WL Mumbai Meetup --------- Its Time!!!!!

Hi Guys,
Rohan and I finally came to the conclusion that sum1 had to take da onus of wakin da people from Mumbai from their reverie.....The Writers Lounge celebrated its 1st anniversary and our friends from Chennai and Bangalore (Not to forget "The Vitruvian Boy's" special celebration) came together for the occasion. We boast of one of the higher number of members active on the lounge but still when it comes to meeting up, we hold back.......C'mon guys!!!!
Wakey...........Wakey........Time to get up and get dressed......Lets make dis thing happen!
Please leave your consent in the comments section!
Details are as given below:

WL Mumbai Meet
Location (Tentative): Bandra Reclamation
Date: 26th July 2009.....cant help if da date has u cowering wid fear! :P (Guys from Mumbai wld know wat I mean! ;)

Time: Yet to be decided!



Who's gonna b der????? (Members who have already given der consent)



Rohan

Maverick



Neha, Anurag nd Ilashree: sorry guys cldnt get in tch wid ya on saturday.....bt thanx atleast fr responding to the invite nd expressing interest....means a lot! :)




PS: Plz Dont keep a track of this post for updates! Coz guess wat no one's coming! Cheers! :)


PPS: And guys leave it u now, to plan.......take ur time, adjust ur calendars, take appointments, do evry kinda thing dat can make a 2 hour meet possible! Here's wishing you luck!

Princess.....

Pre-Script: Yesterday, I managed to do the "almost impossible"! I managed to cage the elusive Asbah for some time. And when I got her to write again, it was pure bliss. Here's the poem that was conjured...part by her....part by me! A humble dedication to one of the founders of the lounge.......the Princess of Arcane Lands....to Asbah herself....! Hope you guys enjoy her work as much as I do! :)

Sun rises to an arcane land,
Twilight cruises over classic skies,
With subtle grace descends to kiss,
The dewy petals of pink orchids!

The bees hum a strange fore-lore,
And leaves nod intoxicated,
Of love, of dreams, a tale of yore!
And a girl who was hated!

Beyond the pane of shining glass,
Caged by her self, she stares,
Her soul rambles across the land,
On scroll, her heart she bares!

Fountains of emotions spout,
As words escape her quill,
Papyrus damp with ink,
And tears of living against her will!

In her dreams she breaks free,
To rule beyond the horizon,
Where heavens paint the glee,
Where, the war has been won!

A prince, she awaits to set her free,
Every wish fulfilled with twin dreams,
Unknown to her, in silence he waits,
In her freedom, a lost soul he redeems!


PS: image courtesy - lusete @ deviantart.com

Nomad

Roamed about in this wild world,
Forever, and beyond,
Feet ragged from an eternal journey,
Heart as cold as stone,
No sight, left unseen here,
Or so my mind assumed,
A strange voyage this has been,
The elusive unknown I hope to find,
Deciphering the codes of my soul,
I try to know, the yearning of a kind,
A futile quest until now,
Been to numerous places, I have,
Far and wide, scattered,
None, ensnaring my heart,
Captivating me, holding on!
Until I stumbled onto this place,
And caught a glimpse of you,
Skipping a beat, my heart ground,
To a sudden halt!
A purpose achieved or so it seemed,
Welling up inside me was relief,
The hurt, the pain ebbing away!
Yet you seem nonchalant,
Ignoring the plea in my eyes,
You make this destination seem,
A heart-rending mirage,
For once this nomad had found refuge,
But you give me no reason to hold on!
I must.......move on!


PS: Image Courtesy - Silhoutte777 @ deviantart.com

Cross Posted @ "The Unexplored Side of Me"

The bright afternoon sky faded with alacrity giving way to the evening...an evening so perfect that she might have thoroughly enjoyed it...under other circumstances....some other time. It felt like ages ago when her face would light up at the sight of the canvas of heaven strewn with colours, as it shifted and churned out shade after shade of mesmeric hues; as if constantly being worked upon by a divine painter.

