A literature student, who knows more about the
corners of her dusty college library than the race to high paying careers,
would probably never imagine her man, coming from an MNC and talking about his
trade of corns in Europe. And no man, who knows it is smart to talk about
gadgets, would date a girl bound to classics. But it does happen with the
narrator, who meets Kabir for the very first time at her home. She finds a
known sheen of dream hidden behind a pair of spectacles. Kabir is someone who can
handle a group of fake people, but does not know how to respond to simplicity. He
looks several times below, when he so wants to keep looking in her eyes. Our
narrator, Avi, and Kabir talk for about 10 minutes, and their conversation free
them in a way. In each other, they see an unknown side of life.
Kabir had read and appreciated her poetry several
times before, not knowing who she was. Now that Avi tells him about her works
of poetry and stories, her simplicity draws him in, and he reveals a lot about
himself. He finds something magically appealing about her. They talk about
books, they talk about their own poems and part with a promise to come back
with their writings. A promise made on a thin ice. Which would better be
broken, but better kept by an unseen pull, a force. He, a drifter by nature,
who would recluse from anyone who tried to come closer. And Avi, someone who has
just trusted books so far, finds him strangely close. Avi emphasizes him to
write, instead of typing his poems. She has this vague confidence, that she can
judge a writer through his writing and work, combined. Her queer way of relating
him closely with her books maybe?
After this unexpected meeting at her home, where he
just drops in to return few novels that her sister had borrowed from her, for
him to read, a series of meetings unfold. And everything happens so naturally,
that they both feel like they are flowing on water.
On their second meeting, he comes with his poetry
that titles, “You are not welcome”. And she comes with her poem, whose first
line says, I was a dream, now a reality, soon to elapse as memory”.
Both are fearfully aware, that they live in
different realms of the world, with different social circle, topics to talk
about. They live their lives for different purposes, which do not recognize
eachother. And even together, they see this one single world, very differently.
While on the first date she has this flighty feeling
that says –“you belong somewhere else”. By the third date, she feels that she
is dancing in a crystal ball, with a strong blizzard blowing around.
If you have picked up the cue from ‘blizzard’ in
their crystal, you will know a lot is to happen next. A lot is to happen
between them, helping them grow together, and know themselves better. A lot
more than a plain love story, peek into their world, to know what happens the
next.
This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published Contest
http://www.indiblogger.in/getpublished/, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal and HarperCollins India.
