We lie on the edges of our balconies, with our T shirts covered in dirt and plaster of paris as a cigarette passes around in the circle and one strums the strings on the guitar. Our vocal chords gain their heat from the burning after effect of the cheap vodka and as the smoke rises up to the stars, we chant our idols in music. The flame driven eyes of our past rise from below and look at what we have become. Single, feeble, independent and yet without a soul to sell.
The sounds of the midnight birds cast their spells in their almost perfect periodic timings of chants. On the floor lies a bone of chicken mangled and torn, as the predators of yesteryear look at their only piece of nutrition. They have grown tired of chasing cars, hoping that a piece of meat will drop from them. It is not their game anymore, they have resigned and realised. That it is a man's world and an animal's mind they live in.
Showing posts with label Ride the highway west. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ride the highway west. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Helter Skelter
On an empty road his auto raced a bike that had a couple having the time of their life. The girl’s t-shirt ridden up to let loose the little bit of acceptable modesty as she hugged her driver with stretched arms. Our lover's heart was having a race too but for brief moments. It is the point when he would be carried away to the misty swamps of silence and galaxies of possibilities. After screeching the breadwinning contraption to a halt, his auto driver took a look outside to the striped shirted bicycle man, then to a waiting biker and rubbed his palms to enjoy some guthka. The hallucinating red brake lights of the cars fell like a glow on him. The ears were plugged in and he was lost in the waters of Porcupine Tree. Back on the road, his auto plunged him into the springs of his seat. Everything seemed to be zooming by, hundreds of people on the streets whom he’ll never get to know, buildings he will never visit, bumps he will never endure, lights that he will never stare at for hours.
He looked out of his vista and saw a wedding procession take place, he always hated the idea of weddings, especially since the moment he saw eunuchs parading and dancing on one of his friends weddings. He thought about his marriage, dressed outrageously, dancing silly, smiling deliberately. Men in tight boots and worn out suits waking behind his horse, dancing aimlessly and throwing their notes in the air while little hungry kids scamper after them to get their daily bread. Lights and sounds of holy matrimony could not displease him enough. His bubble burst at another screeching halt at a traffic light. Another couple on the bike but this one seemed to be tired with their adventures and looked too big to be on a bike. She carried a bag full of onions, he was hanging a bag of tomatoes on his arm. Sitting in the auto,this lover couldn’t really get a look of their faces but imagined them as dull, stern and maybe confused. Confused as to where did they go wrong, whose fault was it, what happens now?
He looked up and his auto was moving again, this time much with a little urgency. Unfamiliar paths always intrigued him and his search for new paths was always inexhaustible. Beaming lights hit his face as he stared into the dark lands and lone lights. Hindi slogans were on the walls of support and help, some corners seemed to be darker than the others but then they ended. Green grass was now sprawled across his vision and then came lights, facing upward they were, hailing the monument that seemed to gain the respect and salute of each being by just standing there motionless in the night and all through the day. Maybe there were better things to do maybe there was a plan, did he have one? He remembered what he had bought an hour back, they were gifts for someone. Someone who had lost a lot and lost some more, he wished to give something back and give something more. He smiled a little and then looked at opportunities, hopes, dreams and then he looked at his driver. They will never meet again unless they exchange numbers which he didn’t intend on doing. The smell of jasmine then came to his senses and saw an old lady selling them on the road beside. She might like them in her hair, or she might not. Did he even know her that well? Making a mental note, he let the smell of jasmine pass by, only to be disturbed by the stench of the wreaking gutters of filth and birth.
He was almost at the end of this auto ride and he never really remembered anything from these rides. They are but another slideshow of his heroes, villains, achievements, failures, joy and pain. He did not need anything else right now, he just wanted to sense it all. At his rendezvous point, he lifted his bag, paid the man who didn’t seem grateful just cracked his fingers to show some gratitude and left. He was now on his own and so he walked into the sea of people, for he is just another face that will never be seen heard or known by hundreds.
