Loneliness can be a harrowing experience, but the feeling of being lonely despite being surrounded by people is a terror beyond words. One moment, you could be engrossed in conversation and laughter; the next, a sense of isolation creeps over you like a sinister cloud. You try to fit in, to blend seamlessly with different personalities. Still, it only leads you further away from your true self, assuming you even know who that is. Accepting your fate doesn’t soothe your restless mind, for fear of being trapped in this state for eternity is like a never-ending nightmare. A companion to share your moments with is a rare and precious gift, yet you remain deprived. A confidant, someone to talk to about anything and everything, seems like a distant dream. Perhaps you haven’t found one yet, or maybe you don’t have the courage to make one. Life seems like a merciless journey for you, one that offers no respite. You cling to the hope of a silver lining somewhere, but it remains elusive, just out of reach.
He
He hadn’t vented and ranted for a long time now with words. This was a good time to do it again. Nothingness and numbness had taken over him for some time now. The days had gone routine, and the nights, well, dark and somber as always. The memories had turned blurry when he tried to look back at the happy moments. He was living a life out of obligations, with nothing to look forward to. He laughed, though; he found it easy to do that. Somehow he got good with wit and jokes. Some people saw through his tricks but couldn’t do anything, right? He wondered what had made him happy before. Friends? They provide him moments of relief and de-stressing, yes. Books? He was more excited with them earlier. Family? Let’s just say the khatta-meetha relationship will always be there for him. What else? He’s discovering that finding something that gives him purpose to be genuinely happy is challenging. I hope he finds it. He looked beautiful when he had it before.
If Only This Were Easy
If only this were easy
You’d have been in my arms
I’d be whispering in your ears
Watching the stars together
If only this were easy
I’d be looking at your beautiful face
Forever, and I’d have told the world
I care nothing for anything but you
If only this were easy
I’d kiss you and not leave
I’d caress your hair and
I’d be immersed in your world
If only this were easy
I’d have opened up to you
I’d have told you my demons
And what keeps me up at night
If only this were easy
I’d have been with
And you with me
And we’d be needing nothing
If only this were easy…
Not A Musing
I swim in the sea of daffodils
And the sky as beautiful as youth,
The sun smiling with a blush of red
And the wind dancing with everyone else
I look at the birds humming a tune
And the children singing along with them,
The animals enjoying the party
And the writer who pens it all down
All of this I find not enjoying
Not figuring what is wrong,
Maybe beauty is not a thing of joy
Or maybe it is I here, who does not belong.
L.B.W.
Chapter 1
Slurp…
“I was sure he was going to bowl a yorker. Why did he bowl the slower one? Did I shuffle across the off stump a bit early? Did he see through me? God, it was embarrassing”. Naman was recalling his day on the ground today. He was sitting at his usual place, having his cup of tea, waiting for Pranav to join.
“Hey, champ.” Pranav arrived with his cricket kit. “Geez, what a knock you played today! Another century for you. Practice those autographs already”. Naman had played an excellent inning for his academy today. This was his second consecutive century in the tournament they were playing. He was the star of the academy at the moment.
“Shut up now. Didn’t you see how I threw my wicket? A catch to the wicketkeeper after hitting the middle of the bat. I’m never playing this stupid scoop again”. Naman was frustrated by his dismissal. “Are you stupid? You scored a freaking century. I got out on the first ball in the previous game. I’m pretty sure I won’t get to play another match now”, Pranav sighed, finishing his tea, “Let’s go home now, we have a test tomorrow at school too.”
Naman and Pranav lived in the same area of the city. They became good friends after they joined the Lessons Beyond Wickets Academy for cricket. The LBW academy was one of the best in the state for this sport. It was located across the little forest outside the town. They both cycled around the forest every day to reach the academy. Naman’s parents have strictly prohibited him from going through the woods; otherwise, they’d pull him back from the academy. Naman has never thought about breaking this rule.
“All the best for the test. See you in school.” Pranav took off after saying goodbye to Pranav. Naman turned back and started going back towards the woods.
Previous Chapter: Prologue
L.B.W
Prologue
“Why am I running?”
“Where am I?”
“Is this a dream?”
“What is this sound? Where is it coming from?”
“I can’t see anything. I cannot; It is dark, and I am still running and….”
His eyes were open now. A sense of relief came to him; it was just a dream.
“Ouch,” he exclaimed in discomfort.
He was not on his bed; It was not even his room. There were trees and bushes all around. He was lying around a bush full of thorns.
“Am I still sleeping?” he thought.
It didn’t feel like a dream. He was in pain; he felt it everywhere in his body. He got up and sat under a tree, confused and scared. What was he to do now? He tried to collect his thoughts and calm his nerves down. He pushed his face into his palms and tried to think and recollect the situation. He felt something on the tip of his fingers. It was around his forehead. He could feel the dryness of the blood that was present there.
“Is it mine?”
