"Untitled"

It happened not so long ago from today. But, what’s astounding is - that it happened one day. Uncalled for.

It was one of the first weeks when rains had just settled into the city and we had just got into the full swing mode with our project submissions et al.
It was a Saturday. Dress code – Formals. Occasion – College Film Festival. Attendance – Compulsory.
Yaaaiikss..I so loathed the whole idea of “the dress code”. “Semi-formals”. That’s what I would read it as;)

“Cow dung”. I said to myself as I reran through my plan. Bear in for two movie premieres and sneak out for a bladder break...only not to return there after ;) I didn't feel guilty breaking rules once in a while.. The weather had lured me into doing this. The tube light white of the sky, the enchanting smell of the wet soil, the sudden life in the luscious green spread and the fuelled rainbow reflecting puddles.. With so much outside only “cow dung” could turn me in!

I entered the auditorium while it was still getting filled and headed to the top most of the empty rows, usually preoccupied by either the ‘gangwallahs’ or the ‘you & I couples’ of my batch. It was affirmative that neither of the two would disturb my solitude or my plan. So, I sat down as everyone around began to settle in; watching seats being booked, A/Vs being checked, roll call and volunteers running with bouquets for the judges’ welcome.. A lot of people butter skating their way to clear exams. How I damned this whole idea at that moment.

I wanted to be OUT. Out, where life was playing its own orchestra. And here I was - Capsuled within the four high walls of the audi, earning brownie points for having “attended” the event!
“Chuck it!” I took to Plan B. I refused to be in 2 places at the same time and made my pick. And just as I began to pick up my bag to leave, he appeared. To me, at that moment, he appeared out of sheer nowhereness and placed his helmet right below the seat next to me blocking my way out.
Gosh! I opened my mouth to talk and shut it the very same instant… when I looked into those eyes. Those eyes. Man!

I sat down back into my seat as if ordered by some external force and looked at him again.
He was too busy, shuffling between some goddamn papers and I was happy to know that he didn’t notice me noticing him;)

Hmmm.. I had never seen him before. “May be, he’s new or maybe he’s a proxy.” In any case, I didn’t care till he didn’t notice me. I was already sketching him in my virtual Photoshop folder. “For future references”, I justified myself. “Mud beige t-shirt hand tailored from the bottom; washed out jeans; out-of-the-bed hairdo and those magnetic, deep eyes.” I wanted to drown in those eyes.
Shit. I’ve never noticed so much in a guy before. Or maybe I never came across “him” before.
Simultaneously, of course, the event began and the jury was slowly unfolded. “Whatever...” I chuckled as a name was announced from the dais and it turned out to be his.
God! I swear on God, I never in my wittiest guesses chanced “him” to be a jury member. “Shit.” I said again. Only that it was audible this time.
Startled by my welcome note for “him”, he looked at me for the first time then. And did something for which he could have been charged for a lifetime. He smiled.

Man! That smile - starting from his one ear and meeting the other, covering the entire universe in its span! It killed me, there and then. Shot dead.
Though, I’m not sure if I smiled back or fumbled lamely. I was not me anymore. Something was happening and I did really not like it. It’s like when you are driving your own car and the brakes refuse to follow your command. Humph!

To further add to my dismay, the lights went out for the premiere show. “Perfect”. “Just when I lose the key to my own house, someone schemes a dark out!”
Now, I was really stuck. Stuck between wanting to get a grip of my hormonal, emotional, sentimental or whatever that was loudening the music inside my body to so desperately wanting to slow down the time from taking this moment away from me.

So, this was it. This was my coup de foudre moment. And I, as usual was not dressed for the occasion.
As the first movie rolled out, ramblings in my head roll – “At least you could have done your hair neatly or used the gloss for once!! Blah blah..The voice went on, but, I was adamant to figure out what had caused my breaks to fail!

I watched “him” from the corner of my eye and my eyes got affixed to “him” like metal to magnet.
Holy God! How I loved his sight. His undone hair, his bottomless eyes and his 360 Volt killer smile. I wanted to talk to him. I wanted him to know that he had just killed me. But, my mind flatly refused to accompany my thoughts to my mouth!"Traitor!"

Meanwhile, the audi suddenly sprang up to life and the judges gave their feedback, one by one. When he spoke, he killed me again. Now, he was charged for twin murders and he was totally oblivious of his crime yet! He spoke “intelligence”, I marked as he dished out the tiniest nuances of film making, camera handling, light usage, subject research,etc. And all this without boasting to be a “know-it-all.”
So, the guy with killer looks carried a brain and humility along as well. I must have died again...

