by scholarsarena | Wednesday, 1 May 2019 | Musings, Prose
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
by scholarsarena | Monday, 25 March 2019 | Diary, Musings, Poetry
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
by scholarsarena | Friday, 8 March 2019 | Diary, Musings
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
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