Defeat's ugly face.

He was ahead of the other participants. Every drop of sweat reminded him of all the hard work. His life unfolded in front of his eyes as he saw the finish line in the distance. He had to win this. He needed the money for Abdul's education. In the next few seconds, he tasted sweet victory. He kissed the medal around his neck and shed a tear of joy. He said a happy prayer and looked up at the sky. He knew he saw his parents' proud smiles. 

All of a sudden, he woke up with a start to the sound of his crutches fallen on the floor.

The melancholy truth.

She had laid eggs a week ago. She looked at them lovingly, waiting for them to hatch. Suddenly, she heard loud noises and felt the tree wobble. The nest she had built with all her energy and love, crumbled, while the eggs slipped off and splattered against the ground. Unable to bear the pain and panic, she flew away looking for new shelter. 

They picked the tree up, hurray-ed, and walked away.

Her new home was with a flock of other birds. One fine day while flying, something sharp whizzed past her and missed her right leg by a second. It hit her friend instead, who fell to the earth, dead. 

They picked the bird up, hurray-ed, and walked away. 

Petrified, she decided to live in solitude. After days, hunger took over and she was forced to leave her hiding and go in search of food. She flew low and could see the city was buzzing with energy and immersed in colour, unlike her. Her journey came to an ungraceful end, as a sharp twine struck her chest, eating into her flesh. She bled to death. Nobody paid heed to her meek, painful whimpers. 

They picked the kite up, hurray-ed and walked away. 

The humans have taken it upon themselves to never let birds live in peace.

It was a sweater made for two.

Something I had written for Sticky Stories. The beginning line that was given was 'It was a sweater made for two.' Read on!

It was a sweater made for two. She held it close to her chest, as painful tears mercilessly trickled down her face. The big, empty baby bump never felt this heavy. With little stamina, she crossed out yet another date on the calender.

Today was the 'due date' her family had been eagerly waiting for.

The power of electricity.

Survived 10 hours and 15 minutes of power cut today. This gave me time to think, and embrace the power of electricity. I was almost in tears when I heard the fan roar and see the tube light pump in energy into my room again. 

Forget how humid and annoying it was, there is just so much more than we rely on electricity for, these days. First off, I work alternate Saturdays. So the other Saturdays are a boon beyond reason. 
Here's a gist of what my today looked like, and how sucky it was.

1) The first two hours were manageable, as long as the mother and grandmother were around for company. Paper, chai, hi and good mornings, etc took up time.

2) Phone Internet started hogging on battery, hence decided to keep it shut for a while.

3) With nothing else to do, binged on a packet of masala corn balls. Soon, time for lunch.

4) Read a whole Calvin&Hobbes book to just push lunch as much as possible.

5) Hands start itching to see what's happening with the world. Battery dies a little more.

6) By this time, I'm suddenly left home alone. Obviously, with nothing to do.

7) Eat lunch.

8) Try to take power nap, FAIL thanks to the humidity and sweat.

9) Maid enters. Try to keep myself occupied watching her work.

10) Get an idea for an advertisement. Start writing on paper, have absolutely no flow of thought (or the backspace option)

11) Phone is almost gone. Try desperate methods of saving it. Like, the ever helpful Mac!

12) Try to play brother's guitar. Even the dogs ran away.

13) Eat more corn balls, and have two more cups of chai. Because, bored.

14) Pray for electricity to return soon. Or at least some human company. (All dogs were too blissfully asleep to be ruthlessly woken up)

15) Power nap fail, yet again. Eyes are too tired to read anymore.

16) Start talking to myself, without any other choice. I sang a little too. 

17) Father returns home. OMG PARCEL FROM DOSA PLAZA

18) Ate American Chopsuey Dosa (yes), and waited impatiently.

BAAAAM! Electricity is back, so is all the happiness.

What has social media done to me? Where is all this stupid addiction going to lead? It's a scary thought. So incredibly difficult to digest the fact that at one point of time, everybody lived without electricity. A worse thought? The fact that so many people live today, this minute, without any access to electricity. 

Though I did make it through 10 hours successfully, I disappointed myself. A lot.

Until next.

Dream big. Dream with your eyes open.

I dream consciously. I dream because I love to. Dream during the day. Stop your work for a while, stare into empty space and just dream. Never give up dreaming. Be passionate about being able to dream. So many people don't make time to dream.

