Pages

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Attempt at fiction - 2!

After this, here's my second one...let me know what you think?

Thoughts go on a Relay Race!


Bhairavi, is fierce and strong as her name suggests - her personality had an air of regality and her confidence was always mistaken for arrogance by strangers! She made heads turn wherever she went and everyone felt she had it all, to the point of envy...

Today, she was feeling depressed and low and really needed a push, she thought to herself! She smiled to herself, as she drove to work. She was recalling her dream earlier this morning...in her dream, she was having a splendid view of the sea from the top of a hill when two giant birds came along, and swooped down to carry her along with them...and just as she was enjoying the ride, she saw lovely colors everywhere as she looked down...the lush greens, the deep blues and among all the landscape little white dots of buildings everywhere...she saw a distinct red dot of a bindi. The fierce red light brought her back to reality and she screeched just in time to stop at the signal!

 The red dot or bindi was such a hot topic or conversation starters with her Non-Indian colleagues. On her trips abroad or when the westerners visited India, they would often ask a lot of questions about India and Indian customs. The ever-popular question was about the significance of bindi. At first, Bhairavi explained that its a sign of being married but later did a bit of research, and googled, isn’t that what everyone does these days? She found that there was much more to it than just being a symbol of her relationship status, it had a much deeper meaning like many other Hindu customs!

It is believed that the area between the eyebrows, where the bindi is placed, is said to be the 'departure' area for kundalini energy and the bindi helps to retain energy and increase concentration. Her mother explained that it is also a way of warding off bad luck. With her new-found wisdom, Bhairavi felt that it actually made sense to wear a bindi with pride!

Talking of pride, hasn't it gained undue importance recently, especially in a totally misguided sense? Most people she knew seemed to revel in their material accomplishments which was good as long as they didn't gloat and compare with friends and peers. Bhairavi was beyond such pettiness but a victim herself - in a different sense. She did not share her misgivings or disappointments even with people who were close to her. Pride stopped her. She liked to pretend she lived a perfect life!

Perfection! Alas, can it be defined? To seek and attain perfection in anything and everything is like an act of finality. Bhairavi strongly believed that being perfect or perfection is a relative term and it was an illusion, yet akin to hope at the end of the tunnel! Maya…

Maya was her best friend who brought out the best in Bhairavi. She was everything Bhairavi strived to be; compassionate, spontaneous, free-spirited and most importantly, non-judgemental! Bhairavi felt free in the company of her friend, who loved her unconditionally without making any demands of her; Maya made Bhairavi feel pure and sort of ethereal like babies…

Have you ever smelt baby skin? It is reminiscent of purity, innocence and absolute joy; everything that you want to believe exists in this wonderful life…Bhairavi felt invigorated in the presence of babies. It gave her a feeling of utopia as she raced ahead in the car, zooming ahead towards a new world after meandering through her thoughts, what a journey!

Don’t we all know that the journey is more important than the destination? Bhairavi realized it today…

13 comments:

Srija Padmnanabhan (Chickoo) said...

Love this meandering thoughts! can never write in this style

Pretty Woman said...

chickoo,
i am glad its coherent! :) thank you...

Monirupa Shete said...

What an exhange of thoughts and perspective!
Thoughts just wader off in different directions when you stare at the sunset...thatz the feeling I get.
Liked it!

Pretty Woman said...

Moni,

I am so glad you liked it! :) Thank you...

SV said...

"stream of consciousness" writing is often difficult to follow, but you've done a good job in this piece. you really should explore something longer and more comprehensive - it should make good reading...

Pretty Woman said...

SV,

:) for something longer, I need a longer attention span!

Vibhuti Bhandarkar said...

Janaa,
I have always known you as a great writer but now I see you are a great storyteller too. Great flow! Superb character sketch..I want more...keep 'em coming gurl
Love Vibz

Pretty Woman said...

Vibhuti,

:) Thank you, you are a good boost to my ego! I find it difficult to detach myself from what I write...hence fiction comes with great difficulty! Glad you liked it...

gayatri deshmukh said...

Nicely written.
good work.

Keerti said...

lovely one.

Chandra said...

Very good attempt. Nice one. Meandering thoughts and a connection. Very Good choice of words and thoughts. Keep it up.

Pretty Woman said...

Thank you keerti :)

Pretty Woman said...

chandra, pleasant surprise to see you comment here! thank you :)