The Prodigy

Once upon a time in the city of Zwolf, lived a painting prodigy. He did magic with colours. He painted not only people’s faces but also their emotions with a splendid elegance. His fame, fortune and skill were revered and envied across the country.

As the unidirectional time flew, the ace artist began to turn into a narcissist. He began to believe that there is no better artist than he, himself. He proclaimed ‘art’ to be esoteric, and would often deride others who called themselves ‘artists’. His influence on the city’s culture was immense, and his opinions were often understood as facts.

It rained that day. The morning was embellished with spectacular butterflies and the few rays of the morning sun which successfully made their way out through the clouds to reach a surface that blossomed with colours. The melodious chirping of birds provided a sublime musical effect to the beauty, and the breeze kissed the man’s face generating a heavenly delight inside his body. Naturally, the artist in him started releasing strong urges to paint the splendor all by himself and make it his own. He took out his paint brushes, as if he were challenging the nature; his colours, as if they were to compete with the ones that were dancing outside. And, now, on a clean, white drawing sheet hanging on one of the huge halls of his quaint villa, he was all set to duplicate, or rather better, the beauty outside.

Magical, as it may sound to a few, he finished the painting within a few minutes. He stared at it twice. With the first stare of scrutiny, he smelled it. And with the second one of a distinctive pride, he drank it.

“There!” he said to himself ardently, “Even the nature, itself, would be jealous of my artistry.”

And then, he turned around to, once again, fix his eyes on the show outside, as if to tease the nature. But his eyes changed the language, as if hit by bewilderment. It was merely for a few minutes that he had his eyes off the scene outside, and much to his surprise, the picture of the outside had changed its shades and skin. It was ravishing, just as it was before; but now, it was different. The artist was shocked to see this versatility, as if it exploded in his mind, destroying his pride in a single moment, and the very next moment, he was ashamed of himself for doing what he did throughout the morning.

“Thou art is greater in the truest smiles,
Thou beauty is superior in the eternal joys,” he uttered unclearly as he walked out of the house of his art, to get lost in the art of his house.

- Mihir Chitre
mihirmumbaikar@gmail.com

A Photograph

Delusions in the mirror,
Blood-smeared frames,
Caught his fancy,
Often.
And yet the brush lay
Unused, dry and colorless.

Lost in a delirium,
Counting his last pennies,
As a mellow tune
Drummed his ears,
He wondered sadly,
Was this the death knell?
Darkness filled his world.

As this picture was unraveled,
His dilapidated world came alive.
Onlookers gasped,
And she won her prize.
Her eye made his life,
A reverence.


- Janvi Gandhi
Janvi.87@gmail.com

The End of 'US'

It was two years since I was seeing her
Her sudden absence was causing a stir
It felt like I was fighting the world
I felt alone, so alone without my girl.

We stay away but it’s gonna be fast.
Not too long, will this feeling last.
Just stay together, she said to me.
We'll be one forever, she said to me.

I said yes. So I vividly remember.
But then how could I do this to her.
How could I forget that tear in her eye.
She could just whisper, couldn't even say good-bye.


And I! I asked my colleague for her body?!
Oh my God! I was so stupid and now so sorry.
We did it; without a fuss.
It was the end of love and trust.
No. It was the end of 'US'.


- Samir D. Bellare
sambell111@gmail.com

The Face

I saw a peculiar joy, enclosed in those eyelashes.
An unusual smile escaping that dispirited face,
After ages, there was a vigor amongst the ashes,
After ages, by the light, dark was embraced.

The smile widened its horizons.
The face blossomed with sheer ebullience.
The spark in his vivacious eyes paid a tribute to his optimism,
As I eulogized the mirror’s invention!



- Mihir Chitre
mihirmumbaikar@gmail.com

My Best Friend

I wish you were still alive. Fuck… why did you have to go? My brother, my heart, my fucking best friend! I had tried everything, everything possible to keep you safe. I used to keep telling you, keep warning you, keep pleading you… but you, you really never cared for what I had to say, did you? Would it have been so bad if you would have listened to me? For ONCE? You would have still been alive! You would have been somewhere far, far away from me, but you would have at least been alive!