But....It was all long ago.....long before she lost her heart and ended up finding it broken in pieces, lying listless in a drain. Try as she might she hadn't been able to fix it....mend it.....her painstaking efforts to put it back together with utmost care, culminating in a heart rending tragedy as painful gusts of nostalgic memories made it crumble back into pieces. A sigh escaped her lips...an almost silent one, but in this grove of trees it echoed with deafening magnitude carried along and amplified a thousand times by the breeze. Autumn had played its part and the almost bare tree branches rustled.....an elegy so true in its soul that it shot straight through her heart. She looked at the trees as they cried.....in vain.....at the loss of their love!

At the horizon, the sun was slowly sinking away......the skies again metamorphosing into a masterpiece. She looked up and the glow of the setting orb glanced of her beautiful face.....the last mellow beams playing through her lovely curls. She could feel the warmth of life spreading through her.....but failing to thaw her heart out......a heart, which had turned colder....harder than stone. She fished out her diary and a pen from her satchel.....constant companions along this solitary journey of hers.....self-imposed but exceedingly necessary. Her hands moving in graceful strokes as she etched word after word....flowing straight from her frosty.....bitter heart....as if her soul squeezed her pain and liquefied it causing it to course out of her in a fine stream and morph into words. Words.....so magnificent.....painfully true....heart touching.....just as her life! Words.....lines....sentences spewed forth in a gushing torrent....as they always did....as if the storm drains had been opened in a thunderstorm!

Just as she finished penning down her last thought....her pain ebbing away into a dull throb.....the last few victims of the autumn's wrath cascaded down on her. As if the trees too had something to say...a tale to tell...of hurt...of longing. She picked up a threadbare leaf from near her feet and caressed it....how it resembled her heart in many ways....every dry vein had a unique pain hidden inside...and as her fingers moved over them, she felt her heart shrink...shrug away as if to an unknown touch. A dam broke somewhere and tears brimmed in her eyes....every salty drop a vivid testimony to what she had gone through....of how despite her relentless efforts, the hurt refused to die....of how life played games with her....of how she wanted to live and be dead at the same time.

Her tears fell on the dead leaf.....dead but holding signs of what it had gone through in its life. She clutched it to her bosom and wept. The graveyard of once green leaves surrounding her.....a piercing reminder....a token of how cruel life could be! And she wept some more till her eyes dried and there were no more tears left.

Silent...forcing herself to get up...she walked on uncertain legs....over crushed corpses of dry leaves....and left autumn's killing grounds. Back to the real Colosseum where a similar game was played but with living breathing people...where the floor was littered with sharp jagged pieces....of shattered dreams....hopes and blood soaked hearts! She made her way...a princess of arcane lands...her imagination ruling a kingdom where words bowed to do her bidding.....and where she hoped she would never get hurt again!

Images: Courtesy - deviantart.com

PS: CrossPosted at The Unexplored Side of Me

Crimson Rain

Eyes flickering, hurting, I watched inspite of the heavy showers, as a battle raged in the heavens. Every clap of thunder and every flash of lightning an avid token of a fracas so grotesque that just the thought made my heart cringe. But still I looked on....for I had my hopes pinned on the outcome....because this fray was a metaphor for a battle raging within me...between my dreams and my sense of realism. A war so hopelessly poised that the ramifications were clear from the onset....the only victim....the only sufferer was going to be my heart....and my soul. The only tokens of this skirmish would be the tattered remains of my hopes and sketchy but blindingly vibrant flashes of memories.....the kind similar to strobe lights that sometimes cause a normal person to go epileptic...hallucinate!


And then something changed...the water pouring down seemed warm as if coursing with life. The sun slipping behind the horizon partly camouflaged by the dark clouds tinged the skies red.....cast a halo about everything. I cupped my hands and watched as a small puddle collected there....smudged crimson....and then I knew that blood had been drawn....that somewhere up there...in the skies....it was ending...the vanquished reeling under the heavy blows....each cutting through the skin....deep...drawing more crimson fluid. The rains intensified to a point blinding me....visibility reduced to a stark zero....and then as a final lurid signal...a blinding flash of lightning tore the sky apart...followed by a deafening roar of thunder. A roar reminiscent of an evil victor standing defiant over the vanquished....the flash of lightning illuminated the clouds in patches sketching a gory pattern.


The rains stopped....it was over...I stood there, face upturned...somewhere inside me the battle had also stopped...and I could feel the first pangs of pain.....Dropping down to my knees, in a puddle of red water, I stared into nothingness.....drenched in crimson!