As the movies unfolded, my gaze followed his moves between the occasional blackouts and light breaks. I could have continued to watch “him” for the rest of my life, I thought. I had just sprung up to life, after all.

And then came in The Intermission.

I couldn’t believe myself. I sat through half of the day within these walls and now wanted to let go of my glorious chance to “the great escape” for a complete stranger. I no longer wished to be outside when my breath was immobilized inside.I sat through the entire break ensuring no one else would take away my seat and hoping that “he” would not change his place on return. He didn’t. Another smile and I minused another life from me.
“A few more smiles and it’s Game Over for me.” I blushed and “he” spoke. We spoke. About the movies, studies, blah blah.. I don’t really remember the full conversation we had, but, I was glad that the iceberg was finally broken.

The lights dimmed out and we spoke again. The movies turned out to be really hilarious and we got a topic on hand to discuss. He found company to share his thoughts and I found a whole new reason to live life again.

It’s funny how ‘time’ hoodwinks us during our best moments in life. We were done with the show and he had to leave. I had to leave too…To get back to a routine I no longer related to, to get back to a life which suddenly felt incomplete & unreal without “him”.

“Courage! Find it, dig it, hunt for it..I don’t care..Get it for me!” I must have ran this instruction through my system a zillion times before catching hold of that thief.
“Ummmm..Excuse me. How can we stay in touch?” I asked him. I think my question was very direct & I expected him to give me his card or number. He replied, “Just google my name. You’ll find me.” DAMN HIM!! I was clean bowled.

As he moved down the stairs of the audi, I watched him from behind. He came into my life like a bubble from nowhere and disappeared just like it into nowhere. A bubble that’s hard to define, harder to catch and hardest to preserve. You have to watch it disappear in thin air and preserve all that it offers you – a magical memory and a happy face:)

Would I really google him out? Would I really get in touch with him? Was it really what I thought it was? Was he really who I thought he was? Would we really get connected? Would the story in my head spring to life as I had that day? Would I tell him what I felt? Would the guilty be charged? Questions loomed over me.
Then, there, I had no answers to any of these.

Today, do I have answers to any of these? Yes and No. He came in without my permission. I loved him without his.

The answer to where this story ends or how it ends is answered in the beginning itself.

P.S. – the name;)

Truly, I Am Another YOU!!

Most of us live our lives blaming ourselves,cursing others,sheep walking every other man’s advice, instruction and order,empowering the world to hit us below the belt,every single time.We are emotional fools.Our dream man is a compilation of ten other men,our dream job is someone else’s job, our future is someone else’s present.Nothing is originally ours.We don’t live,we exist in the wait of our dreams to meet our reality,without even giving it one decent shot.“What we don’t have is destiny’s fault,not ours.And what others have is their luck.”This is the biggest lie written on rock.

‘I Am Another YOU’ is a book for all those who live this lie,day in and day out.This book is beyond learning.It is beyond experience.It is unlearning all the lessons of life you and me have grown up parroting.

“You can’t do this? Are you mad? You will fail miserably!You don’t know anything yet?Remember my words!I had told you!I knew this would happen to you.You can’t do anything.You are a loser,a mistake!”These are just a few statements which every Tom,Dick and Harry has thrown at me, piercing me at every chance they got.These are the words you believe,without a second thought. You strip yourself at every popular demand till you peel off your skin and grind your bones. Till all that is left of you is a meek soul held captive in your body.You live a vegetable growth, waiting to rot.

‘I Am Another YOU’ breakthroughs this YOU - The YOU who has the passport,but,not the visa to your life;the YOU who degrades self at the leisure of others;the YOU which is trapped in all of us, hidden, unattended, unacknowledged.
‘I Am Another YOU’ cleanses the inner self whose value is self destructed,the soul whose existence is not appreciated.It is not self help.It is the source to awareness,the medium to realization and the achievement of acceptance.It is not Priya’s journey alone.It is a path to finding our true self,not following hers,but,by simply experiencing hers.