I wish you didn't have to go. You were too nice, man. You were too fucking nice. You knew we can't be too nice if we have to survive in this world. We learnt that early enough, didn't we? This fucking world isn't a place where you are nice to each other. It's a place where you fight. You need to fucking fight for what you believe in. You need to fight to have your say. You need to fight to fucking survive! Did you forget that? Did you forget OUR goal? Isn't that why we were fighting? To survive? To have our say? To stand for what we believe in?

I wish things would have turned out right. But if they went wrong, it was only your fault. Only your fucking fault. You betrayed me, man. You betrayed all of us. You betrayed our fight. You betrayed yourself. You betrayed my dead mother and sister. How could you forget the atrocities of the Indian soldiers in our valley, in OUR home? How could you forget the death of your aunt, my mother? How could you forget Noor? She was only 12 years old! How could you fucking forget what they did to her? We were into this together! You had wanted to fight! How could you forget?? It was our fight! Our jehaad! You betrayed our cause… you betrayed our people, man. You shouldn't have turned snitch, brother. You shouldn't have.

I wish there was some way out. Even after what you did, even after I found out, I prayed to the Lord, to the Almighty, to tell me if there was a way out. There was no other way out man. That's why I had asked you to run away. I had asked you to run away, before it was too late. You should have left. You should have taken ammi with you and you should have left. Now how would I face her? What would I tell her? I was supposed to have your back! But you left no options, did you. I gave you enough warnings, enough signs, I told you enough times that you should go away, before they found out! But you couldn't fucking listen to me, could you?

I wish you would have understood. You thought it was the RIGHT thing to do, didn't you? Betraying your brother, betraying your family, betraying your people, that was the right thing for you? What did you turn into, brother? You had always honored our cause. There was only one more mission left. And then we would have been free. Forever. For the sake of the lives of a few hundred people, you betrayed your entire community? You knew, our cause demanded sacrifice. You were doing this for ammi. For my mother. For Noor. For the hundreds of Noors who the fucking Indian soldiers rape every single month! You knew, only a fucking blast can wake these people up. It's a cruel world out there. It was always going to be a life for a life. And you KNEW that! Then why did you turn snitch? It was our lives at stake. Against a few of theirs. And you chose them? You fucking chose them!

I wish there was an easier way for it all to end. I tried, brother. I tried. I prayed, day and night. I thought of all the possible ways in which it could have been easier. But there was no other way. There was not a single way. I didn't want them to find out. And trust me, they would have. They fucking would have found out. And then, and then they would have cut off your head. They would have punished you in front of ammi. I didn't want that! I didn't want ammi to suffer. At least now, at least now, they think that you died for our cause! At least now they think you died saving my life. You died a martyr, brother. You died a martyr. You are immortal now. I saved you from disgrace. I saved ammi from being condemned. I have done her a favour, I have done you a favour, I have done our community, our people a favour. And yet, I wish there was never a need to do this.

I wish you were still alive, my brother, my heart, my best friend! I wish you didn't have to go. I wish things would have turned out right. I wish there was some way out. I wish you would have understood. I wish there was an easier way for it all to end. And I really wish, I really fucking wish… I really fucking wish that I didn't have to kill you...

- Nikhil Taneja

nikhiltaneja@gmail.com

Two

Two folks saw the most spectacular of the sites,
Lit up the roads to reach unprecedented heights.
He laughed her smile once in a while,
she illuminated his darkness on every travelled mile.

His bewilderment came to party,
as he abstracted something upright,
She was lost in the peculiarity of the moment,
as she returned him the delight.

On her way back,
she wasn't lonely, though alone.
And he had sunk in the splendor,
like a crazy rolling stone.



- Mihir Chitre
mihirmumbaikar@gmail.com