A decade ahead...

A decade ahead ...
He is a plethora of experiences...
A treasure trove of memories...
Of travel and travails...
The fine lines on his forehead...
The crinkly crows feet ...
At the corner of his eyes ...
A reminder of his journey through life.
He is a mine of stories...
Funny and cute...
A flurry of activities...
His life is full...
Coming one full circle...
Towards his silver sunset.
A storyteller of yore...
A music afficionado...
A connosieur of fine food ...
Appreciative of good wine ...
He's a wee bit ...
A decade ahead of her ...
She lives in awe of his splendour...
She looks up to him...
She waits for more from him.
He lives a life ...
She dreamt of once...
He lives her dream ...
Unknoweth of her ...
She lives her dream through his words.

An Evening worth remembering...

With an eye full of Rosy dreams ... She returned post dinner ...
Having met the Bond of her dreams ...
The waxing eloquent hunk...
Fresh from the Thar desert,
An eye candy ...
Rustic from the sun and sand experience...
She places herself comfortably on her bed ...
And reminisces the immediate past ...
Questioning herself...
How did she land herself in the company of the perfect man for the job...
The job of keeping her glued to his words...
Not a moment of boredom...
Every word from his vocal chords ...
Music to her ears...
This is the man she had been searching for decades ...
One who would sweep her off her feet ...
Without lifting a finger ...
An innocence in his simplicity...
The suspenders a reminder of a boyish youth ...
Fine taste in wine and dine ...
And she was floored even before she met him.
His social media posts ...
Her favourite haunts...
Watching the pictures of his travel and more...
Reading the forenote to each post ...
A gluttony of words...
A foodgasm of thoughts...
A feast to the eyes...
He embodies the very Adonis of the world of culinary delights.
Here she embarks upon her crush on him...
A juvenile delinquency of desire to meet him...
In one of those weak moments...
She let's him into her private World...
And blurts out in messages...
Her infatuation for his words and photographs of his travels...
His travelogue making her go weak in her knees.
They exchange words...
Of course, in due civility...
She knows not of him ...
But, she's taken by his charm.
The Wordsmith in him overpowers ...
Her web of words ...
Who spins a better yarn ...
Knoweth she not.
A rendezvous incognito...
Just like her reel hero ...
The bond in real life appears in her land ...
The lair is set for a round of drinks ...
Followed by a quick Chinese bite ...
She comes away totally floored...
And enamoured by his charm.
A fine man...
His manners set him apart ...
An old world charm ...
A swag in his gait ...
A decade of difference makes no difference...
For she has fallen...
Head over heels for this swindler of words.
A myriad thoughts onslaught her mind...
She heaves a sigh and dreams on.
What got her attracted to this Playboy of words ...
Every woman clamouring for his attention...
A hint of jealousy in her mind ...
She let's an inaudible moan escape her lips...
But, he conceded her request for a turban to be adorned on his head ...
Why would he?
A man of his words ...
He met her on his sojourn back...
His tired self keeping pace with her springy steps...
Yes, there is magic in his persona...
He minces not his words ...
A World Traveller...
Surely , he must know her heart.
Camouflaged in his eyes behind the lashes ...
The look of a seasoned Traveller...
He the current Lawrence of Arabia ...
She the Sheherzadi of a thousand Arabian nights.
#GoFigure

She saw her working day and night ...

A conversation ensues...
Based on the untimely death of her dear friend #Sangeeta...