This weird question was the first thing that came into his mind. The scary feeling that this was not his blood was creeping in. It was never a dream. He was running.
What happened before that? What happened after that? What was the last thing that he remembered?
After having a tough day at the cricket ground, he returned to his home with Pranav. Pranav asked him to wait as he took a pee in the woods. He remembered Pranav was not back even after half an hour. He remembered that he went into the words. He remembered. He was blank. He did not remember anything after that.
Romeo and Juliet once again
Another fluky day
For the balconies,
Witnessing
The smile on his face
The love in her eyes.
But telling another story
Were the doors below
Emotions were there too
Hate and anger
Replaced the love.
Together the dreams were born
Together they blossomed
Together they struggled to sustain
Together they perished into oblivion.
They believed in change
They believed in love
Of course, a millennium has passed
But here it was
Romeo and Juliet once again.
Book Review – The Girl On The Train
“For life’s not a paragraph and death I think is no parentheses.”
– E. E. CUMMINGS
The Girl on the Train is a psychological thriller novel written by British author Paula Hawkins, published in 2015. The book was a huge success among readers. In 2016, a movie was made with the same title based on the book.
Rachel is a 32-year old woman with a very messed up life. She is a lonely, alcoholic woman who has lost her everything; her husband, her job. She daily commutes on 8:04 am train. The journey takes her along the house where she lived, with her ex-husband, Tom. On the same street, she observes the house no. 23 where a couple lived, Megan and Scott. She imagined them to have a perfect life and it felt comforting to her. One morning she saw Megan kissing another man. She went to the street at night, completely drunk and she had a total blackout. Megan had disappeared the following day and Rachel believes something must have happened on the night she had the blackout.
The story is narrated in the first person told from point of view of three woman – Rachel, Megan and Anna. Rachel is a drunkard, Megan is a cheat and Anna is insecure about her husband’s relationship with his ex-wife, Rachel. Although the twist at the end is predictable, the build-up to the climax is well written and it forces the readers to be glued to the book. The three women in the story are not happy with their lives with Rachel living in self-pity and being obsessed with her ex-husband, Megan is suffering from boredom and restlessness with her married life. Anna is afraid of the constant interference of Rachel in their life and is worried about the safety of her daughter. This book is a classic case of unreliable narration. The story has good suspense, well carved-out characters and is a worthy read.
Happy Reading 🙂
Book Review – 1984
“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.”
“Big Brother is Watching You.”
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”
Do these quote scare you? If your answer is in negative, then be ready to change your mind because these words epitomise the world’s deadliest totalitarian government. The first quote is the slogan of the party, the second one is the measure by which they control people and the third one is their idea of the style of governance.
Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell, was an English author having profound knowledge in politics and is most famous for his satirical novel Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).
Oceania is a future state where everything is controlled by a ruling totalitarian political party under the leadership of Big Brother. The party have three important ministries through which they function. The Ministry of Truth changes historical facts to portray the Big Brother and the party in a better light.
The Ministry of Love deals with punishing the people who are criminal according to the party. The Ministry of Peace deals with wars with other countries. Winston is a thought-criminal ( the biggest crime in Oceania is thinking ) and keeps his anti-government ideas in a secret diary.
1984 is a dystopian political, horror novel. The novel states the fears of an authoritarian government where every single person of the society believes in a single ideology and the language is deteriorated according to the benefits of the party. There is a three-chapter manifesto of a secret brotherhood in the book whose ideas are still relevant in the current political scenario. Orwell has brilliantly shown us the danger of dictatorship. 1984 is a must-read for all even if one doesn’t like this genre.
Book Review – The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd
“The truth, however ugly in itself, is always curious and beautiful to the seeker after it.”
– Hercule Poirot, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie is a celebrated name across the world for her works in the mystery genre that usually involved detectives. She is the best-selling novelist of all time according to Guinness Bookook of World Records. The book that brought her into the limelight was The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, published in 1926.
The story starts with Dr James Sheppard, the narrator of the story, discussing the suicide of Mrs Ferrars who had a secret affair with Roger Ackroyd, the wealthiest man in King’s Abbot. Ackroyd is found dead the following evening in his locked study. The prime suspect is his stepson who had disappeared mysteriously from King’s Abbot. Roger’s butler and his sister are also under the scanner of Hercule Poirot, the famous detective. Poirot has to solve the case with aids from Dr Sheppard and his sister.
The story is told in the first person, varying from her usual third-person narration of the story. If you are a fan of slow and leisurely reading, you are about to get surprised. Even the laziest of readers can’t help themselves to put the book down before completing the novel. This mystery goes down to the last page. The soul of the book lies in the unforeseen twist that comes at the end. The end will force you to re-read the book to discover the clues which you will certainly overlook in the first reading. This book will make you fall in love with Hercule Poirot, one of Agatha’s main characters recurring in many novels.
If you are a fan of mystery and want to read something that will knock your socks off, then The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is the obvious choice.
Unveiled Emotions 