Unassumed Dwellings

She was right there in front of me. Every once in a while, she ran her fingers through her hair, which was otherwise playing along with the strong wind on the balcony. With every gust, she lost the battle. A few strands would escape the contours of her neck and wave with the winds. She responded with a smile. And looked beautiful. Sitting there on bean bags, listening to Pink Floyd and gazing at the fast-fading taillights of the cars on the highway, life was magical. The occasional honking by the vehicles seemed to be in perfect sync with the soulful music, and the glittering windows of apartments at a distance looked like shooting stars. Even the smoke from that shared cigarette seemed to dance in the air as it kissed her lips on the way out. No one talked. Not a word was spoken. But somehow this conversation was as deep as it could be. She gently closed her eyes and started humming the song echoing out of the speaker. As the music got more intense, she started waving her hand with t...

Reality is such a great leveler. There you are - infatuated and all. While your mind sways to tunes heard only by you, a real-world also exists outside your bubble. And you are made aware of its existence by the most insignificant of things. So you like a girl. You then find out that she is already dating. Of course. What did you think? And you are still going bonkers. You have no idea what's wrong with your mind! Let me break it down for you. Cricket offers an almost perfect analogy (like it does for every other thing in our country). Not so long ago, when the great Sachin Tendulkar had not retired, time and again there were instances when India was almost out of the game but he was still not out. We might have needed 200 runs and have only 2 wickets left, and Tendulkar might have been batting with Venkatesh Prasad for that matter. But everyone still had hope. That hope defied logic. Till the time he was on the crease, everyone believed magic could happen. Most of the times it di...