‘I Am Another YOU’ is not a tale, neither is it an autobiography.It is a book of confessions,acceptations and discoveries – confessions of a lost,broken soul shattered in a million little pieces,accepting mistakes that turned life upside down for her and discovering the culprit and the victim – a timid, tamed,incarcerated soul hiding inside her,waiting for the right moment,hoping God to send a fairy Godmother to her rescue before every wrong turn,hoping destiny to play fair,only to find out that there is no right or wrong moment,there is no fairy Godmother,there is no destiny scripted.It is YOU.YOU are the key to your lock.YOU are the moment, YOU are the Fairy Godmother and YOU are the destiny.

‘I Am Another YOU’ is not a soul curry for a vulnerable soul.It is not a book with hidden secrets.It is decoding life for those who condemn it to be too complex,too unfair not within their control. And it is coding life for those who don’t know their purpose here,who live life at the mercy of others and who eventually wither off into nowhereness.

‘I Am Another YOU’ is coming across the word ‘miracle’ and realizing that the 'magic' is YOU.YOU are your strength and YOU are your weakness.YOU are the action and YOU are the consequence.YOU are the master and YOU are the slave.YOU are your creation and YOU are your destruction.

Priya neither leads nor teaches.She simplifies the complexities and serves her purpose to enlighten every single soul living in despair and self pity,perishing one moment at a time.She reinstates the greatest truth of mankind, the greatest lesson of God – “All is One and One is All.”

‘I Am Another YOU’ begins with an end of hiding,waiting to be found and ends with a discovery of the new YOU.So,the book never really ends.It grows with YOU, within YOU.
It would be wrong if I say Priya motivates.She inspires.She enlightens.And without travelling miles,YOU journey through the pages,every page finding a little YOU everywhere.

She says,“If I can,so can YOU”.Why not?I ask myself. After all,I Am Another YOU!!

Technically incorrect

At any other point of time I wouldn’t get so vexed had it been any other gadget. After years of experience, I had finally come to some consensus with myself that ‘technology’ and ‘me’ were probably not meant for each other. As absurd as this may sound, it doesn’t change the reality that we both just don’t seem to get along quite well.

Anyways, now that this happened with me not for the first, but second time and the fact that I had no backup plans (this time either), made me act really BIZARRE - to an extent that I remembered Arthur Weasley's words, “Never trust anything that can think for itself, if you can't see where it keeps its brain..” – Was he talking in context of the cell phone?! Hell Yes, I convinced myself.

Talking about my phone - it was one of the high-end phones which had umpteen number of features one could ask for (courtesy – Dad, a gadget buff).
However, for the weirdo that I am, I never really used it for what it was meant to be. I almost always forgot that I had a camera built in my phone. (Result- must have missed capturing a hundred moments of my life.) Music I had, but never carried headphones along. And when with me, it was always lying somewhere in the middle of everything. I always treated it more as a necessity than my need.

They say, “It’s only when you lose something that you understand its true value in your life..” Sounds cliché right?! But it does ring a bell.
And yeah, it holds true for even the most non-existent, seemingly replaceable parts of your life.

It’s only when my phone got bugged that I realized how much it meant to me. I was so busy convincing myself that I was no nomophobic that I didn’t realize when it became such an imperitive part of my life. Though I rarely used its ‘highlighted’ features, I did use its basics. It was my watch and my calendar. It ensured that I toed with time and wished my people on their anniversaries. It reminded me of all those ‘to-dos’ along with the ‘not-to-dos’. It saved for me, my wandering thoughts.
Almost like my Keeper, it stored EVERYTHING for me like a good, spacious, external hard drive of my brain. It had become my handy companion, ‘mon ami’. And what did I do? Took it for granted! Such a human trait!
But, if it’s human to err, it’s human to mend the wrong too. So, here I go.

Mon cher ami,
I was wrong. I always thought of you as a mere necessity. I cursed you for losing my contacts and other crucial data. I blamed myself for relying so much on you. I always thought about myself and forgot to appreciate how much had you contributed to make my life so much easier. With you gone, I felt handicapped. Of whatever others may term it, if I can’t value the small things around me; I will become as good as any other expendable, inert entity – which I am not. To me, you are more than a mere necessity. You truly are valuable. If ‘Sorry’ means anything at all, I am Sorry.
Technically incorrect,
Priyanka

PS - Yes, this was about my phone. Wondering whether I am a super sensitive nut? Well, I am sensibly sensitive, but, I won’t argue about the latter ;o)

Got Inked..FINALLY!!