He looked out of his vista and saw a wedding procession take place, he always hated the idea of weddings, especially since the moment he saw eunuchs parading and dancing on one of his friends weddings. He thought about his marriage, dressed outrageously, dancing silly, smiling deliberately. Men in tight boots and worn out suits waking behind his horse, dancing aimlessly and throwing their notes in the air while little hungry kids scamper after them to get their daily bread. Lights and sounds of holy matrimony could not displease him enough. His bubble burst at another screeching halt at a traffic light. Another couple on the bike but this one seemed to be tired with their adventures and looked too big to be on a bike. She carried a bag full of onions, he was hanging a bag of tomatoes on his arm. Sitting in the auto,this lover couldn’t really get a look of their faces but imagined them as dull, stern and maybe confused. Confused as to where did they go wrong, whose fault was it, what happens now?
He looked up and his auto was moving again, this time much with a little urgency. Unfamiliar paths always intrigued him and his search for new paths was always inexhaustible. Beaming lights hit his face as he stared into the dark lands and lone lights. Hindi slogans were on the walls of support and help, some corners seemed to be darker than the others but then they ended. Green grass was now sprawled across his vision and then came lights, facing upward they were, hailing the monument that seemed to gain the respect and salute of each being by just standing there motionless in the night and all through the day. Maybe there were better things to do maybe there was a plan, did he have one? He remembered what he had bought an hour back, they were gifts for someone. Someone who had lost a lot and lost some more, he wished to give something back and give something more. He smiled a little and then looked at opportunities, hopes, dreams and then he looked at his driver. They will never meet again unless they exchange numbers which he didn’t intend on doing. The smell of jasmine then came to his senses and saw an old lady selling them on the road beside. She might like them in her hair, or she might not. Did he even know her that well? Making a mental note, he let the smell of jasmine pass by, only to be disturbed by the stench of the wreaking gutters of filth and birth.
He was almost at the end of this auto ride and he never really remembered anything from these rides. They are but another slideshow of his heroes, villains, achievements, failures, joy and pain. He did not need anything else right now, he just wanted to sense it all. At his rendezvous point, he lifted his bag, paid the man who didn’t seem grateful just cracked his fingers to show some gratitude and left. He was now on his own and so he walked into the sea of people, for he is just another face that will never be seen heard or known by hundreds.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Dream - I
It was just a dream but it had felt so real.
A bright and sunny day it was and I was back to being 3 years old. Note more than a foot high, cradled in my mother's arms and sucking my thumb I was living the good life.As I looked onto her face, I knew that this day wasn't like any other. There was some sort of excitement on her face, a mixture of feelings seemed to be empowering her face as she carefully changed my diaper. It was as if she was uncertain, unsure and then I saw it happening. As slow as it could get, came a deep, long sigh from the depths of her lungs.
She was nervous
As she carried me out into the open through the the front door of our house, the sunlight hit me right in the eyes and caught in the glare as I squinted, I managed to figure out the shape of my car where sat two figures at the front. As we moved closer to the car, I realized that the two figures were no one else but my elder brother and father. My brother seemed to be in an awkward costume, dressed in a white shirt and shorts, with a tiny green belt around his waist, white colored socks,shoes that had been polished since last night and not to forget a bag hung around his shoulders with a water bottle around his neck. The look on his face seemed to be of total glee and eagerness as as he kicked the air happily. My father, still in his kurta and pyjama had a proud smile on his face. It was one of those 'firsts' in his child's life.
His first day at school
A bright and sunny day it was and I was back to being 3 years old. Note more than a foot high, cradled in my mother's arms and sucking my thumb I was living the good life.As I looked onto her face, I knew that this day wasn't like any other. There was some sort of excitement on her face, a mixture of feelings seemed to be empowering her face as she carefully changed my diaper. It was as if she was uncertain, unsure and then I saw it happening. As slow as it could get, came a deep, long sigh from the depths of her lungs.
She was nervous
As she carried me out into the open through the the front door of our house, the sunlight hit me right in the eyes and caught in the glare as I squinted, I managed to figure out the shape of my car where sat two figures at the front. As we moved closer to the car, I realized that the two figures were no one else but my elder brother and father. My brother seemed to be in an awkward costume, dressed in a white shirt and shorts, with a tiny green belt around his waist, white colored socks,shoes that had been polished since last night and not to forget a bag hung around his shoulders with a water bottle around his neck. The look on his face seemed to be of total glee and eagerness as as he kicked the air happily. My father, still in his kurta and pyjama had a proud smile on his face. It was one of those 'firsts' in his child's life.
His first day at school
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