A beautiful part of me!

Dear Lucknow,
I'm back to Delhi. Our luggages have been loaded in the car, we've bid our share of goodbyes to the other people as now we are to part ways. Back there, we had all been together. As we drive back home, I get flashes of the roads. I see Connaught Place and I'm reminded of Hazratganj. I see the wide roads and I'm reminded of the roads of Gomti nagar. This road reminds me of the one that leads to my relatives' house. This one, that one. This, that.
Sigh.
Day before, I was missing home. I remember sitting in a corner of the house for a while, going through pictures. Pictures of my friends and family back home. And, I was homesick.
And, it's right now that I miss Lucknow. I miss the streets; I miss the food; I miss the people; I miss the train journey; I miss the plants there; I miss the balcony view; I miss Lucknow.
In the afternoon, as I stood there at the station, I gave a final look at the view and said, "You'll be missed."
We get attached to people; I got attached to the place. But, after all, the place is made up of it's people. I did capture pictures in the camera. But not everyone will be able to see them. They are stored in my memory. My eyes worked quite well. Ah, what beautiful pictures! I miss the bazaars, the heat, the basket chaat, the late night gossiping sessions, but most importantly, I miss my relatives there. We had become a part of each other in the last four days. The cheerful train journey! Oh we just happen to make friends there too! You're just so beautiful, Lko!
Oh, Lucknow, it's as if I've left a part of me with you. Or, maybe, I've brought along a new part with me here. And, that's you.
I guess I'm too emotional to say more.
Well, tonight when I sleep, I would like to dream about you. Yes.
Miss you.
Love,
Devv

A new journey in the destination.

The train proceeds slowly. The train is moving hence we seem to move too and you see people pass by. A boy walking in the middle of a track, train on the far end of another track, a cow on the adjacent track. On the other side of the train, there are trees. As the train moves slowly, just like in a movie, all the memories start to pour into my mind like a heavy water flow from the top of a roof.
The train gains momentum now. It starts to increase it's speed. Even though I was missing home a day before, now that I see the things outside pass by, there seems an emotional burst inside me. There comes the idea of attachement. We get attached very easily. Be it to a  place or a person. The past four days have been beautiful. I use the word beautiful quite often. That is because beauty is something that you feel from the inside. My journey was perhaps beautiful because the world there was real. You got to meet people who were both physically and mentally present around you. I'm not completely against the virtual world- sometimes we do need to connect with people not present with us for some reasons- but we do need a break when we are mindlessly engaged in the virtual world. 
My journey to another city was a learning experience for me. I had a different environment; different from the previous monotonous one. They say that after the journey comes a destination. Well, that might be true as many experienced people have come to this conclusion. But what I feel now is that there is a journey even in a destination. The journey never ends. My destination might be to go back home; yet I think I'll begin a new journey when I return as I return with new experiences. The word 'new' is fascinating. As my brain processes this word, it asks me to be different. To look at the same things in a new way. Optimistic much for me. Perhaps that is precisely what I was looking for when I had decided to begin on the journey. It doesn't really matter whether it is to a different state or a different country; what matters is your outlook. The way you look at the things around you; the way you look at yourself.
To eat, to drink, to visit the busy markets- all these were things that I could have even done back home. But what the difference was a change in the environment; but most importantly, a change in my perception.
I learnt a lot. Perhaps it is because I had myself decided to learn. That's how we are. If we tame our mind, we can achieve that which almost seemed like a distant dream.
Revelation. I like it. I'm happy.
As my journey in the train nears it's end, I do not at all feel drained out because of lack of sleep. Instead, I feel active. I feel there's a new girl inside me, geared up for another journey.
Tracking this six hour journey was like looking back, but at the same time, looking into yourself.
Peeps, you just need to change your perspective. That's about it. I hope it helps everyone else too who's reading this.
Let's all get on a journey to discover ourselves. See you on the other side, folks!
P.S. I dedicate this post to you, dear sister. That was motivational much. Thank you.

Musings from the Lucknow diary.