Just about six months back on 26/11 the country was rudely woken up by the terror attacks in Mumbai. Though not the first one that a country like ours had witnessed, yet something about this one was so dissimilar that suddenly everyone (literally) was forced to sit up and take notice of it. And all that Rang De had virtually portrayed was all of a sudden adapted as ‘the need of the day’. The aam aadmi’s voice no more went unheard as the media nationwide finally metamorphosed as ‘mass media’ taking up moral responsibility in initiating a mass movement that sent heads rolling within no time. Though the entire episode was no less than a revolution, Judgment day seems far away today.

But as they say “every movement triggers a change” – this one did it too.
It gave people like you and me something we needed the most – A reality check.

And WHAT A TIMING I must say! Elections were around the corner and I was FINALLY eligible enough to exercise my most powerful right as an Indian citizen.

Just around six months back I too was venting out my anger like hundred others right here on this blog. For six months I have tolerated all those provocative political rallies, inciting public meets, irritating pop-ups of online campaigning, abhinetas turning netas, netas imitating abhinetas, their digs pulling each other down, the celeb bandwagon used as props to lure voters.. All this and much more.. I have had ENOUGH!

If the terrorists had terrorized us, these politicians have traumatized us. We had to shut them off! And I knew to ‘shooo’ them off the ‘shoe’ was not the answer. Not my answer. (What a waste of a commodity anyway)

So, I did what I was meant to do. Not cause I had to, but because I wanted to.
I VOTED. Words cannot describe my desperation for this day (only if the adrenaline in me could do the talking..)

Never did I think that I would show my ‘middle finger’ (mlm) to anyone. But today, I seem to be showing off my ungli to every other person I seem to be meeting! How do I feel? Ecstatic! Powerful! Somewhere in the back off my mind I can hear Uncle Ben murmuring, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Yeah Spidey! - Voted for DEMOCRACY. Voted for INDIA. Voted for ACCOUNTABILITY. Voted for MYSELF. .. Got myself INKED!

Out of sight

Somewhere amidst the crowd
You see;

Those tobacco stained teeth
Don’t shy away from smiling;
Those jaundice yellow eyes
Don’t wink at you once, but twice;
Those copper bronzed hair
Don’t dare to go unnoticed;

But,
By the time you catch more than a glimpse
You notice;
Not the teeth, not the eyes
Nor the weird hairdo;

Cause now, he stands in front of you
In full view, zooming in at you;

Smaller than a dwarf
He wears clothing not fit for one;
Tucked from here and pinned from there
Squalid enough to leave behind a stink;

His skin, no less than a snakeskin
Sufficed enough to hide his skeletal;

Least bothered about what one may think
He yells out loud, urging you to buy his hair dye;
His voice is hoarse
The stained teeth explain why;

You try to sympathize
With eyes you empathize;

But before you know, he cuts through the crowd
Vanishing from sight;

From head to toe in a complete state of pity
He leaves you to ponder;
Does he even eat once a day?
Or he breeds on tobacco to relieve his torment?

Questions like that intimidate you
Dare you to call yourself a victim again;

As your skin crawls, you see him off at the next station
Probably to catch another train;

You can’t help but look back at him
Till he goes out of sight again;

You revive
To understand what hit you so hard;
You introspect
To find answers that well up your eyes;

Those eyes had stories of survival
Those teeth had accounts of starvation;

His very appearance strikes back at you
Not as a casualty of child labour;
But, as a survivor
More so as a fighter;

He sticks in your head yet, screaming,
Out of sight, though, Not out of mind!

Today’s Special – Us

Ok then. It is International Women’s Day!
The print media has pages and pages full of women (human) interest stories, survival tales of women from different walks of life, interviews from women on-the-top, articles on women empowerment, international v/s national status report of women and blah blah. The electronic media doesn’t lag far behind. Overlooking the fact that the entertainment channels are anyways women dominated, we still have an array of shows and movies scheduled to be telecast today – all celebrating womanhood. How do I feel? Well, pampered for a while. But, hasn’t the media gone a bit overboard, especially, the news media?! Hmmm… and we talk about equality?
Talking about equality, with hardcore feminists arguing for more rights and the male chauvinists counter arguing over the plethora of laws and reservations we already have to our rescue, this debate over the equality of sexes may never come to a full stop.
Anyways, as a woman, and a proud one in that, I take this opportunity to speak on behalf of the entire yin clan – that we don’t need all this print and air space going gaga about us for a day. We are glad that we are celebrated. We appreciate. But, the need for the day is RESPECT. We are a part of your life in different forms - your mother, your sister, your friend, your relative, your companion, your teacher, your love, your homemaker, your household help, your cook, your next door neighbour and even the ones you may not know personally – we are more than just a part of your sex chromosome. We don’t deny your importance in our lives. All we expect of you is to accept us for what we are, who we are and respect us for the same with your entire gentleman’s grace. Want to make us feel special, then as a first – don’t take us for granted.
Respect – you may claim is something you always have had – and that you don’t need someone like me to remind you of your manners. Well, I am sorry if you already are an exception. But, just answer this question to yourself – how many abuses have you used till now which don’t insult somebody else’s woman? Name them, understand their meaning and you will get an answer for yourself. Remember, the need for rights arises when they are denied.
All said and done, it will take more than just rights to prove the proverb ‘What goes to the goose, goes to the gander’ right. It will require conscience awakening. It will require YOU to be a man of your words. Till then, one can just hope that God is the abbreviation of Goddess.



