La Decima: Ambiguity in memories
The title is
a playful rip off from Real Madrid folklore. 10 years of knowing you, 4
beautiful and 6 in the ether.
Treading down the narrow and congested lanes of my memory I see rooms upon rooms...not unlike a chawl, every room a flash. every flash a story...peering voyeur like into the rooms through the barred windows catching a happy flash here, confronted by an embarrassment there while a small piece of innocence suddenly confronts me in that narrow dark alley like a street urchin, clothed in rags, yet oblivious all the same. That is scary, the images we projected when we first met and at the end when we would've let go of all the pretension to make that moment permanent. Tricky little bugger time is, it slips through your ribs like a stiletto knife.
Taking a cursory and brutal look at our friendships, we have grown apart to the extent that we have no idea who the other is. Everyone has new friends, everyone has a new life and we have learnt to live the new life we have made for ourselves, I chief among us. Some abroad, some entrepreneurs, others run of the mill corporates and one in heaven (or hell, naahhhh heaven it is). So my question is, and it’s a really tough one, are we friends or are we travelers who took the same road at the same time and are now on our original routes or are we both?
Moving further into those dusty lanes I see each and every one of you and I feel the warmth and the trust emanating from us. But then i take off the rose tinted glasses, the fights, standoffs, radio silences, lies and deceptions, it was all there. The bad was always there and it was infuriating, some were friends because they didn’t have any choice or more suitably, some would not have been friends had they a choice. For some it was about convenience, some it was a way to kill time and when a new life beckoned they went merrily about their ways.
There was love, myriad connections they were. None were successful and that is a shame because they were good love stories. But, alas, nothing lasts forever. Our friendships have changed, a shadow of what we used to have and now have arrived crossroads and a new path for everyone. I know, that we will be friends and only the definition changes but still there is a slight pang in my heart when I think nothing will be like the way it used to be.
Pang is gone; we will flourish like we always have. Ladies and gents it’s been an honor and may our paths intertwine once again.
Treading down the narrow and congested lanes of my memory I see rooms upon rooms...not unlike a chawl, every room a flash. every flash a story...peering voyeur like into the rooms through the barred windows catching a happy flash here, confronted by an embarrassment there while a small piece of innocence suddenly confronts me in that narrow dark alley like a street urchin, clothed in rags, yet oblivious all the same. That is scary, the images we projected when we first met and at the end when we would've let go of all the pretension to make that moment permanent. Tricky little bugger time is, it slips through your ribs like a stiletto knife.
Taking a cursory and brutal look at our friendships, we have grown apart to the extent that we have no idea who the other is. Everyone has new friends, everyone has a new life and we have learnt to live the new life we have made for ourselves, I chief among us. Some abroad, some entrepreneurs, others run of the mill corporates and one in heaven (or hell, naahhhh heaven it is). So my question is, and it’s a really tough one, are we friends or are we travelers who took the same road at the same time and are now on our original routes or are we both?
Moving further into those dusty lanes I see each and every one of you and I feel the warmth and the trust emanating from us. But then i take off the rose tinted glasses, the fights, standoffs, radio silences, lies and deceptions, it was all there. The bad was always there and it was infuriating, some were friends because they didn’t have any choice or more suitably, some would not have been friends had they a choice. For some it was about convenience, some it was a way to kill time and when a new life beckoned they went merrily about their ways.
There was love, myriad connections they were. None were successful and that is a shame because they were good love stories. But, alas, nothing lasts forever. Our friendships have changed, a shadow of what we used to have and now have arrived crossroads and a new path for everyone. I know, that we will be friends and only the definition changes but still there is a slight pang in my heart when I think nothing will be like the way it used to be.
Pang is gone; we will flourish like we always have. Ladies and gents it’s been an honor and may our paths intertwine once again.
Onward towards Undecima.
And he lets one rip, after what seemed an eon or perhaps longer, loud and unflinching.
ReplyDeleteThis one went down the throat quicker than the most sumptuous of chocolate truffle, one made from the darkest of cocoa beans.
In the larger scheme of things, this comes well worded, well timed and extremely well received.
Mozeltov..
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the read !
ReplyDeleteBut more than that I am still unveiling the secret behind your skill to string the best combination of words together.