Note: The thoughts aren't in a chronological order and might not even be interlinked, yet they make some sense individually. Please, bear with me. Thank you.
Mr Brown's Bakery man handed us a sapling as we collected the cake we had ordered. Seems like a green initiative. Perhaps a souvenir to take back home. It almost seems like a movie scene when you are on a drive from one end of the city to the other, with the windows rolled down and the wind caressing your face with a feather.
Here, the people walking down the streets do not know me and neither do I. That makes much sense to me as they can't be prejudiced.
Disconnection with the Fakebook did prove to be cheerful for me as it brought me to enjoy the real life and not be stuck in the virtual one.
And there comes a six year old kid. As we engage him in conversations, we ask him why he no longer played with a female friend of hers. "She no longer plays the games that I like!"
He chuckles. I muse over it.
He shall surely have a different response when we put the same question before him ten years from now.
And then another thought from the previous night. When do you really grow up? Is it when you gulp down vodka mixed with Sprite in the ratio of 4:1? Well, I don't know.
And then there is my cousin. From her I learn that what a person seems to be from the outside might not be what he is from the inside.
Inside, there might be troubles. But outside there is happiness. Dee have the courage to do that. You, dear sister, I'll take back home as an epitome of strength because you have the courage to face the beautiful patriarchal society.
Oh and sometimes it feels so good to see the dawn again without that doze of sleep during the night.
I've been awake for the pasttwenty four hours now. I'm so happy to have tried something new; to have witnessed dawn twice without a single moment of sleep.
There I see thunder and rain. Oh yeah, even I'm glad I did something new and different. Sigh.
Time to sleep, fellas.

Devika Gulati wishes to stay away from TheFakeBook so she tags herself in her post:
Musing at 5am right from the balcony of  a house in Lucknow. (Unable to fetch the exact location)

Hey, that's a new me!

Dear me,
It's half past five early in the morning and I've already hit the roads. The one thing I've realized of lately is that Delhi is beautiful! There is so much of green area here. Another thing that I've realized is that people set to work even at this time in the morning. There stands a rickshaw puller waiting.
And then, I ponder over the idea of change. Change is needed for the healthy growth of a human. Change is beautiful. You move from your comfort zone and enter a new milieu. You discover a new world which is full of novel ideas.
As I look around, I see tracks, trees and buildings.
That bliss feeling. There's internal happiness inside me. There are a lot of people around me, but only a few seem to be interested in appreciating the aesthetic nature. There's a sense of euphoria inside me because I somehow seem to understand the nature of 'change'. Change is inevitable; change is beautiful.
So till yesterday, I would meticulously point out my flaws to myself. But right now, it's different. Sample this:
The old me: I remember certain things only when I'm done writing a letter. I'm such a loser.
The new me: Girl, that is why they invented the post script.
Oh boy. This revelation came from within me. It just came like a magic spell, perhaps. But it struck. And I'm happy about it.
There's an old story that I read in the book Eat, pray,love. It goes something like this: there was once a poor man who would visit the church each day, praying to God to make him win the lottery. Each day he would say, "God, please, please, please, let me win the lottery!"
And he would visit the church every single day. One day, God decided to come down himself and said, "Son, please, please, please buy a ticket."
And, just like Liz, I too have a ticket. Though not three but one, not to Italy or Indonesia but to Lucknow,  a city in India. And, here I am, in the train, beholding the beautiful scenario of the fields and the river; reading the newspaper, gulping down a hot cuppa coffee with nice cutlets. That's like a treat to me. By the time I finish with this post,  it'll be 7am so you can see how slow a writer I am. Oh no, wait. I ain't a slow writer; it's just that we took time in locating our seats and settling ourselves. Yes, that is exactly what happened. Oh yeah, I see hint of optimism here. Yeah. That's about it. I'm searching for more thoughts in my brain, in case I miss on something. But you know there's always the post script at your rescue.
Here's to a new beginning!
Love,
Devv

A life gone by.

There's the boat
that I had rowed
to reach the ultimate destination.

There are the green patches of land
with huts and trees
the leaves withered away.

Alone did I row
Alone did I walk the fields
Alone did I sat by
to admire the trees.

Now I'm here
my spirit soars in the sky
here, i wonder
what happened to a life gone by.