A simple Hug, a Peck, a Kiss,
Use of ‘Thank You’ and of ‘Please’,
A Helping Hand at chores sometimes,
Say ‘I care’ and ‘Sorry’ at times,
Cook up some meal or Come home early,
Make your Woman feel all girly,
Mutter those 3 Magical words whenever you Must,
Show more of Love than of lust,
Bring her some Flowers if not a rock,
Or simply take her for a Drive or a Walk,
Be with Her whenever you Can,
And when with Her - be her Man,
Replace the ‘I’ and ‘You’ with the lovely ‘Us’,
And see what Wonders all this does!

These are just a few Pointers from me to You,
Make Use of all or one or two,
What You Do is upto You,
After all, I don’t need to tell You -
What in the World She Means to You!

The crossing

Crossing the road is something that all of us do. It’s a very involuntary lesson we all learn with time. But, ever thought that crossing a road could be more than just that? Well, one such crossing changed my life forever.
It was mid May – the month of my summer vacations and also the one when the sun is in his worst mood. It was one of my first visits to the Tata Memorial Hospital – a place where those suffering from cancer are treated. But, it was not one of her regular chemotherapy and radiation sessions that day. She had come to do some blood tests as the doctors had doubted that her cancer had spread furthermore. Of course, she didn’t tell me that when I asked her then.
Over a year of chemotherapy and radiation had already sucked half her life out and now they were sucking her blood – not a drop or two, but two test tubes full of blood! Can you imagine the brutality?! I cried. And what could be worse – the doctor-in-charge gave those test tubes to me and instructed me to submit them to the path lab located in the opposite wing of the hospital.
In order to reach the lab, I had to obviously cross a road – not a big deal, right? I thought so too. But, as I stood there waiting to cross, the opposite footpath seemed miles away. Suddenly, my body decided to act up against the gravity. I couldn’t raise my foot. My hands started sweating – not because of the scorching sun, but because of the fear that had begun to grip me. The cold sweat made my palms even more slippery. What if I couldn’t cross? What if I dropped the test tubes? Was I even capable enough to carry someone’s life in my hands? What was the doctor thinking - assigning such an important task to a kid like me? I was not even a teenager. I freaked out.
But, I knew I had to cross that road. I had to cross it for her. And I thought of her and how she managed to smile even when they sucked her of all her energy in the name of cure. How could I be such a coward? If I couldn’t do this, I thought, I couldn’t do anything at all.
So, I used all my force to stop the trembling of my fingers, picked up my body weight which felt like lead, gathered my faith and took a step forward. The crazy traffic, the harsh sunlight, people pushing each other while crossing – everything seemed plotted in my way to assure that I didn’t succeed. With every step I took I was fighting the fears that were killing me of hope and the tears that were blurring my vision.
But, somehow, I managed. How? Even I can't explain. All I know is that when I finally crossed, I turned back – and stood there for a moment – consuming what I had just survived – a simple zebra crossing – which transformed me from a kid to an adult. In just a matter of few minutes, the caterpillar had transformed into a butterfly. Delicate, but, colored with new hope and its newly discovered strength - all it had to do was accept its new form and flutter its wings to fly. Was I prepared to fly alone in the vast blue sky? I’m not sure. But, I sure had my wings now.
As tears flooded in my eyes, I looked down to see those two test tubes safe in my sweaty hands – her blood had given me her strength. The doctor had probably foreseen her enduring will in me. After all, I was her blood.

