Thursday, February 14, 2013

Rhapsody in February

I was buying hard and fast into the argument of the cynics. What is so special about this day? Western or Eastern, it is an absurd tradition. How can the celebration of love be confined to a single day? It is just a propaganda. It creates so much pressure. It builds expectations. It is mad. And then in India, it is dangerous too. Valentines. Big deal!



So, yes, it was decided. This is a day to remain locked up at home. With my candles, and cakes, and flowers. Wait, no! Wasn't I just ridiculing the very concept of this day? And now, I plan to, like the painful cliché goes, be my own Valentine? I smirked. I am a sad case. It is all absurd. Not only is it a day to suck brain and money out of the fooled consumers, it is also a day designed to make the likes of me pathetic and lonely. Everything is wrong with this day. What are you all, smeared with crimson, happy about? Get a life. 

Its seven in the evening. The sun took longer to erase its trail from the sky tonight. I wait for it to sink before I go for my rendezvous with the light breeze outside. It is convenient. I can stroll on the terrace with a goofy smile on my face, and no one will know. I can walk, and churn stories in my head, layering them with apposite facial expressions, and no one will know. I can remember him, feel a ticklish sensation in my heart, have a drop or two shed from my eyes, and no one will know. To amuse myself, I can draw a long, filmi sigh, and no one still will know. These nights are my own - they help me live and breathe like no one's watching. Secure in dark. Looking down (literally) at the world. Looking back in time. It really is a spoilt day 

A gentle melody wafts up on the breeze. I hear it for some seconds, and then it fades. I must have hallucinated. Are my imaginations that strong? I hear it again. This time, fainter. It disappears again, but not before my lips curve into a smile. I feel like exploring, discovering, reaching the source of this sound. Only, I am rendered immobile. With a weak, confused smile on my face. Did I hear it? For some seconds, yes. It sounded familiar, but, didn't it? I wish desperately to hear it once more. I try to rouse the music by the power of my will, concentrating hard with closed eyes. There. It hits again. Not my ears, but my heart. It comes closer, those lovely strains of the piano. I feel light on my feet, and my dimples deepen. I can visualize the nimble fingers working their magic to write romance with music. 

With laughter matching the rhythm of that melody, I open my eyes. I know this composition. With a lump in my throat, I look back to last Valentine's, when he played it for me. He did not just play, he made it for me. We were not just celebrating Valentine's. We were celebrating the day which brought us together, about half a decade back. 

His love continues to throb like music in my heart. He did get lost in the pages of time somewhere, but the love lingered. Like sweet music, like pious tears. 

Today, I cannot reach him, but I can write to him. If I could, this is what I would... 


Kyun tu achchha lagta hai, 
Waqt mila toh sochenge.
Tujh mein kya kya dekha hai
Waqt mila toh sochenge

Sara sheher shanasai ka davedaar toh hai lekin
Kaun humara apna hai, waqt mila toh sochenge

Humne usko likha tha kuchh milne ki tadbeer karo
Usne likhkar bheja hai, waqt mila toh sochenge

Aur mausam, khushbu, baad-e-saba, chand, shafaq aur taaron mein
Kaun tumhare jaisa hai, waqt mila toh sochenge

Ya toh apne dil ki maano ya phir duniyawalon ki
Mashwara kiska achchha hai, waqt mila toh sochenge

Kyun tu achchha lagta hai,
Waqt mila toh sochenge, 
Waqt mila toh sochenge


Happy Valentine's Day!
To all of you. 
Spread the love!

(I do not know the poet of the above lines. Do share if you do.)

13 comments:

  1. Your tweet directed me here! So firstly I would like to thank you to let me have such a great start to Valentine's Day.

    This post was like peeking into your subconscious and discovering all the gentleness you store in there. Be it about love for nature, for someone else, or for yourself, you know how to make it a lot more beautiful than the usual. Your words form such a beautiful bond with the feelings you wish to convey, that the offspring expression is always a delight to read! ;)

    Thank you for this lovely piece of writing. The poetry in the end is nice, but in a way the whole story felt poetic to me, so loved it all.

    By the way, diplomacy ends in college. Its all honest opinion here. :)

    Happy Valentine's Day!

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    1. Wow. Your compliments are so poetic. And this is exactly the warmth I look forward to each day in college.

      Nothing, but honesty, is what is expected from you always. Please never say something which you do not mean with all your heart. And I know I can trust you for that.

      Thanks, yet again, for being there to read this post, and for wishing me a great Valentine's. Hope you had a good day too!

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  2. Well expressed!

    http://shaivikafunda.blogspot.in/2013/02/valentines-day-ki-kahaani.html

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  3. I wanted to comment sooner, but I could not. Tiny droplets filled the tiny spaces between my right eye ball and lower right eyelash, which seemed to work like a dam and stopped an overflow of the saline fluid produces there.

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    1. Dear little brother,

      I never expected that you will leave a comment here, so when I saw this one, I was elated even before I read it. And then, when I did read it, I could feel warmth filling my heart. Thanks for reading something so close to my heart.

      Love.

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    2. well, you must, "Expect the Unexpected" especially when its Vismaiy Avasthi. I am happy that my simple words touched you!

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  4. This Valentine, I've been reading blog-posts which are really hut-ke ... the common thing that I found in each one of them is that 'how can the celebration of love be confined to a single day' ...
    May we spread love! Everyday!! :)

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    Replies
    1. At least here is a day which makes us want to write about 'love'. The feeling should be there each day, no doubt about that, but one day dedicated to it is not a bad idea. However, to each his own!

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  5. It sounded familiar, but, didn't it?

    I don't know why, but that one line has stuck with me... your writing like always, is beautiful. I can feel the emotions inside me when I read these words... and all of it is so poetic, even in prose... but that one line, for some unknown reason, will stay with me long after i've forgotten the rest of it...

    And the way you've written this, it's different, and pleasantly so... even the all italics... they make it more personal...

    Again, its beautiful !!

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    Replies
    1. Again, your comment has left my spirits elevated. Thank you so much! I wish I had more time to write, but not able to manage anything these days. Sad!

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