Nightfall.

He sat by the window,

smoking into the air,

observing the people

across the street,

the clock was ticking

behind him,

reminding how time is

whisking past him,

he counts the number of

homeless people on the street,

and looks up at the stars in

the sky,

tonight, there weren't many,

the clouds hid them and tucked

them away from the world,

he sat by the window,

smoking another cigarette,

the nightfall has just begun,

with the clock ticking behind him,

the nightfall has just begun.

Tune for the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV2iYFl5eSk

The Storyteller Ring.

It was just another typical day for me. It began the usual way, but I shone a little less bright than every day. That was when I noticed him. He cupped his palms together, and rushed into the store, tugging his jacket closer to his body to keep himself warm. A look at him told me that he must have walked here in the brutal rain. He walked from one end of the store to the other, gasping and sighing in between. He took his own sweet time before he set his eyes on me. It was love at first sight. I could tell. He took me into his arms, caressed me softly, and said, “Pack this for me.” As he counted the notes of denominations 100, and few coins, I wanted to urge the manager to give a lavish discount on me, but I couldn't. A little later, he collected the amount. It looked like he could afford me. It looked like he saved up for me. I still remember the candid tone of his voice when he said, “I am going to propose to my girlfriend. This ring is perfect." I was the perfect ring. I loved that I was going to be a part of a journey which would begin with me. I walked out of the store snuggling in the cozy corner of his pocket. With a pride in his heart and a glint in his eye, he talked a great deal about me with his friends. A week later, he got down on his knees and proposed to her. I still remember the tears that trickled out of her eyes. I still remember how well I fit on her finger as if I was cut to beautify her finger. It was blissful. It was funny how the initial years passed in a fleeting moment. The nights they stayed up late sharing the deepest of the secrets, or the walks they took clasping each other's arms, and the mornings they spent making coffee together have soon become a part of my life. I began to take pride in the fact that I bound them together. Even in the moments of despair, she tugged me closer to her heart. Seldom I would lend her my ear, hearing a tale or two about her day. In due course, I realized things were changing. I realized I was held by fingers that weren't his. I realized I was inhaling the scent of a different man. I realized this man did not touch the contours of my body, neither did he kiss me when he kissed her. I realized I meant nothing to this man. I tugged even closer to her, trying to remind her of the moments she spent with him, trying hard to make her understand that she was meant to be with him. I tried, but everything went in vain. Every evening, as I returned home with her, I felt like a culprit. I felt like I was hiding a gory secret deep down my chest. One morning when she left me on his bedside table and walked out of the room leaving behind void and distress, I could not fathom how many days he and I spent in utter darkness wallowing ourselves in sorrow and loneliness. 12 monsoon seasons later, he walked into a store to pawn me for something useful. This store did not look as swanky as the one I was built in, it did not even feel as warm as the home I lived in, but it felt safe here. And as he walked out of the store, he set his eyes on me for one last time. I could tell, that he would never choose another ring over me.

Hello Happiness: 10 Things You Learn From Your Break-Up!

“The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.” 

― Chuck Palahniuk

Break-ups are always difficult. Most of us do not take it well, and some people go into a cocoon and build a wall around themselves, but at the end of the devastating phase, only one thing goes around in your head, "Good riddance."

And on that good note, I thought I should compile a list of ten things that your brutal break-up teaches you. 

10. It will teach you the difference between the good and the bad, and what is good for you. A break-up is an eye-opener, and you know, it is probably the most honest thing that has happened to you in the relationship.

9. It teaches you to love yourself. No, I don't mean that you did not love yourself before the break-up, but your perception about yourself changes SO much that you seem like a whole new person altogether. And you accept the change. 

8. You will learn to appreciate your solitude. 

If a person cannot appreciate your presence, walk away. You are doing yourself a favour. If you have even a shred of dignity left in yourself, just walk away.

It is okay if you have to be alone. Only loneliness will let you appreciate the presence of another person in your life.

7. Needless to say, you will find a lot of time to do your own things. This time, you won't have a hindrance.

You can wear whatever you want. You can go wherever you want.

Freedom! I mean, seriously, when people from all over the world are fighting for freedom, you get it without putting up any fight.

6. You will be exposed to several emotions at so many levels that if you are an artist, this is the best thing that can happen to you.

Remember what Kurt Cobain once said? Thank you for the tragedy, I need it for my art.

5. For a moment, pause everything you do. Look around, and count the people who have been with you in the darkest of your days.

This is what a break-up teaches you, it makes you appreciate the value of people who actually love you.

Ask yourself if you were blind all this time. When you have good friends, you will get through everything. Trust me.

4. One must stop expecting extra ordinary from the ordinary. 

It won't happen.

3. You can get everything you want. You can do anything.

All you need to do is, start.

2. The most wonderful people are the ones who go through humiliation, pain, and dejection. They have the tendency to make any situation humourous.

Wonderful people don't happen just like that. It is an everyday process to accept yourself.

1. You will fall in love again.

And this time, it will be better, and bigger. (If you know what I mean.)

It will be as glorious as Sanjay Leela Bhansali's cinema. And it will still be underrated.