PS: Image Courtesy - bramLeech @ deviantart.com

Intro @ WL - Maverick

Name: Gaurav

Blog Nick: Maverick aka MaV

Hail from: Mumbai

Fav colours: Matte Black, Crimson red, Velvet Blue

A software engg by profession nd a writer by passion. Oder pasion include my guitars, music, movies, outdoor games, bikes.

Would have luvd to write about myself! But am too Complicated to be aptly described in words! Those who know me; know wat I am talkin about! Those who don't; well u r spared the efforts of unraveling the manifold layers covering me and still not comprehending wat I am! 

An open book I am, yet da pages r covered in invisible ink. Believe in simplicity coz it has its own class. Eternally introverted. Implosive. Writing provides me an opportunity to break free from these constraints. 

Was introduced to WL by a friend nd since den its become an inseperable part of my life! hav found friends here nd more. Dis journey at WL has been a rollercoaster of emotions, albeit one dat I hav enjoyed. Learnin from the stalwarts here has always been a pleasure fr an amatuer lik me nd am still in da learnin phase! 

My posts, my writing always deal wid reality masked by a fictional phase! Underneath, der wld b an eternal reality streak dat relates to my life one way or another.

I blog at The Unexplored Side of ME!

Dats about me! :)

Relegated Dreams...

Beneath this pale, placid skin,

My soul embarks on journeys,

Infinitely mysterious, thrilling and bizarre!

On one such journey I stumble upon,

A locked door, partially hidden, forgotten,

Inquisitive my soul; I enter,

A chamber; dark, ominous,

Stumbling along the path unseen,

Hands outstretched, groping, acting as my vision,

A blinding light dazzles my eyes,

I spy a dream, descend slowly,

From the unseen heights, unachieved, distraught,

Dead!

Crawling into a crevice, It lies,

Still, immobile; I realize,

I stand in the catacombs, the tomb of my dreams,

Where every hope, every wish, every desire,

I ever felt was banished, executed, life never giving them,

A chance to be born, to become real,

To exist!

By the fading glow, I step ahead,

I see, my life laid out,

In front of me, my fantasies,

Lying listless, Sepia tinged,

Cold, from their death!

Living it all over again, the pain, the hurt,

I turn away, nauseated, unable to take it anymore,

Running back I find, no exit, no door,

A one way trip this was,

Relentless, I try to find a way out,

Coz am suffocating, the morbid stench,

Of slowly decomposing desires, overwhelming me,

Grim silver spectres surround me,

Shrill echoes, reverberate,

A requiem they sing for my soul,

Trapped here for infinity,

In this sarcophagus, of unfulfilled hopes,

These catacombs of relegated dreams!

PS: Images courtesy - deviantart.com

Asphyxia

Pre-Script: Asbah sparked off a wonderful thought train with her post on the colour red.

Priyanka followed up with her brilliant take on the same. Asbah named it 

"Sinister". Priyanka called it "Mesmerizing Red". If I could, I would group 

them under a tag called "Shades of Red"! Here's my take on this subject 

titled "Asphyxia"!

What a colour! Deep, melliflous, flowing like an incessant river, peaceful on the surface but possessing a potent undertow! Yes, thats what it was! The colour RED! 

        He had always had an affinity to that colour right from the start, but that day it just became something much more! He had been dreaming that day...or was it real....it had been so very vivid. There she was standing, on that seashore....in a crimson red dress.....Ohhh, yes.....crimson red......such beauty in that colour, the glow reaching her face making it almost seem incandescent....like a divine angel walking the face of this earth....with outstretched arms she had beckoned him. A simple act, yet so seductive that he found his feet carrying him into her arms.....he melted there. When their lips met...it was a pleasure like no other, where a thousand emotions cascaded through his mind, flowing with excitement through his heart...and ending up pooling in his soul...where they formed a tumultuos sea of feelings, the waves of which crashed again and again on the walls of his heart....reverberating through his entire body. The night was chilly but her embrace was as warm as a cozy blanket, and as she nestled her head against his chest, he lost himself in the lovely curls of her frizzled hair which appealed so much to him!

        And then with him standing there with his eyes closed she had left him......as his eager gaze darted about to sight her, she was walkin out over the sea....He tried calling out...but somehow his voice failed him...He lost his ability to move, his feet stuck as if in quicksand....he dropped to his knees....she was already out onto the sea...she gave him a final look...an angelic smile....and dissolved in shimmers which twinkled bright red and then disappeared in an infinite red mist.

