Sounds of Silence

It was raining that night. I could hear the thunder, frightening in its intensity. As usual, the electricity had conked off with the first hint of lightening. I was alone in the house; thoughts raged through my head.

I stumbled through the dark towards the phone by the window. Even in my inebriated state, I knew her number as well as my own. The past six months hadn't affected my memory. With every digit that I dialled, I felt my heart pound. Would she answer; would she not?

The wait seemed forever. Then, I heard her voice. But I could not muster the courage to speak. I swallowed the lump in my throat. I wondered why she didn't hang up. Did she recognize me, even in my silence? She always did before. All the things left unsaid screamed to be let out. But only silence flowed through the telephone wire. It had always been like this between us, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

The rain drops pattered and the thunder crashed. It was just me and her, and the sounds of silence between us.

This was a little something that a bunch of us wrote in grammar class. It was of course, impromptu. Each of us took turns making a sentence; just taking off from where the other had left. With every line the story changed. Until the very end, no one knew where it was going.

Well, what do you think?

Whatever you think, I absolutely dig it and I'm going to do more of this kind.

Madras Madness

I spent a whole afternoon today learning to use the comma. That way, I gotta admit -- I have some great classes here. Some. We are currently doing the 377 case, you know, the Naz Foundation v/s Union of India one. The lawyer guy who came to speak to us about it is awesome. He started by telling us a story about the origin of love according to Greek mythology and tied it up all neatly to homosexuality! The wimpy female in me totally fell for it. It was by far, the coolest lecture I've ever been in. It'll take way too long to write about it here, but if you know me well enough, ask me about it. Men and women being two halves of a whole and all that comes from here. So go figure.

I just realised that I haven't talked too much about my life here, have I? Let's rectify that.

It seems like I've taken to it pretty well. Why else would I find some guy sleeping in my room and not even be fazed by it. He had slept in my bed the previous night, I heard, and yet I still feel nothing. I've been living without drinking water for the past two weeks so I now drink cheap packaged water. I walk into people making-out in the common room and I sit next to them and watch T.V. After a month here, nothing surprises me anymore. Pretty cool, huh?

Chennai is cruel. I haven't changed my mind about that. I have a list of all the things I hate about the place; I'll put it up the moment it touches 100, which I'm sure it will in the next week or so. Okay, so I'm exaggerating a little. But its true, I do have a hate list and I will put it up whenever I update next.

Aside: A certain someone I met in a supermarket. Decidedly cute and funny. Definitely not from Chennai. A design student, I learned. What are the odds we'll run into each other again, you reckon?

Yeah, that's what I thought.

_________________________________________________________________________________

***My reply to a special letter to the author***.


Dear grauchy,

>>Dear X,

I got mad about you first time I seeing you. I remembering every thing of you. But I don't think you will remembering me. You didn't even answering to my hellos and byes. I thinking you got shy.

>> I'm sorry because of me, you went mad, dear X. I did forgetting you, sorry again. You are right, shy must have been coming on me which is why I didn't hiing, byeing you. Thousand sorries for that also.

I finding out this two months before and again I loving your writing also. Youre so intelligent and so funny. Its your beautifulness that I liking very very much. Youre no like no other girls. Till now I staying inside closet but I come out now.

>> Great to know people like you like my writing. A pity I made you come out of the closet. Please go back inside. And thank you for liking me; I didn't know I had so much beautifulness.

You writing again and again of your boysfriends this blue shirt and that rr, I making you forgetting them forever. I giving you everything.

>> Thanks for offering to erase my memory for me, dear X. Neither this Blue Shirt nor that RR has ever wanting to do anything like this for me.

I am loving you now. You loving me also. If you saying no I still loving you but I leaving you but you writing here why. If you saying yes give your phone so I calling you. After I marrying you.

>> I'm flattered like anything that you chose me, dear X. It being very hard for me but I cannot loving or marrying you. I loving my boysfriends. So, I can't giving you my phone. You leaving me now.

See, now I byeing you.

Yours Lovingly
XXX

>>Goodbye,
Grouchy

Goofy is gone.

Goofy is gone. I left him with friends when I went home this weekend. I should have known. I should have coached them better. I should have taken him with me. I should have done something. Instead, I left him – alone and helpless. That is how well I take care of something I love. No one should ever entrust me with something of their own – they’ll never see it again.

I keep coming to the room hoping to see him - his stupid dolphin act once more. To see him push away his food just like I do mine. To tell mum and dad what he was upto that day. But of course, I don’t. He’s gone. There’s an empty place on the floor beneath the window where we put him. I avoid looking there now.

He was just a stupid little fish, I know. A stupid and moody and crazy and God, so adorable one at that. I didn’t even like fish. But I loved this one, you know. For those ten days, because of him, I was less alone.

I already know this is going to stay with me for a long while yet. I’m not getting a pet again. I don’t deserve to. I'm sorry Goofball. 


More than you'll ever know. 

Goofy is Here...!

It is done. Adulthood has arrived.

As predicted, I was quite morose for most of yesterday despite all the wishes that came the way. But towards the evening after talking to Jughead and Ha and King Kong and Eye Candy, suddenly everything felt better. You know how it is with friends. The warm fuzzy feeling, that. If I were the mushy type, I'd have thanked all of them for being there and told them that they are some of my most favorite people on Earth. But since, I'm not. I did not.

So anyway, I finally stopped wallowing, got off my ass and went to dinner with a couple of friends. We hit this cosy little place called 'Clay Oven' and I had my first respectable meal since moving to Chennai. The girls came back to the room and we yapped away into the night. It was like being back with the gang. Almost, but not quite.

Aha! I see I forgot to mention the big highlight of my day – Goofy!!! That’s my gold fish, in case you’re wondering. Can you believe it? I have a pet. Aghori got him for me. It’s certainly one of the best birthday gifts I ever got. I always hate that no one knows what to get me for my birthday. But she did. She’s whacko crazy. Then again, so am I. Maybe that’s why we gel so well.

Enough talk, time you saw him. Ta-da!

Well? What'dya think? I think he's great. Initially, I freaked a little bit. But now that I've had some time to get used to the idea, I love him. He's funny and moody and just perfect.
It was a happy ending and that's all I could ever have asked for.