The Roaming Bird

When  Anant   was  16, his  father  torched himself in his home office.  He never found out what made his  father   do  that.   “ Do   you know  how burning flesh smells?”  he  asked   while   laying  beside me and tracing circles on my  hand .   “No and  I  hope  I  never get to.” I   met   Anant  in  college ;  he  was  a loner like me.   I  wouldn’t call him handsome, but there was something appealing about his  personality .   Passing by boys  dorm  room to  collect   my   notes  from one of  my  classmate  I   heard  ‘Marvin Gaye Let’s Get  it  on’  coming  from Room 13, when  I   peaked  through the  window ,  I   saw   Anant  siting in dark and  playing  with a lighter,  it ...

"You remember that lady above our old apartment Patel?" Tanya asked without looking at me, she did that quite often, talk without making any eye contact. "Mrs Bose?" "Yeah, her soul left her body." "What? Did she die?" "Partially, her body is still here" "Tanya, you do realize that you're not making much sense, right?" Finally she turned to look at me, with an annoyed expression, as if I'm the one who's blabbering stupid stuff, "Soul don't just go away when you're 'dead-dead' Patel, sometimes it just get flushed away." "Why do you think that her soul left her body?" God just speaking that line makes me feel stupid. "I met her today, she was near my office, she was walking all alone, looking lost, I stopped to talk to her, but she just stared at me, with a blank expression, her eyes held no emotions, nothing, absolutely blank." Tanya turned again to look at the...

Remember the tales of brotherhood and unity during the foreign rule When we were just Hindustanis, one nation Were they really true? Why do they feel so empty and fake now? We were praised for our diverse culture Today we are divided because of those diversities Now we are Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, General, SC, ST, OBC,... Why has our last name become a mere tool for politics We fought hard to throw the invaders out Who are we trying to throw now?

"I want to leave This place, it doesn't feel like home anymore" Soha said and took a long puff of her cigarette "These people, they suffocate me I feel trapped Sometimes I get this urge to pack my things and run away I want to escape from my messed up, good for nothing family But I can't I'm too scared of letting go And I know That even if I leave I'll come back" She looked at me and asked "Do you ever feel like that?" Do I ever feel that? I turned to the night sky "I do Not because my family is messed up or they are deadbeat people I want to leave because I don't want to get stuck in this cycle of normalcy created by society I have a renegade soul I don't want to crush it And I'm scared that it would be too easy for me to let go And I know that once I leave I won't be able to come back"

To everyone, it was a gloomy day, Gray, windy, cold Birds flying back to their nest Children running back to their home from mid football match Lady from downstairs yelling at her husband about something To me, it was a perfect weather for a nice quiet long walk Grabbing my hoodie and headphones, I rushed to welcome the chilly air I chose this apartment because I loved how close the beach was from here But it is always flooded with loud obnoxious people Not today though With Imagined Dragons blaring in my ears I jogged towards the ocean The sight of water brought an instant smile on my face Removing my headphones, I walked to the shore The sound of the ocean, the air, the empty beach, it cannot get better than this There's a house few feet away A beach facing house Lucky bastards I always wanted a house near the ocean I can't help but stare through the window into what seems like a kitchen Bright yellow kitchen a woman sipping som...

His eyes were filled with pain But he was trying to mask it  With a smile  I was screaming at the top of my voice And demanding him To just spit it out  Tell me what's wrong  Suddenly he stood up And took my hand  he came close really close and whispered  "Can you feel that? Can you feel how hard it is beating My heart does that only for you For your voice  For your smile For your eyes And it goes wild  When you're near me When you're touching me"  "Why don't you understand? I can't move on now I can't go on now I need you I'm standing on the edge of the line Waiting for you to cross it  and stop loving me like a best friend  and start loving me like a man that you always talk about falling in love with Let me be that man Let me be your man"