It’s pretty amazing how the germ of a thought takes hold over your entire mind and then refuses to budge unless you action it. The surprising part is that it doesn’t happen to every single thought that you have, but just one of those very few which provokes a burning question in your head.
It is one of those questions that you’ve had buried away deep inside your head for a long time. It is one of those questions which makes you think “Why not?” The thought that keeps a hold on you also gives you answers. It often answers the question, “What next?” It provides a solution to a dilemma that you are in. And then thanks to all those provoked questions and answers, you are put in another dilemma.
These are the very thoughts that blossom into ideas, that test your commitment towards achieving that distant goal, your conviction for breaking the barriers, crushing the obstacles and leaping over the hurdles. These are the very thoughts that teach you patience, mature you and show you a completely new outlook on the way forward. These are the thoughts that will blow you away, have you grinning like a madman and make you weep. These are the thoughts that determine who you are, who you’ve been and who will you become.
I’ve had such a germ of a thought today, and I am still contemplating.
So I’ve been using an app called Slowly for a while and I received a very interesting letter on it. It was pretty well written but since it’s from a person I don’t know, I’m not sure if I can actually post it here. However, the gist of the letter was that you were on top of a building and suddenly a pigeon drops a letter near you and waits there for an answer. I’ve waited a while before I could do justice to the original and finally framed a reply. So here it is…
I slowly put my hand into my bag and get out the sandwich which my mom packed for lunch. I’m surprised that the pigeon has waited expectantly for so long and doesn’t seem the least bit afraid. It looks it has done this quite a few times.
I’m not sure
if I could just pick up a pen and write back. I absently pick pieces of bread
and drop them a little away from me. The pigeon flies and pecks at those
crumbs. It looks expectantly at me and I wonder whether it is anxious for more
of the sandwich or for the reply that it hopes to be able to deliver back home.
Once again
the thought intruded: “Dare I pick up a pen and write back?” I guess
I will and I slowly rip a page out of my book and start writing.
“Dear
friend of the pigeon,
Hope this letter finds you well. I also hope that the pigeon has managed to deliver this letter without facing anything untoward.
I live in a
city where the streets are always awake. There’s construction for the new metro
line which is ongoing and there’s a high chance that you’d get stuck in a
traffic jam even at midnight. Yes, recently there have been times when I have
left from work so late.
Knowing that
I’d generally get stuck on the road, I catch up on my reading or watch an
episode of some show on my way to and from work. I read a lot and tend to do
some writing on the side. Though it’s been a while with the writing, I’m
starting to get a fee for it again.
In my head,
I love traveling, but then I tend to be lazy enough to not be the initiator of
any plans. However, I intend to change that in the future.
Other than
that I have a love for food and gaming on my PC which almost happens at the
same rate as my reading (which is very high).
Enough about
me, I hope to hear back from you about you. Maybe this pigeon will find a way
back to me once you’ve decided to write back.
Wish you a
good day.”
I roll it up
and use the ribbon from the letter I received to tie it to the pigeon’s leg.
I’m still surprised that it hasn’t flown away or just hopped away when I
approach.
I give a few
more crumbs of my sandwich and start walking away. I hear a flutter and look
back to see the pigeon flying northwards.
What adventures will it have? Will it reach its final destination? Who uses such an archaic way of messaging anymore? So many questions, so few answers. Maybe I’ll know them someday.
