A Scene from Tumbbad

I hear the loud banging against the bed, our maid Malti and my beloved husband’s laughs while I sleep in the next room, while he thinks I am sleeping.

He enters our room, and falls to our bed, falling asleep in a very short while.

I gather myself, from the shock that I cannot afford to express to anyone, not even to myself. I breathe carefully, trying not to let him know that I cried.

Our landlord brought Malti to our home, 2 days back as my husband thought I needed a maid. She was a Vidwa, a Widow, whose husband died and she was rescued by our landlord to protect her from the Sati pratha. She was beautiful with very long hair, I wondered why they didn’t cut her hair since

That is what they do with widows, cut their hair so they’re ‘far less pretty’ enough to be safe. They believe a woman’s beauty lies in her hair, the bigger it is, the prettier she is. I always felt it was in their eyes, that say a lot about women.

I wait patiently for the morning, so I can confront Malti about what happened earlier.

I wake up early the coming day to finish up all my house chores, my Husband, wakes up at his leisure and finds his way out to the Verandah, to read the paper.

I enter Malti’s room, she is dressed in her regular Crimson red sari covering her head, the dressing she is expected to adopt after becoming a widow.

With all my anger and frustration I hold her hand and drag her out of the room, slap her. ‘How dare you get close to my husband?’ ‘Didi, I swear, nothing happened between us, I did not even touch him.” I slap her again and drag her towards the entrance. ‘Get out and never show your face to me.’ “What happened Dear, why are you hitting her?” my Husband asks, I look down and take a deep breath, “She stole my money. I cannot let her stay in this house.” My husband smiles, “Alright.” He says and goes back inside. Malti leaves, and I sit on the swing, breathing heavily, enclosing my emotions, a little proud of myself about how I solved the ‘problem’ .
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Adapted from a scene from a very beautiful Movie ‘Tumbbad’. 

Of Eternal Sunsets

 

 

There is nothing more beautiful than the sun setting down at the beach, creating a reflection on the surface of water which is every kind of Photographer’s paradise. There is nothing more mesmersing than the way the rays of the big fire passes through the clouds and makes the atmosphere so pleasing and so attractive, that it makes us want to hold on to that sight forever.

A few days back, I saw a complete sunset, like right from the time it glew on the afternoon sky until the time it got merged with the sea and made me realise that the Moon is not the only celestial body that is beautiful, in this universe, and even though I knew all the scientific reasons behind why all of this happens, a part of me, was awestruck at both it’s beauty and it’s temporary farewell, I remembered that universal sunset story which I had heard from my Parents when I was a kid, that the sun gets dipped in the ocean and sets and 2 weeks back, at that time, I didn’t mind believing that it actually did.

 

But isn’t it amazing? Everytime the sun sets somewhere, it rises elsewhere, creating yet another mark of morning beauty that we wouldn’t miss if we get a chance to capture.

Sunsets are truly beautiful, aren’t they?And here’s some more sky porn from another place nearby (I have real amateurish photography skills though 😛 I’m going to capture sunsets anyway! :D)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other half

Ever since it ended, I have been walking around like a half complete soul desperate to find the broken pieces of my other half. What breaks my heart further is that I know where to find them,but the fear of getting hurt from those pieces is what makes my destiny the road not taken.
And tonight becomes yet another night of dealing with the pain of not seeing your text before going to sleep.
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-Gayatri R.C.

Being Happy

It is when you come home tired thinking about all that mess in your room that you need to declutter but find out that it has magically transformed into a tidy one, it is when you see your home flower pots blooming with new roses that you have been waiting to see since long, it is in seeing cute little babies smile and when your efforts of seeing them giggle are successful. Happiness is when you are genuinely happy for others, it is when you see your friend overcoming her/his own battles, it is when cute little kittens and bunnies do their adorable stuff. Happiness is the feeling of gratitude and in knowing that you and your smile alone hold the power of making people happy.
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-Gayatri R.C

The Present

“Am I still here?” I just couldn’t make peace with the present. Even utterance of these words priced me a great deal of deep breaths, shorter versions of which, I didn’t even want to take a few minutes ago.  I was heartbroken and helpless and as I looked at myself in the mirror, I realised that there was no way I could get out of this situation, there was no way in which this could be a flashback of my future self.

I was stuck here. Like Phil Diffy’s family from the future. There was no way I could go back in the past and change myself, there was no way I could skip this part and jump to the future. I had to face this. I had to face tomorrow.
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And I faced it. The present feels amazing, it’s worth all the tears. And the best part is that I would have never known what this felt like had I given up yesterday. The souls who have left the world against the will of The Force can’t ever know what getting through feels like, their present haunted them so much that they couldn’t wait to see how perfectly exorcised their future was.

I’m glad I got through it, and not away with my present. I’m glad that I’m a part of the future

-Gayatri R.C.

 

Let’s Rewind

Hold my hands and walk with me;
I like how your fingers tremble at the first touch;
like you’re afraid I’ll let go of it soon. But I won’t.
I’ll hold on to it tightly, and cherish the warmness between our hands and our interlocked fingers.
Walk with me; it is okay if you don’t talk; after all this time we’ve been together, we have graduated in the art of finding words in silence.