        Unlike his voice, his tears did not fail him. His eyes clouded over and agonizing pain trickled down his face....hot white pain....the pain of losing someone who meant the world to him....in whose company he didn't care about anything else...Someone who took away a piece of him...his dreams, hopes...and almost everything else.

        The world turned a shade of black which increased in magnitude with every passing instant...he rolled over and fainted!

        Eyes wide open...he had lived it again....as on many other nights. That dream or nightmare.....he was so confunded...an imaginary act so powerful; that one part of it made his heart want to live it endlessly, eternally and the other part so cruelly painful that he cringed even at the thought of it! A dilemma that had no answer....just the lone option of living through it, with it!

        He walked to the window and stared outside.The world looked peaceful...a stark contrast to the inside of him which was heaving like a sea in the middle of a violent hurricane. The world stared back at him with red eyes....everything after that day had been imbued with a red tinge....crimson red.He dressed and walked out, gazing..at the crimson hues of the red flowers....the red colour of the buildings....the red of the just rising sun.....the sea blood red and flowing...and people a bright shade of red. Monochrome......how that word stuck to him, except that his world had only one colour,which flowed, superfluous.... imposing itself on his mind, painting his soul, and with that tainting his dreams!

        He walked on nodding his head at the strange numbness...which almost unfallibly accompanied this feeling...and disappeared in a red haze!!!!!!

A Hallowed Mirage

He had heard me! All those silent pleas....pleading with him to end it.....all those senseless debates of how stretching it any further would serve no purpose.......those moments when tears rimmed my eyes but struggled to flow out.....as if not wanting to let go. He had finally answered!

           I opened my eyes to the realization that today it would end. He had promised that he would let me have it my way. I got up, dressed in clothes that were the most comfortable and strolled out, my feet for once deciding the way ahead, neglecting the logical arguments of the mind. I found myself at the beach....the one which had always been my love....but had never found it all to myself. I walked up to the point where the dry sands kissed the wet mud, its wetness replenished time and again by the surging waters.

           I closed my eyes and told him what I wanted. When, once again, I slowly opened my eyelids, the blackness and the daze of having closed them for too long, receding, I saw that my wish had indeed been granted. The beach was devoid of every other living being....the weather had just turned into the most beautiful type....where clouds partially mellowed the sun by veiling its aura......a slight breeze, of the most comforting kind flowing in over the waters, carrying with it the myriad scents of the unknown mysteries hidden by the fathomless sea!

   I sat down in the sand, bare feet. I picked up a handful of sand and watched it drift away with the wind, tried holding on, unsuccesfully, the grains flowing free deflected at the whim of the wind, as if they did not care for a second where they landed up when the wind stopped. I saw my life etched on each one of those grains, tiny specks, but holding infinte meaning.....I saw myself floating around just like that grain of sand, with drafts of life buffeting me around.....I saw myself wandering without a care in the world....lost in my dreams, my illusions, my beliefs.......never once looking back, always sure that the path I chose for life was right, because I made it that way. 

   The waves rolling in, surging with a will, vying with each other to reach the coast first, only to turn into breakers and fizzle out as they caught sight of the shore, their fancied destination......made my heart ache, nostalgia rising up, welling like a tsunami where every memory as vivid as it can get, flashed past in a slow graceful arc....a virtual slideshow of moments.....ephemeral instants of legitimate joy, almost infallibly succeeded by the darkest, deepest kind of pain.....I was living it all over again, but I had asked for this....For one final time to relive it, to try and capture every face that had seemingly mattered to me in a waterproof packing, embalmed to remain untouched, eternally perfect in my soul. The seabreeze enticed me, inviting erstwhile thoughts, meshed together in my brain in varying shapes and sizes, giving birth to words, words which had been my sole companions though my journey. 