If you’d like to add me on Slowly, my ID is: NB6N8R
Used to waking up at 6 in the morning Took a pee break, slept once more till the sun was dawning Finally woke up at 8 to get ready for conference day 2 Realised that a person was already occupying the loo
An hour later the guy does emerge His excuse: I had a sudden binge watching urge No time to waste for arguing, we took our turns To freshen up and get some breakfast buns
Milk, bread, butter, and jam Two of us still missed some ham An hour spent eating, and we finally got up Back to our room, almost ready for the second day setup
We have no idea who got the idea The next half an hour went on just saying “Oh yeah” To the thought of skipping the talks today We weren’t really impressed from yesterday anyway
It was a merry-go-round of convincing arguments Everyone agreed to each other’s intent In the end, we never made it out of our room Though lunch time was approaching and we knew we’d be hungry soon
I insisted on not being hungry and delayed our departure To have a great lunch at Fisherman’s wharf – perhaps, a seafood platter When I finally agreed and left the comfort of my sofa I would have never guessed that I wouldn’t get too far
A call to check on some project work came It wasn’t really mine, I had to check just the same And that’s how I spent an unlazy afternoon Writing queries while the other two ate good food
When they came back it was almost time For another sunset and once again the whine From one person to go and enjoy this once On the beach, a sunset, but again he went for a dump
The sun had set and he then came out We teased him once again for his regular bout Sat around and discussed some work Cracked lame jokes, yet full of mirth
Decided for dinner at a placed called James’s Ordered some Sangria, fell short of praises The food was decent, the crowd was nice One of the us fell in love thrice
Moved on from there to last night’s haunt This time it was fish, cooked in full but deboned No one else ate even a piece of it The fish I finished, fries and rice was split
Strangely enough, our night wasn’t done Back in our room, we still had so much fun Our topic that night was probably the weirdest of all And yet without knowledge did each other we apall
That was the end of the second day All our energy had been drained away Finally, we decided that we could continue later After all, we still had three more days together
Almost not sleeping the night before Realising later you should slept some more But now awake and there’s a rush in your head Shower and change once you jump out of your bed
Book a cab and you’re on the road Ask your friends if they’re ready to go One has just woken up, still in a trance He’s bound to dress up as if for a ballroom dance
Waiting at the airport, just passing my time The gates are almost closing, and they finally arrive They’ve checked in their bags, the last call is made Post security checks we’ve boarded the plane
We’ve landed and it’s a short cab ride To the hotel we’ve booked for two NullCon nights We leave for the conference parking the luggage on the side The walk to the conference was, in hindsight, something we could avoid
The opening speech failed to impress, the keynote speaker went on a ramble Eva with EFF had a great tale to tell With IAST and RASP, there wasn’t much new to learn as such These two sessions later we had our lunch
We split up for different programmes and went our own ways One boring and one “hot” session later we decided to call it a day While the topics were good and speakers nice I think the organisers failed to do the one thing expected of them: organise
Back in our rooms, we chatted for a while One conked off to sleep, the two awake ordered snacks for perhaps nine On waking up he kept pushing us to go out and see the setting sun But the two of us just ended up taking photos of it while he took a dump
We finally ended up leaving the room to get some food A short walk to the beach, the shacks looked good We skipped one of them, the other was reserved We finally sat down at one and we’re pleasantly amazed
The service was decent but the food was lovely Cheeseballs, beef skewers and yummy chicken chilly We enjoyed dinner while looking at the stars It was just day 1 and it didn’t feel at all fast
A few drinks later and we’d paid the bill We took a walk by the sea since we still had time to kill The sand underneath our feet, the sound of the waves All pleasing to the senses, we left finally promising to be back the next day
Back in the room we switched on the speaker Songs that we wanted to listen to were actually meagre Instead each one decided that it was their turn To laugh at each other, at the expense of none
A day well spent, all ready to sleep I plugged in my charger, devices lying in a heap Blankets on us, no dreams disturbed us Ready for day two, as soon as we woke up
He went rushing through the door. People surrounded him, but nothing could stop him now. The adrenalin was pumping and he kept running. He wanted to wait for a bit and catch his breath, but he didn’t want to, couldn’t afford to. He could hear screams and cries all around him, and he tried to focus but it was too much.
He kept running through the corridor and up the stairs but the screams never seemed to die. A few of the lights flickered, giving the corridor an eerie feel. He stopped and looked around. He could have almost sworn that he had seen something… or someone. Nothing looked amiss; maybe it was the flickering lights that caused some sort of hallucination. He walked on ahead and he could hear more wailing and crying, but this time he smiled.
He opened the door and kissed his wife. He was going to name the boy James.
And to know that they’ve tried
To bring me down, so many times
But as simple as it may seem
They … just … can’t stop me
A pang of loneliness, they’ve all left me
I am tired now, the best road seems empty
And still the shining sun, doesn’t seem to have left me
And the rays that it throws is making it all look so pretty
The cries, the shouts
People dancing all around
Cheer you up on your path
Give you a reason for a laugh
Try as they may, to forget me
Things won’t be the same without me
Pull me down, I’ll just try harder, you’ll see
Try as you may, you just can’t stop me
So many things we cling on to
Things that were never ours to be
And now we look for something new
To fill our lives with some more glee
I think it best not to think
To let the present really sink
To make things better from what they are
To really be the shining star
As hard it may be, I am not giving in
I won’t let the sorrow seep into my skin
I am forever destined to be free
And try as they might, the world … can’t stop me
This is the third time I’m restarting it, but this time I intend to stick with it. I have no clue what this blog will become. I am going to write up random stuff; anecdotes from work, possible book reviews and things that I just think of. For once, these posts will remain up until the Internet dies. Have fun reading and following.
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