By dreaming, I don't mean the dreams that attack you while you're fast asleep. Those are driven by the day's happenings and highly influenced by reality. You can't even recall most of them. We have enough of shit to deal with in reality, why bother adding it to dreams? Dreams are meant to be unique, fantasy based. Take a break from whatever you are doing, and let your thoughts just wander.

There's a healthy difference between day dreaming and night dreaming. You have no control over night dreaming. Which is also why nightmares come into existence and ruin a good night's sleep.  Like I also said, it is always based on what happened during the course of the day. So, why not change the course of the day?

Dream about anything under and above the sun. Dream about puppies flying. Dream about that wedding you've always wanted; detail out every single thing you want. Dream of the tiny, pretty house you can maintain all by yourself. Dream  of watching baby pandas fall off a slide. Dream of your life as a celebrity; give yourself importance. Dream about how you managed to save the world. Dream about that perfect guy/girl you want to date. Dream about having your crush fall for you, head over heels. Dream of a big bunglow that you know you can't afford. Dream of a life where money isn't everything. Dream of shopping. Dream of sun bathing in a beach wearing a bikini and not feel shy about.

Dream about anything, everything.

Of course, be positive. A smile will draw itself on your face without you knowing it.

Spruce up scenarios, make happy bubbles, and live in the them. Enjoy the liberty of shaping the dream and deciding its course. Enjoy the fact that you are the master of your mind. Enjoy how much you can embrace life in a parallel universe. Enjoy sculpting every detail with a dash of perfection in accordance to what you really want.

Dream consciously during the day. The sub conscious night dreams will fall quietly into place.

Haffun!

I see chocolate. Nothing happens.

The joy of an anti-sweet tooth. I don't even know why it is such a big deal. It isn't. But the sweet tooth walas have made it this way for the minority.

"Hey, chocolate?"

"No thanks, not too fond of it."

"WHAT? How do you survive?"

Sorry for bursting your chocolate filled bubble, but like without chocolate is highly possible. And extremely comfortable. I can't survive beyond one square of a dairy milk bar, so forget the rest. I've seen for real when people melt, go crazy, tear their hair, make orgasmic noises at the very look at that brown, gooey thing. Doesn't stop with just chocolates, let's not even get into the world of cakes and cupcakes. Every third picture of my newsfeed has a cupcake. Ok, I admit, I love love love looking at those pictures. But it does not make me want to eat it. Nope, not even a bite.

So, while you sweet tooth walas hog on chocolates and cupcakes, I shall proudly announce to the world how my love for chips is multiplying in enormous amounts, with every new packet. If you really know me well, and decide to gift me something, you should know what not to give me.

Until next!

Just another love story.

They were walking down the railway station. It slowly started dawning upon her that he was leaving. The past week had been blissful. She didn't know what this meant. Happiness overflowing, fast paced heartbeats, blushing cheeks, restless sleep and high energy. It passed like a dream. Suddenly, everything else didn't matter. Didn't matter at all.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep, sexy voice.

"Give me the bag!"
"No. I'll carry it for you."
"No, give it to me!"
"But I want to carry it!"
"If you love me, then give it to me."
"I do.. I do love you."

Did she just say that? Her heartbeat was the fastest she'd ever felt in 16 years. They carried the bag together, each holding one strap. The bag took responsibility of the growing bond between them. The bag called out to their love and gave them an answer. The bag was stitched for them.

The next few minutes passed in complete oblivion. The electricity between them left her head spinning. She wanted to hold his hand, and have a conversation with his eyes. Their eyes were fixed on each other. The train window between them didn't pose a problem. The train moved.
She didn't say goodbye. Neither did he. No words were spoken. The train just moved.  It was only after he was out of sight that she began to realize. She was blindly in love.

Months flew by. They loved each other. Each day had reason to wake up with a smile. Each song had meaning. Each smile had thought of him behind it. Each minute was precious.

Years flew by. The electricity was intact. The love had grown multifold. The passion was enviable. They had grown fondly comfortable and happily familiar. She fell deeper in love. Even if he didn't have time to talk to her. Even if his phone was engaged for hours. Even if he snapped at her. She was too much in love.

It had fallen apart for him. She was too naive to realize that. She lived in a world of her own. The guilt was killing him. He had to break it. His new found love. That he loved her.

And he did. It shattered her to bits.

So more years passed. She had matured into a beautiful and confident person. He, on the other hand, heart broken, troubled and guilty.

They met at a friend's wedding. She was lugging her bags into the hall. He saw her with sorrowful, guilt studded eyes. He went up to her.

"Give me the bag!"

She gave him the bag and walked away, breezily.