The City of Dreams

This is my home...

This is my home and not again mine..i live on borrowed land..but who really cares..this the city of dreams..my city..and in my dreams the world is mine..

But you do not yet know me..i was born a few days back..or maybe months..or years..dog years...i go once in a while to our public meetings..of our clan..you would have heard us sometime..i am sure you have..we create real nuisance with our howls , our demonstrations, meetings, and sometimes have had to be dispersed with pelting of stones..i am sure you have heard us..in those meetings we hear our folklore, about our past and our future..

once our ancestors told us about a time when man did not have to keep time..there was no time to be kept by a watch..no days of the week..no month..no year..and man just lived..the very thing they have forgotten today.but that is not my story.

today, i don't do much that gives me happiness..and i'm still very young to take up any profession professionally..i have been abandoned by my parents..so did not get much education..not even the basic life skills..but where life is the teacher you learn all your skills, probably, better than the most. i know i will be the best in whatever i do, i just am still undecided what..

i wasn't born here. i was born in a very remote village and was brought here, hidden in a bag, away from all prying eyes, with promises of a better world. i believed him, the man who brought me here. As if i had a choice or gave him one. But then again, i was the dreamer. My mother always scolded me when i would have a rhetoric for every situation, a dream for every dream. needless to say, i was looking for a new world. i was bored in that village. sometimes suffocated, because i was the unquestioned leader and i hated it. i was bored of leading and even though they said i was the best they  had, i wanted to give it all up.The man was only an excuse, i had already stepped out of my past world a zillion times in my dreams , in my future.

My dreams are all broken now. Yes, this city of dreams has loads of lights. It weaves many dreams in millions of eyes. I am not a leader here. I don't want to be. I feel happy being no one, being a face in the herd, following the senseless rules, living up to impossible unending expectations,. I chase the babies and school children in the rain, run after the bais who have come and settled in the city of dreams from their different worlds and come to work in my building,loaded in buses and trains..loaded with their dreams of a better house that does not leak in mumbai monsoons, a daughter who's married well, a husband who doesn't come back drunk, a face without beating and bruises..i bark at the well dressed men and women rushing off in the mornings with a noose on their necks and come back late, the noose tightening little by little  every night.. i imitate the watchmen who smoke beedis and share their stories from far away lands.. I eat exotic dishes, chinese, continental, indian, you name it, i have had it.i.. roam in the streets at night. i get into street brawls while imported cars and bikes zoom past in amazing speeds , killing men, women and children , smiling in their dreams,  on the pavement. We look at the mangled bodies, the brawl momentarily forgotten and then we start again. The lives are not that valuable here you know.

but the mirror is breaking...

it was a bane she had of reading thoughts of the animals. She shook her head clear of the thoughts  of the black ugly  dog,  that lay shivering alone, cold and wet in the mumbai rains amongst the false palms of their society garden..and looked away from its eyes that had kept her locked across the distance of fourteen floors. Staring at the blank wall, her blank life, she realised hers was the dog's life.

The Unending Night

Mom was again at the door, for the umpteenth time . It was later than two in the morning.Where was Bubun? Why was he so late? He never got so late without informing home. He was struggling to make a place for himself in the business. For that he had to travel a lot, meet up people , attend numerous meetings..but he never stayed back so late without telling her.. He atleast gave her a call telling her where he was and that he would be late..But tonight , he hadn't ... Mom had already visited the loo five times..Nervousness brought with it loose motions for her.. And she was continuously chanting the "Hanuman Chalisa"..And sitting alternately infront of the Puja Room and drawing room and at the gate...She continuously was asking Sanchita to call him on his mobile which said only one thing- " The subcriber is not reachable".. Mom's heart was oddly fluttering and and she was trembling inside, futilely trying to push away the disturbing thoughts..

--- --- ---

Sanchita woke up and looked at the clock. It was 10 minutes to twelve.She had been looking at the clock every ten minutes. She wanted to sleep but sleep wouldn't come. She looked at her brother's neatly made empty bed which was just beside hers.And thought of the day before...
He was twenty seven and had been continuously stuck to his phone for more than eighty percent of his waking time..He rarely slept anyway.And she had caught him again talking to the girl everyone had forbidden him to talk to. Not that she was a bad girl. Just that their family was of a different social caste and Sanchita's family had never witnessed a marriage like that. And there were the usual mathematics involved of social standing and stature et al.
She had just told him point blank not to talk to her becuase that was the only thing she could do.She being the eldest of siblings had a huge responsibility on her head. She knew her parents , though very liberal, would not be able to face the stigma of the joint family and their "kutumb".
And he had reacted violently, like he always did. He told her to mind her own business and stormed out of the room.But what had hurt Sanchita more was that he had lied to her.It was something she couldn't understand. she had done her best to be her two brothers' best friend and now he was lying to her already.
And it was twelve midnight and Bubun had not yet returned...She tried to read an interesting book she's started but even though pages turned by, nothing registered..