[2/20, 7:52 PM] Radhika Nanda: I am fine
[2/20, 7:52 PM] Radhika Nanda: Just disturbed
[2/20, 7:53 PM] Satyaki Ghatak: Try to relax and sleep well
[2/20, 7:53 PM] Radhika Nanda: I need to rest my mind
[2/20, 7:53 PM] Radhika Nanda: Yes
[2/20, 7:53 PM] Radhika Nanda: Thank you
[2/20, 7:54 PM] Radhika Nanda: Waiting for sleep
[2/20, 7:54 PM] Radhika Nanda: It's been two hours
[2/20, 7:54 PM] Radhika Nanda: Even medicine doesn't help
[2/20, 7:54 PM] Satyaki Ghatak: Ok..don't take more now
[2/20, 7:54 PM] Radhika Nanda: My mind is blank
[2/20, 7:55 PM] Radhika Nanda: Can't think , nor focus
[2/20, 7:55 PM] Satyaki Ghatak: Can understand..if we lose any close friend
[2/20, 7:56 PM] Radhika Nanda: I couldn't even shed a tear
[2/20, 7:56 PM] Radhika Nanda: It's like a dam ready to burst
[2/20, 7:56 PM] Satyaki Ghatak: You are a brave person..you will come out of this soon
[2/20, 7:57 PM] Radhika Nanda: I saw her working day and night for what. Death?
[2/20, 7:57 PM] Radhika Nanda: She didn't enjoy life
[2/20, 7:57 PM] Radhika Nanda: Am working too
[2/20, 7:57 PM] Radhika Nanda: It's making me think, for what
[2/20, 7:57 PM] Satyaki Ghatak: Death is not in our hand dear
[2/20, 7:57 PM] Radhika Nanda: For whom
[2/20, 7:58 PM] Radhika Nanda: After I am gone , is it worth it
[2/20, 7:58 PM] Radhika Nanda: Will my kids be happy if I am dead
[2/20, 7:58 PM] Satyaki Ghatak: No one happy if someone close dead
[2/20, 7:58 PM] Radhika Nanda: Why am I not giving it all up and spending time with my kids
[2/20, 7:59 PM] Radhika Nanda: But my kids also have no time for me
[2/20, 7:59 PM] Radhika Nanda: It's a vicious cycle
[2/20, 7:59 PM] Radhika Nanda: Life is so sinister
[2/20, 8:00 PM] Radhika Nanda: We all want material things and also Nirvana
[2/20, 8:00 PM] Satyaki Ghatak: Life is all about struggle dear...sometime happy sometime sad
[2/20, 8:01 PM] Radhika Nanda: I can either eat Dal rice and spend time with my kids or give them material benefits and work my arse off
[2/20, 8:01 PM] Radhika Nanda: I see many who do nothing but have everything
[2/20, 8:01 PM] Radhika Nanda: Some who don't deserve enjoying life
[2/20, 8:01 PM] Radhika Nanda: Where do we go wrong
[2/20, 8:02 PM] Radhika Nanda: What is it that we aren't doing right
[2/20, 8:02 PM] Radhika Nanda: Damn
[2/20, 8:02 PM] Satyaki Ghatak: Relax dear
[2/20, 8:03 PM] Radhika Nanda: Trying

If she's so sad...
Imagine the girls ...
Who lost their mother...
There are many to wipe their tears ...
But, how many are genuine?

She worries for the girls...
She worries for her kids...
Is this what we slog for?
An untimely death?

She saw her slogging day in and day out...
She sees herself slogging day in and day out...
What's the difference?
Soon she will be dead too...
Her kids orphaned ...
How would that feel like?

Nostalgia

In the quietness of her realm...
She remenisces the past ...
The very recent past ...
The glory of those happy days ...
The sharing of food ...
The sharing of everything that was dear ...
Thoughts and what not ...
In her solitude, she wonders ...
Does he feel guilty?
Does he feel remorse for what he did?
Did he even once think,
How she would cope with the betrayal?
She wonders in her quietude...
She looks up to the heavens...
A question written across her eyes ...
Why Me?
Nostalgia grips her...
Memories have her in painful throes...
Tears streaming down her cheeks ...
She turns her face in her pillow...
Letting the cotton soak the saline flow...
Drying her eyes...
Drying her soul...
Turning frigid ...
She tattoos her name as...
The Ice Maiden in her mind ...
Never again to become weak...
Never again to give her heart...
A thousand pieces strewn here and there...
She lets out a laughter...
A sinister smile envelopes her lips...
A glint happens in her eyes...
Nostalgia can do that to you...
Turn you into a She Monster...
A monster raging within...
She becomes Her ...
The one that runs with the Wolves...
#GoFigure

The rise and fall...

