The Mocked Bird

When we are divided in the ecstasy of passion

Beyond the division of our souls

Though we endow the act of love with every power of imagination and poetry

It remains the act of two divided solitary beings.

We are mocked like two birds seeking each other through the glass pane.

- H.R

Stepping down the Chevrolet, I made my way to the marriage hall in Malleswaram. It was the first time I was attending a marriage uninvited. I entered the hall without hesitation. A simple fake moustache with a French beard had ensured that I would pass by unnoticed. The classic case of each spouse’s family thinking that I belonged to the other’s ensued.

The bride was sitting on the altar looking radiant. She was my first love. The courtship that we had shared was love in its most innocent form. Things hadn’t gone quite the way both of us had expected or imagined and we had to break up. Three long years had passed since then and fate had led us on different paths.

The reason I was attending her marriage was perhaps because at some distant corner in my heart I still cared for her and wanted to see her happy. Seeing her married would give me the permanent closure that I needed.

I looked on as the gold taali was tied to her neck, a ritual indicating that her heart now belonged to the silent man on the altar. Our eyes met, but only for a second. I walked towards the huge pile of marriage gifts. I deposited my gift, smiled at a little girl in a dhavani and made my way to the exit. I did not look back even once and boarded the Chevrolet.

She would later unpack my gift to find a elegant necklace and earring set with a note attached:-

To a happy wonderful life ahead

- The Mocked Bird

The Weekend Trip

Life at NITH can get extraordinarily monotonous sometimes. The same trees, the same people, the same old Nescafe with engrossed couples can get to a person. A change becomes mandatory, especially during the weekends.

Desperately seeing this change, I packed my bag and decided to go to Mcleodganj for the weekend. The trip was different as I relied on my I pod to give me company instead of people. The bus journey was uneventful with four long hours of music. I reached Dharmashala at 8 pm where I was greeted by a great masala dosa, four tasty vadas and a hot cup of coffee. I rummaged around Dharmashala desparetely seeking a roof over my head. Lying down finally on a comfortable bed, I heard the wind howling with great gusto in an attempt to break the window off its hinges. I was so tired that I didn’t know when I actually dozed off.

A road in Dharmashala

Getting up at 7:30 , I headed to the bus stop in Dharmashala. I stumbled upon the ever eating couple of our college in the bus stop. Mutual astonishment was apparent. The three of us (couple + I) boarded the overcrowded bus and ended up in Mcleodganj. I bade the lovely couple goodbye and made my way to an obscure Tibetan restaurant. Munching on Tibetian bread and Jam, I conceived the next course of action. After the I wandered aimlessly in Mcleodganj. The entire Mcleodganj was covered within a span of 1 hour. I then decided to cover a distance of 10 km between Mcleodganj and Dharmashala by foot. En route to Dhamashala, I explored St John’s church in the wilderness, a church built in the 1800’s by the British.

After having lunch in a small dhaba in Dharmashala, I boarded a bus for Hamirpur.Just as luck would have it, the same bus was boarded by my juniors Vinod and Rajeev who gave me company till the institute. The wonderful weekend trip finally ended at about 8:30 pm when I finally reached the institute