--- --- ---

Pupun was trying to distract his thoughts by watching a rerun of some cricket match which he had probably watched thousand times..Any other day, he would have churned out the statistics like a fifth class student doing his multiplication tables..But today, if you asked him, he probably wouldn't know which match was on... He was permanently trying Bubun's number. Bubun had called him at about ten to tell him he'd be late and he had waited up. Waited because the watchman was on leave and someone had to open the gate for him.But it was already three thirty in the morning..He didn't know what to do. He saw his parents and sister all tensed up and alternatively doing rounds of their mansion , the gate and the drawing room.. And he was trying his best to avoid all of them by pretending to watch the tele.
He was scared and angry by turns. Scared because he thought maybe Bubun was drinking again. But in his heart he knew it could not be.. But again, you never knew anything for sure with Bubun. He was so moody. And so pampered.. Mom and Dad both adored him..
He was angry because his Big B didn't have an ounce of responsibility in him..specially with that stupid girl.. He didn't much like her.. Her incessant gigling and stupid lies made him sick. But he never said anything about it to anyone. He always liked keeping things to himself.
And what the heck,,He loved Bubun like noone else.. He was the pampered one..

--- -- ---

Dad had had enough. he took out the car even though his siatica was shooting tremors of pain through his shoulders.He couldn't take the tension anymore. He had completely trusted all his kids, specially Bubun.And he loved him the most. he has given him complete freedom in everything. Everything he wanted was given to him, most of the time without even asking..He drove to the hospital and from there to the Police Station if no news of him was found in the hospital.
His thoughts inadverdently went back to the time 25 years ago when Bubun was barely two. He had developed an infection in his brains and had been admitted to one of the biggest hospitals in Kolkata.. Every night then, for fifteen days had been living hell for everyone.It had been a fight against odds and the doctors had called it nothing less than a miracle when he had survived.
He had loved him all the more after that. He had been given special care and all the love and tonight he had gone without telling anyone..Dad looked at the clock on the dashboard. It showed 4.15 am.

--- --- ---

Mom was tense. she couldn't stop her tears anymore. They had been freely flowing for the last hour alongwith her prayers.Dad had called to say he hadn't got any news from both the places. And no news here was definitely good news. Sanchita was out with the dogs, looking at the sky and thinking that it was indeed the darkest before the dawn..She had sent a few SMSes to Bubun's cell phone and had called all his friends as soon as the clock had struck four. But noone knew his whereabouts. He had strange friends. Well some of them were also up and searching for him but till now there wasn't any news.
Just then, she heard Pupun's voice. He said that her sms had been delivered and he had called Bubun. He was with some of his friends and was coming home.Mom went to the Puja room for the last time and this time , the tears were definitely those of happiness. She had anger in her beautiful eyes and started muttering something about giving Bubun a scolding of his life..Pupun and Sanchita looked at each other and knew it was all crap. As soon as she saw him, she would just melt and dote him like she always did.

--- --- ---

Bubun came strolling in. Sanchita looked at the clock. It said 5.15.am. The first rays of the sun were visible in the east, casting a brilliant red hue in the morning sky.
Mom scolded him in mock anger. And Bubun was , well, himself again. He was least bothered. He said there was no need for anyone to wait up or care for him. He said he didn't want anyone to care for him either. Everyone knew him so noone said anything. He'd continue to be Bubun, the pampered one and filled with his own insecurities and his rudeness....And would never in his life understand that it had been one of the most difficult nights for their family and had seemed would never end...

--- --- ---

The story of two owls

This story begins with the birth of "Shona", the beautiful owl...Actually , to be precise , sometime earlier than that..The day her beloved "Shonu" was born..He was perfect..As perfect an owl could be..Big eyes, beautiful coat, elegant beak and a much more beautiful heart..But he had just one tiny flaw. He was mute..He could never speak. As he grew, he heard the world , helped his friends and family , bettered himself every moment and drowned every pain in his eyes.He understood everyone but noone even made the effort for him..His eyes tried expressing his thoughts, but who cared?In a world where language of words are misinterpreted what chance had he with his eyes?He was alone in this world..Loving everyone, making the dreams of his family a reality.He had forgotton his own life..He had accepted that life for him was that- a life lived for everyone else but himself....

And then on a perfectly perfect day,as she was flying away, Shona saw him, her perfect Shonu, lost in his thoughts, with tears in his eyes and stopped...Divinity knows what made her do that...Oh! Shona. Forgot to tell you about her. She lived in a tree just beside Shonu's tree. She too was perfection in herself. Beautiful, caring, loving and everything that you can call beautiful, just like her Shonu. No , she wasn't mute. Just the opposite. Talkative to the hilt. As if God had given her two mouths instead of one. She was always talking..and when noone was around, singing to herself..Everyone said she was one of the happiest creatures in the world. But, they didn't know her. She hid her pain in her smiles, in her incessant chattering and bubbly chirping.. Noone knew the fear that haunted her every moment . It was her artificail shield to save her from the vultures that lived in her tree..Those vultures who had picked at her since she could remember and left scars for life..She hid those scars well..beneath her lovely coat..And yes, She met her Shonu and he met her...

It was the moment the magic began. Shonu never understood why he loved Shona. And he loved her with his life. And Shona's life was Shonu. If he felt her to be his extension, She felt herself become complete with him. If they were perfect individually , together they were a phenomena. The language of words was never missed. They communicated easily, with their beautiful eyes, Sharing and loving each other with everything they had.Shona forgot her every fear and Shonu found his perfect ex-pression withount any words.But they lived with the vultures. Noone knows till today how they ended up in trees with vultures. And they had become there family. Shonu was married off to a vulture of a far away tree, who never understood Shonu. Shonu accepted, as he had , everything in his life.A sacrifice that he thoughtt he owed to them. He tried to forget Shona. Maybe he did.

And Shona. She still sits on her tree. Long after all vultures have gone to sleep, she looks at Shonu's tree and sometimes can see his eyes, gleaming with tears, just like the day, she had first met him...