wants to live in that pomp and show? Tell me if I offered you my seat would you want to sit all day long on the throne with all those hands and heads? I mean, it’s pretty cumbersome…when your own body starts coming in the way of your day to day activities. Besides I have no intention of intimidating my subjects by looking ferocious. (laughs)
Astitva: Hmmm…that’s really kind of you my lord to think so deeply about your subjects.
Yagya: So tell me son how was your trip? I hear from the winds that you had a night’s stay at a Maya’s place. And I assume that you left your heart there only for I have seen Gods go breathless at the mere sight of her
Astitva (taken by surprise): What??? You know Maya? I mean you know that we stayed together. Forgive me father for I know it’s a sin but then the situation was such, it was raining so heavily…
Yagya: Now now, come-on son, for a strapping youth like you rain isn’t a valid excuse (smiles) Tell me now what do you intend to do now? I mean shouldn’t we put you upside down in the Fires of Hell for your deeds?
Astitva (Looking straight into the eyes of Yagya): Sir, I’m sorry for being rude and imprudent in the presence of mighty lord. But then at the start of the journey I never knew the fate that awaited me. I’m deeply in love and cannot think of anything beside her. I’m sure if you consider me your child Supreme father you would let me be with her. If you still feel otherwise I would be more than happy to die, for a life without Maya would render me useless.
Yagya: Your courage gives me faith son. And I am no one to come in the way of Cupid. You shall have your darling but then I have my conditions. Are you sure she loves you back in equal measure?
Astitva: Sir, I am willing to give my life if she says otherwise. I’m sure my love is reciprocated in an equal measure.
Yagya: Hmmm…that puts me in a difficult place for I see trouble brewing up at Kum’s end. She wouldn’t let a handsome young man go just like that. And then you might not welcome the news but Maya is also supposed to be married off soon to one of the Gods.
Astitva (winces): I’m sure the mighty lord can meander the flow of thoughts of any being….
Yagya: (laughs aloud): Son, if that were the case I would have made you forget that woman in the first place. I’m just the care taker and cannot disrupt the balance of the worlds by putting in my little tactics.
Astitva: But then there must be a way out……..
Yagya: Hmm…Ok lets put it this way. If I were to ask you what is one thing that you would want of Maya, one thing that would make you complete.
Astitva: (without a moment of hesitation) Her sea green eyes that paved the way to her beautiful soul.
Yagya: Hmmm…You shall have her eyes and soul then, son. Say no more for that is the best I can offer you. You may leave now. Say not a word of what transpired between us to a soul. For if you do you know the end better than me.
Astitva: (bows, with a troubled look) As you say sir. I would be grateful to you for what you are going to do for me.
PART V
The same night, Yagya appears in Maya’s dream disguised as a holy saint.
Yagya: Behold the kindness of the lord! Daughter, oh queen of the end of the world I see you pining away for someone. Forget him for your destiny is shaping up elsewhere.
Maya: Baba, I know that in everyone’s life there are points when desire and destiny stand at crossroads and from there on wards they take different paths. I pray to the lord that my desire and destiny may meet somewhere on the cross roads again….what if in the next birth (a tear slides down her cheek)
Yagya: You speak intensely. Your love will find ways to quench you thirst. So, tell me snake- princess what is one thing about him that would want, just one thing, if you could have no more.
Maya (dreamily): His strong arms that took me to his godlike form…
Yagya: Very well princess, you shall have what you want.
(Saying this he disappears)
Maya wakes up only to realize that it was a dream. She smiles, for weren’t dreams the foretellers of future?
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