A Bowl of Elusive

Those three days were the toughest three days of Ray's life. Laurie had gone out of town to meet her folks and Ray had made things awkward before she left. He had always been a bit of a mess around her, maybe because he liked her so much and her hot/cold reaction towards him made him insecure about the whole thing. They'd been seeing each other for a few months but Laurie still wasn't very sure about Ray. Ray did understand Laurie's apprehensions and he was adamant about making those apprehension's go away. He wasn't a quitter. But he wasn't very cool either. Laurie and Ray weren't similar people but they'd clicked well ever since that first date. Laurie was this carefree, whirlwind of a person, who'd had a tough childhood, was unapologetic and spoke her mind. Whereas Ray was a tame teetotaler trying to be tantalizing and of course failing at it. Their first date was stuff of the legends, smooth, effortless and just right. Even though it h...

Raunak happens to glow in the dark. Rather brightly. Its a medical condition and very little is known about it. I won't bore you with the details or the name of the condition as that's not relevant to my story. Just know that Raunak starts glowing as soon as its dark. He glows like a bulb and sometimes he is hard to look at. So my question is, how is he supposed to find love? You see Raunak, like any other guy of his age, yearns for romance. He wishes he had someone he could fall for. But the harsh truth is that it is very hard for a glow-stick to find love. And he has tried. All dating customs seem hell bent on sabotaging Raunak's plans. Dates are usually dinner dates. Those don't work well for him. Oh, how he wishes people went to morning dates. The last time he managed to ask a girl out, they met for lunch. He'd been upfront about his condition and she seemed to be genuinely cool about it. That is until it got dark. Once it did, she started taking ...

Waqt pe saath nibha na paye, aaj wafa ki ummeed karte hain... Mere humraah bhi ajeeb hain, bewafai mein rehnuma ki ummeed karte hain. Bhula diya hai humne bhi saari un alfaz-e-mohabbat, un bekaar ki baaton ko... Kahaan aap banjar sunsaan galiyon mein aake mehfil-e-aab ki ummeed karte hain. Khairiyat se rahein aap, ye dua bhi maang lenge kudrat se... Ab ajnabee hain hum, begaane naqshon pe akele safar karte hain. Aapke aage jahan aur bhi thi, ye ilm to tha tab bhi humein lekin... Aakhirash jab bicchde to ehsaas kiya ki hum khudse bhi kaafi mohabbat karte hain. Humse bayaan-e-haal  kis ummeed se karne chale ho, ai ajnabee musafir... Aapke awaaraa kadam kab se humare khushiyon ka khayaal karte hain?

Not all relationships are meant to be great love stories, some are just destined to be flings. While love stories make it to the printed page, flings are often forgotten and flushed down the memory lane. This story would have had a similar fate, had this happened to anyone else. But if you meet a writer who's hit a block, and pour your heart out about that girl who just wouldn't call you back, be sure he'll write about it. That's exactly what Poorab (name changed) did. I will surely take some liberties with the story while narrating it for you but will try to capture the essence of what happened as well as possible. Poorab & Ruchi were set up by over-zealous common friends. They started texting each other first, something Poorab excelled at. Especially since he had just recently broken up with his high school sweetheart. Ruchi was the morose, self-deprecating and depressed kind of girl who often finds betrayal in love. Or that was what she made him believe. Poo...

Measuring the degree of how much I want something has always been a challenge for me. I do understand the difference between yearning and obsession but I'm afraid my definitions may vary a little from the societal norms. You see I tend to be a little intense with my feelings. It usually plays out well for me because there's not a lot I want in life. But sometimes it becomes painful, especially when I have no control over the causality of things. That happens when its SOMEONE I'm yearning for. Because the way of the heart can be treacherous and all consuming. If I like you, I like you. There's not much in my control after that. I don't just get infatuated easily, only to be disillusioned later. I often know what I want and when I come across it, I'd pursue it through heavens and hell, through good and bad, through suffering and joy, because it's worth all that. But there's another side to it. An ugly one. I have never had things easy. And ...

Teri har khoobsurat jhooth ko sach maan loon, aisi maasomiyat dhoondhta hoon, Bas tera chehra dekhta hoon aur usmein aage ka rasta dhoondta hoon. Toot ke bikharna to sikha hi diya zindagi ne, ab zara simatke jeene ka hausla dhoondta hoon. Tere baahon mein aisi bhi raatein guzri ki bas sab bhula diya, main ab unmein agli subah ka sooraj bhi dhoondta hoon. Tum nibhaa na paaye rishta uska ghum nahi kiya maine, tere diye huye har jawaabon ke ab main sawaal dhoondta hoon. Thodi der ka jo saath raha tumhara, usimein khudko kho diya hai maine...ab bas tumhari ghair maujoodgi mein apni aks-e-rooh dhoondta hoon. Ye khoj, ye talaash kab khatm hogi meri, jis jheel ke saamne khada hoon, uski paani ke liye main zubaan pe apni pyaas dhoondta hoon. Jo mil jaaye aaj manzil bhi, to shaayad rukna manzoor na hoga mujhe, ab kisi aur sheher mein, koi aur hi thikana dhoondta hoon. Note - I don't usually write in Hindi but this one just wrote itself. I would have preferred...

As you grow up, fewer things surprise you. Eventually, you've seen it all, you've lived it all. There are very few new experiences to be had, very few things that excite you. Eventually, you lose the wonder you once had, the excitement you once felt and I think you just wither away and stop living. But don't underestimate the power of new things. Things that can surprise you, things that can knock your socks off, things that can take your breath away. Like meeting someone new, someone who fascinates you, someone who gets your heart racing, someone who invokes feelings you'd forgotten you had inside. All of a sudden, you're ten years younger, wondrous and hopeful. You can't stop thinking about it. About how good it made you feel. You're inside your own head again, reliving meeting that breath of fresh air, wanting it more. So much so, that it scares you. You wonder if you had that same effect on them. For some silly reason, you look for validation,...