She promised herself...
She would rise from her ashes...
Rise she did ...
From her ashes ...
To soar high ...
Towards the blazing Sun...
Burning again ...
Withering into nothingness...
Not an ounce of hope left...
Not a drop of blood ...
All burnt black...
The flame engulfed her...
She rose to her death ...
In the blazing heat of the moment...
In the blazing heat of the Sun.

Conned!

It seemed so perfect...
A match made in heaven...
It was just too good...
Too quick...
A whirlwind romance ...
Just too soon ...
Too good to be true!

They decided to meet...
She went to his city...
He acted broke ...
Broken emotionally...
Broke financially...
She spent herself on him...
She spent her money on him...
She returned broken...
Physically and emotionally...
He turned out to be a conman...
She had a nagging feeling...
That all wasn't well...
In her absence...
He had been cheating on her...
Robbing her wallet dry ...
Robbing her esteem...
Every which way ...
He sucked the life out of her...
She could do nothing...
She was conned ...
Her feelings canned ...
Broken, she tried to move on ...
Only to be reminded...
There are men and...
There are CONMEN.

Her life in a gist...

Can you believe it, when girls were reading Mills and Boons ... She was reading Mill on the Floss at age 8... Emily Bronte... Wuthering Heights, Dostovsky, Tolstoy ... Shakespeare... She was hungry for knowledge... Her general knowledge was legendary... Not bragging but she misses those days when she was either buried in books or walking the footpaths of Flora fountain buying books for 10 rupees each ... Her busfare saved for it ... So she would get down from the bus and walk to college and save her busfare so she could buy books.
When she got married, four steel boxes of books went in dowry and her in-laws were disappointed...
Even before her son was born she had bought the entire TimeLife series for him. He grew up surrounded by books...
She's glad he speaks in Queens language and reads every night before sleeping...
He also has an insatiable hunger for knowledge...
He started blogging but no one would read his blogs as they were incomprehensible to others...
He went for poetry sessions and returned disappointed saying people are writing rhymes not poetry...
But shes glad he's always reading and evolving...
Her daughter had to struggle due to dyslexia but she overcame her disability and Amblyopia...
She is a performing artist ... No one gives her work in theatre due to her thick glasses but she doesn't care...
She goes for workshops and is always learning...
She's an auditory learner... She will graduate soon...
She says she wants to travel solo and...
She  knows one day she will go as she's a rebel like her...  Touchwood!!! She's thankful to God for giving her such amazing kids ... She looks at others struggling to get their kids somewhere and she knows God has given her the best...
She might not have the riches but she's richer in experience and has the best kids...
Touchwood!!!
Today, even if she passo away, she will have no regrets as she has lived her life on her terms and her kids will never be dependent on anyone in future. They are her gifts to mankind. They are born for a greater cause, she doesn't know what but she has delivered the goods.
The deliverance is what her birth was for.
She wasn't destined to survive, she survived an early birth in eighth month, near drowning at age 1, near death experiences in life many times ... There was a purpose to the life she has been given...
A life lived to the hilt...
A life to celebrate.

An ode to an old man...

Her best buddy...
Her friend, philosopher and guide...
Her agony aunt in disguise...
Yes, this one is to an old friend of hers...
The grand old man...
Who's remained with her...
Through time ...
Good and bad times...
He's always been there...
Rock solid...
Even when she wasn't there for him...
He was always there for her...
He stood by her ...
Through tears and torn strife...
Her kind of good old man...
Her kind of man ...
Her best buddy...
Her only solace in a world full of deceit...
The deceiving people...
They all came and went...
He remained rock solid by her side...
Never met him...
Never spoke to him...
Yet, he's her shadow...
Never leaving her side...
The only true man in her life ...
A meaningful friendship...
Traversing the tide of time...
Always guiding her through...
The storms in her life ...
An ode to the old man ...
His muse ...
She smiles...
And heaves a sigh of relief ...
Looking heavenward...
Thanking her stars ...
To the light above...
Knowing well...
He will always be there for her...
The old man...
Her Agony Aunt ...
An ode to the friend...
To thank him...
Always ...
For what would she do...
If not for his love ...
Their love ...
Beyond words ...
A relationship that has no name ...
Just pure love ...
That's undemanding...
For it's based on respect...
Respect for each other...
A friend for life and beyond...
Thank you, Old Man!!