Dripping sweat, almost drenched
Every morning, every day in a rush
Heart throbbing and mind anxious
Eyes grope for the familiar sight
Well familiar, and yet nowhere close
If the sight seeks, the mind presents
The clearly painted distinct portrait
Once drawn in solitude with dedication.
The shoulder-long jet black curly hair
She sometimes gathers into a bun
The round face adorned with black eyes
And the lips that pucker when alone
Making the dimples more prominent
She has spoken at length about
Close ones, friends, acquaintances
Even random people you don't recall
But she hasn't even looked at you
In the eyes always seeking her
Nor has even thought of uttering
Your name, which she knows well.
Eight winters back, you said
What the heart wanted to utter.
The words were true, the heart was pure
But she was already someone's
Strange that he looked and found
Nothing in her, for there was nothing
That she could give or bestow.
Nine summers later, you find her
You are older, so is she, but it's life.
But it's the same feeling, the same heart
The same groping eyes, now weaker
It's the same beauty, the same scent
She is here, like a dreamlike dream.
Delhi was once Chinglen’s ‘cradle of love’. With his student years over and the love that once comforted his stay has come to a tragic end, he is seized by a strong urge to flee the city. Run as far as he can from the memories of love. As a costly escape is beyond means, he returns to Manipur, a place long marred by protracted violence, a failed revolution, an engineered incessant political chaos, and already neck-deep in corruption. Perhaps to lick his wounds and hide with the beguiled sense. That the distance and the rich bizarre should shield him from the very memories sloshing thick inside him. His attempt to keep himself engaged as well as to make a meagre living lands him a shoddy journalist job and the opportunity to pursue a PhD at the state's only university. In the absence of his laidback editor and opportunistic professor, he teaches himself some degree of creative writing and dabbles in academia. As he moves further into the labyrinth, he learns the hard way that trying...
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