a Parisian Parsi love story

I still remember the day when I first met them. It was late in the evening when dad and I rang their door bell. We had fixed an appointment with them earlier in the day, so, they knew we were arriving. When the door opened, one of the most charming faces welcomed us into their house. He introduced himself as Soli before we exchanged greetings.
Sprawling in all directions with old antiques, wooden furniture and life size balconies, a typical Parsi household stood in front of my eyes. Soli escorted us into their bedroom, where I first met Yasmin. And if Soli I thought was dashing, Yasmin was mesmerizing.
The next few moments of the conversation which my dad had with them were blank to my ears – as I was busy gaping at both of them, in awe. The next thing I know - they were escorting us back to the door. As soon as the door shut behind us, I remember telling dad this, “No matter what the fees are, I’m not losing out on this one.” And all he did was smile back. Probably, he too, had been as smitten by them as I was.
So, finally began what I thought would be just French tuitions, only to be proved wrong later. My ‘date’ with Yasmin would be thrice a week in the evenings. And every time I met her, she would welcome me with a warm “Bon Soir” (good evening) and some shruberries. And for the one hour that followed, I learnt a bit of French and a lot about love.
Yasmin was a living beauty – with rosy lips and scarlet nails. She had lost a lot of hair due to age, but her skin shimmered nevertheless. She would wear beautiful floral prints accompanied by a floral perfume. Even at home, she would sit all decked up as she must have been for her first date with Soli, waiting for her man to come back to her. She had a striking resemblance to the ‘old Rose from the Titanic flick’. But I still insist that Yasmin was a lot prettier.
Soli on the other hand was no less a Prince Charming. He was much calmer than Yasmin, both in appearance and nature. He was a man with humour. A funny bone which always had only one target - his beloved Yasmin. Gosh,They complimented each other completely.
Soli apparently had this fixed time of arriving home which coincidently clashed with my tuition timings. So, if ever he happened to be even a few minutes late, Yasmin would go all eccentric. She would forget what she was teaching, keep staring at the table watch and when she couldn’t contain her worry, she would share it with me, “Look at the time Priyanka.. He is never on time.. What should I do of this man?!” She would wrap up tuitions early those days as her head would be floating somewhere else then. And as I would start to leave, there would stand Soli – with flowers in his hands at times and “I’m sorry jaan” on his lips always.. Oh, that twinkle in his eyes for keeping her waiting and the "I'm not going to spare you this time" look on Yasmin's face was as fresh as it must have been decades back. This was not just a one day affair. I think Soli would purposely come late to live those moments of love with her everyday. They would argue like cats and dogs and just when I would think that the volcano was about to erupt, they would hug and kiss and make up like newly weds.. For them then, I would be invisible and so would be the world.
On other days when Soli would be home, he would play pranks with her or simply tease her all day. He once showed me her swimsuit picture. It was a black and white one, but that didn't hide Yasmin's enigmatic, electrifying persona. And before I could compliment her, Soli purposely commented,"Priyanka darling, did you see how beautiful she looked THEN.." That was enough for Yasmin to get started. She gave him back through me, reminding him how they had a courtship of seven years before she finally said a YES to him.. Such conversations of love would happen everyday. And I would feel obliged to be in their presence.. I was getting a lot more than I truly deserved. With them, I would learn French, travel Alpes, taste wines and cheese and get lessons on love for free. I would keep pondering that how could they manage to be so romantic even at the age of seventy-eight. I guess this is what they call ‘unconditional love’ where even time couldn't keep set conditions for them and age was never a barrier. Their love was like French wine - the older it got, the better it tasted.
Oh, how I wish I could describe all those moments.. But, ‘magical’ is the only word that comes to my mind when I think of Yasmin and Soli.They were the ones who made me believe that ‘fairy tale love stories’ did exist.
Paris may be the most romantic city in the world, but with Soli and Yasmin, one didn’t need to be in Paris to experience ‘true love’.


Adieu Yasmin..

When I shifted base, I lost touch with them. I always wanted to meet them, but somehow the plan never really took shape. Quite recently when I inquired about them, I got to know that Yasmin had left for heavenly abode about two years back..
She kept nagging me all her life to grow my hair. She would say, "Dikra, what’ s wrong with you? Why you keep cutting them every now and then. Will they ever grow?” Yes, they did grow. But she didn’t stay to see them flow..
As a tear rolled down my cheek, I thought of Soli. It was so difficult to think of one without thinking of the other. Now, if this is not ‘eternal love’ then what is?
I still wonder whether she died in his arms..