Look around; let’s find happiness in the smiling faces of babies in the park, in the tranquillity beneath the tree. Let me rest my head on your lap and trace the outline of your nose and tease you by comparing it with a country map.
Caress the strands of my hair like how you used to before we fell apart; remember? Lie next to me on the grass at night as we glorify our eyes by looking at the enchanting stream of stars. Just hold my hands again, I promise I won’t ever let go of it.

Ever. Again.

-Gayatri R.C.

A Tale of Betrayal

She sat in the Starbucks cafe, sipping her coffee and staring out of the window. The blood stained knife lay next to her handbag, covered with her blue silk scarf. A rush of adrenaline ran through her, as she thought about all the events that had taken place in the past 2 hours.

***

“Are you always this beautiful every morning?” he asked, charmed by her appearance.
“Trust me, you’re just too sleepy.” She said. As a reflex action, she woke up to look at herself in the mirror. She was still surprised at Rohan’s remarks.

Her hairstyle seemed messier than the kind she generally woke up to endure. She hadn’t tied her hair before going to sleep; she did not want to rather, as that would drift her away from sleep after the passionate love making they both had. Her lips fell into a smirk when she thought about it, ‘The best one I’ve ever had.’ She thought in her mind.

“Do you really want to go to work today?” asked Rohan.
“Yeah, I need to check on the incubator; got some nutrient media developing in there.” She said.
“Yeah right, I’d forgotten that you microbe freaks just can’t take a day off from work.” He laughed as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the forehead.

“Yeah right, like you can, Doc.” She was right; his absence at the hospital was rather more questionable by the medical authorities as compared to her absence in the microbiology laboratory.

“Can anyone ever beat you at sarcasm?! Anyway, I got to leave before your nosy sister wakes up. SHE IS SO SKEPTICAL ABOUT YOU.”
He literally spoke those words aloud.

***

A guy in blue and white striped t-shirt entered the Starbucks Café and searched for the table near the huge Starbucks wallpaper. His partner raised her hand in order to gain his attention; he replied with a nod and went on to sit opposite to her.
He’d always given her goose bumps. Just one look at his deep piercing eyes made her heart skip a beat. One could easily mistake him for a model because of his strong, robust physique and built. At 28, he was successful in his field of career. He was the sweetest and the most helpful guy Rupal had ever met and she always considered herself really lucky for having met him.

He sat across Rupal’s chair and raised his eyebrows to ask about the knife.
She nodded her head and looked at the bag on the chair next to her.
Rohan gave a sigh of relief.

“I didn’t know you hated my sister this much.” Asked Rupal.
“Oh come on, don’t try and put this on me. You know how much I love you, and I only did this for you.”

“I know.” Said Rupal, she knew he did, and she loved him too.

They had met at a conference on Biotechnology two years back and bonded over in the follow ups. He was more interested in obtaining certificates for this part-time course that he was pursuing alongside medicine. Biotechnological research only helped him.

They bonded really well and decided to get married within a year of courtship, but due to Rohan’s orthodox family, they had to give up their plans of settling together for a while.

Things started to look up after two years.

***

Fearing her sister’s annoying presence, Rohan quietly escaped from the door of the house and waved to his girlfriend once he came out of it.

“Do you know that seeing the groom just a day before the wedding is considered bad luck Pallu?” asked the nosy sister, she thought Rohan had just jogged passed by their house.

“I’m gonna miss that cute nickname, di.” Tears started rolling down her eyes gradually as she embraced her older sister, as tightly as she could.

“Stop it now, I hate this senti business. Go and freshen up, we have loads of things to do.”

***

He held her in his arms and made her sleep on the bed.
“Come on Rohan, the marriage is going to start soon, make it fast, else people will curse us for breaking rules.”

“Don’t you worry love, you know well how good I am at this.” said Rohan as he bent over to kiss her neck. She ran her hands over his hair as their lips met to clasp a passionate kiss. They were so engrossed in breaking the “rules”, that they did not hear footsteps approaching their room.

What broke their trance was not the sound of the door opening but the heavy sound of the Bride’s ornaments.

***
It wasn’t the time for Bidaai, yet the Mandap was filled with a sad atmosphere. The bride Pallavi’s suicide note was recovered from under her pillow, but she wasn’t found yet. People including the groom’s family were being interrogated.
Who cried the most at the wedding, was the Bride’s beloved sister, Rupal.

What hid behind those tears; was the truth behind the suicide; which was that it was a murder.

That First Kiss

She found him smiling at her; how cute he looked when his lips curved up to form a smirk, a faint dimple seen on his right cheek. His smile made her heart skip a beat, it was something that she’d missed of late, and his eyes smile along with his cheeks too, you can see a spark in them.

The wind blows around and flips his hair naturally, and he looks more attractive than ever. She walks closer to him, with a charming smirk of her own, and gives his hair a few strokes with her right hand.
Her left hand works to pull his warm and firm hand nearer to her so their faces come closer to each other; they both are now looking at each other, their eyes speaking a thousand million words that they couldn’t speak using their mouth. He smiles again, turning more irresistible to her; she doesn’t think twice and pulls him closer to her and plants a kiss on his cheek, he breathes into her ear at the same time and she experiences a tingling sensation accross her spine.

He kisses her cheeks too, his kisses form a kind of a trail starting from her ear to her lips, and their bodies go into trance as their lips meet.