Cimetière sans Nom

Cimetière sans Nom 

 

Talking to the vacant Pouring, 

what no one hears

 Memories, not amiss

Forgetting no fears

And that talk, it dies. 

 

Getting back to self 

Outer self, for world to see 

Chores to do, results to show 

Even to self, to fill the hallow 

And that hallow, the vacant, it dies. 

 

Search for life, light soul 

The books of positivity 

The words of saints, abegging 

Wise letters of gold 

Those books, words, letter, they die. 

 

The time passing by 

Divided, as if finite 

The now, which matters 

Others, to burn the lot 

Easier said, yet time, it dies. 

 

Occupying the vacant, in and out 

The space, we think of our own 

Encroached, with thoughts 

Come frolic, some to moan 

We think of our own, yes 

Until the space, is no more. 

 

The light of direction 

The light of enlightening 

The giver of life, when it takes instead 

No hope to rescue 

The fire, spent on dead 

The light, the fire, just died. 

 

Yet you look for 

What lost long back 

Expecting to get again 

Trying the cliched hack 

Bemoaning when drunk 

Aware it won’t help 

Hiding behind the laugh, when high 

Cloud as smokescreen, when you fly. 

 

The talk, the hallow, the letters 

Died not in vain but just 

The time, the space, the fire 

No more in fist or dust. 

 

Yet they exist, same place where buried 

Same place where help high, once 

Where they ruled the lives of mortals in disdain 

And played their endgame 

In the cemetery of no name.

FICTION

Odd world of living
Keeping at it, as if forever
Hint of denial, ignorance more than hint
Everyone a king, this world of clever.

Even world of dead
Reality undisputed yet fictional
Cannot create in realm left behind
Flutters and waves, no more maligned
Astral world, now on the mind
Mind, that is , if it ever existed
Shadow in the dark, eyes of the blind.

Adventure started on day one
For some the same day, some ten thousand
For some longing the past, some at frown's end
For some letting it go, some relishing friction
Reality undisputable yet some term it fiction.

Spirit Animal Series: Part I (The Why of Travel)

Zero Jobs. One Couple. Two Backpacks. Six Months. Eight Lacs. WHY!

This can be the single most irritating question. WHY! Also, I ask this question a lot to others, ending up frustrating them. It works only when directed inwards. To the spirit animal. But that hardly happens. So, when others, the society, asks why, the best is to just carry on.

We all have heard a lot of clichés - the travel sets you free, it changes you, it teaches you - well they are all clichés for a good reason. It’s all true. The real question of course is Why Not Travel! When I try to answer this, i do not get a single convincing answer. It usually revolves around how it will derail the plan of usual progression of life, the 'life goals' which broadly includes - the marriage, the house, the child, the promotion, the hierarchy among peers, the standing in the society. So, I accepted the risks involved in all the mentioned 'life goals,' risking the future for the present, and moving forward. I am fortunate to have one less risk though - I am already married, ha! And less than a year into the marriage (arranged!) we both are lucky to be on the same page in relation to travel.

The plan was to make a budget, out of our savings, and see how many months we can afford on it. We took out 8 lacs, after doing some calculations of ‘securing our future’ and ‘living in the present.’ Thankfully we did not have any EMIs. We also considered coming back to no income and then looking for months before getting to work. The aim was to do at least 6 months. There was no specific reason why 6 months, just! Also, if we got over with the money earlier, we would come back home. There was one difference between usual 6-month travel and ours, that we would be coming back and forth to India a lot. Sometimes, for visas, sometimes for the ease of coordination, or sometimes to make up for lack of planning.

The trip would start in April, with first destination being Europe. Sitting in the airport, we did some rough calculations to find out that we can manage 6 months within budget if we follow 2 conditions. One, our daily accommodation cost should be Rs 2000 or less and two, we have to survive on $20 per day for both of us combined, which includes all meals, sights, purchases, local transport and miscellaneous. Challenge accepted.

So WHY did we do this? We carry on...