   I picked up a dry twig, forsaken by its parent plant, now shrivelled but hardened due to its acceptance of the fact that no one would want it now. Yes, this perfectly suited my need for a pen. I started scribbling words in the sand, blurred letters, my makeshift pen swirling through the specks of sand, marking them, temporarily with the emotions rising deep inside my heart. I knew these words were fleetingly brief, momentary, sure to be blown away by a sudden daft blow of the flowing wind, or wiped away by the sweeping completeness of the 

sea. But that didn't bother me. It had always been that way, nothing that could be called eternal ,everlasting had happened to me. And so I kept writing. Gradually as the day wore on, which was quite difficult to tell, considering that my wish about the weather being perfect all day had been granted; the sand surrounding me was etched with words.....everywhere, so that anyone who looking at this sight from above would feel that an entity had been held captive, confined with bonds of mere words!

           And then I saw the sun, slip out from beneath the curtain of the clouds and sink, imperceptibly beyond the horizon, all along staining the sea with shades of the most majestic hues that I had ever known. It was time.....just as the first shadows of the swaying palms stealthily crept up to me, nudging me, making me aware of the fact that this was the end....of my wish.....I stood up, sand rustled down my clothes in a fluid motion, as if signalling that the last of my relations to this place had ended, broken as every other bond had in all these years. Savouring the crusty dry taste of salt, that the wind out on the sea inevitably leaves in your mouth, I walked upto the waves lapping at my feet. The first touch drained me of all my fears.......I waded in some more, the water swirling in around me, embracing me, as if I were a long lost son.....I felt the relief of forgetting all my hurt, all my pain, in the arms of a loved one....I stepped forward and the last sight that I saw was the moon just peeking out in the company of a few lonely stars...The sea rushed in around me to fill out the void inside me, which I had always wished would happen, I thanked him for granting me my last wish.....And I let go!!!! 

PS: Cross Posted @ my Blog

Riding Into The Sun.......

The tarmac hissing softly,

Zipping away beneath my wheels,

An inner sanctum of peace I find,

At these exceedingly high speeds!

On and On, the road winds,

Climbing mountains high and huge,

A deep chasm beckoning on the side,

The sea pounding, on the rocks in a surge!

Beyond, the final rise I spy,

The huge orb of fire, you, the sun,

A ferocious dazzling mixture of hues,

With unabashed glee, you rage and burn,

To seek you, I have set out,

TO be one with you, is all I yearn for,

Embrace me, take me in your arms,

My hurt melting away, withering from the core!

Left all my worries, my pain,

Everything back at the start,

There's no one waiting back there for me,

No one who would care, none from whom I had to part!

To this world, A final wave,

A salute from the heart I return,

As I surge into the blazing sphere,

And fade away, riding into the sun!!!

The Beast Within....

PS: Reader discretion recommended!

Its that day,

Today it happens again,

I can already sense,

The excrutiating agony, the pain,

Can't remember the day, or the reason,

Why I am this way, 

Why, when the shadows lengthen,

Signalling the birth of a darkness,

I find myself cringing, trying to hide,

When the full moon, oh! so beautiful for some,

Glows with splendour, I squirm in fright,

As if faced by my nemesis,

All these sensations, so well known to me,

Still bring around a new wave of hurt,

A first it seems, every time,

This day evokes memories of,

The countless ones before,

When a slow shudder spread through my body,

When a rage of epic proportions,

Enveloped my mind, as I clawed at my skin,

Tearing it away, crying with the pain,

Yet continuing to do it,

Stripping away the human self,

To reveal the grotesque monster within,

When animalistic vigour coursed through my veins,

Strength, such I have never known of, surged,

Muscles taut, a monster was revealed,

Disheveled, wild fur, as black as the night,

Fangs bared, feral, thirsty; yearning,

To sink into flesh,

A snout raised towards the heavens,

Echoing an ominous howl,

Heralding the birth of horrors,

Countless humans, I have devoured, killed,

Unknowing, Oblivious, when the monster took over,

Only to shrivel back to my self, human if I can call it,

At dawn, when the sun shone bright,

Shivering, for the torture of my transformation,

Is immense, unbearable; but the pain,

Of having sinned, of taking innocent lives,

Outgrows everything,

The helplessness makes me abhor myself, each time,

I hate myself more than ever,

I caress the silver stake,

Today it ends, No more sins,

I free you from me,

I free myself from my fears,

The sharp pain of the stake piercing my heart,

Draws an unearthly shriek from me,

I feel the beast inside me squirm, breathing its last,

My body wracking with the pain, shuddering,

In the throes of death,

Finally I killed the beast,

The beast that was me! 

Images: Courtesy - devaintart.com