The Shadow.

He sees his shadow

green and muddy

where shall he go?

He stands there 

staring into the yellow water 

the sun forms the giant shadow in the river.

He had a mask put on

that which he could save his life with

disguising him. 

He moved on

toward the empty space

not knowing where to go.

Laelius and the secret of the crystal balls.

Note: I wrote this story when I was thirteen years old. Hence, you'd find childlike narration here.

"Laelius, eh, Laelius, get up, do you hear?- Eh, get a move on!"
Laelius was thin and blonde and was about to turn eighteen. She had blue eyes and very charming lips. She was very fond of mountaineering.
"Get up! Hi!" shouted her mother.
"Remember you have to go on a trek today", she then said warmly.
Laelius was all lost in her dreams.
"Wake up, honey. I have arranged the breakfast table for you. Take a bath and get ready, your father will be here any moment. If her sees you sleeping, he will be very enraged."
Laelius was ready by the time her father reached home.
"Very well, my daughter!", mumbled her father. "All the best!"
Laelius was all ready to have an amazing and dazzling trek. She had packed all the equipment that would be required during the trek and was ready to go.
According to her, mountaineering was the most delightful and a frantic hunt. Perhaps, this trek would turn out to be more frantic than she had expected...
She had left behind a number of peaks, some big, some small in size, yet she had tremendous energy to travel miles. She was very doughty. She had have some healthy fruits between her journey so that she should not feel dormant. As she laid on a mountain to rest, she discovered something unimaginable! Someone frozen in cold!
A plump boy, not exact;ly plump but looked healthy as if tonnes of apples had been stored in his stomach. He was shivering in the cold.
 Laelius fumbled the frozen boy and soon he was perfectly normal.
"Thank you very much for your assistance. I am Haldor Hamson."
I'm Laelius Faulkner", she said with a feeling of pride.
"How did you get into such a state? Who was behind the evil act? For how many days have you been lying here negligently?" All these questions engulfed Laelius's mind strongly. She was eagerly waiting for Halder to answer them.
"There are some elves", he grumbled, "who can deceive you by their false conversion into a human body. I reckon you will not fall a prey to them. These elves had befooled me and I was in a state of complete desertion. There was no one to help me."
Haldor sobbed in profuse pain.
"But, now everything will be fine, dear", said Laelius. "Together we will embark to extricate this mystery."
Both Laelius and Haldor were to deal with a very dangerous situation. After exploring a number of caves in the hilly areas, they found four crystal balls stuck to the wall. Haldor was startled and bewildered to see those balls. He couldn't figure out the mystery behind them. However, Laelius could. She tried to relate the balls with the elves and came to a misty conclusion that maybe those balls would take them to the elves, that maybe there was a secret hiding in those four crystal balls.
For a moment, silence engulfed the cave.
"Have you ever thought of the monsters entering our city, destroying it", said Haldor. "It is horrifying, isn't it?"
"Please, Haldor, do not speak rubbish. Let us think about the secret behind these crystal balls", reiterated Laelius.
"I think these balls are of no use, Laelius."
"These couldn't be useless, can they?"
"Yes, they are. Don't you see, these cannot even be destroyed. Look, if you throw them on the ground, they come back to you."
"Keep quiet and sing along!" Laelius chants,

Oh my Christ! Guide us so that we can unsolve the mystery.

The mystery behind these crystal balls.

Oh my Christ! Protect us from the elves.

Oh my Christ! Show us the correct way of returning home safely, destroying the elves.

Oh my Christ! Oh my Christ! Oh my Christ!

Accidentally, Haldor struck the balls on the mirror.

"What did you do, Haldor?! Are you out of your senses?!"

"I am sorry! It happened accidentally!"

"What! You stupid fellow!"

Laelius was now worried and frightened too.

"What have you done!" she yelled.

"Shh... come here and look at these."

"What rubbish!" 

"No, look."

"Those four elves..."

"That means that those elves were hiding in these balls!"

"Yes, now let us pick them up and throw them down and close this mystery forever!"

"Yes, let us do it!"

Soon after this, they were out of the cave safely. They reached Laelius's house.

"Sir, your daughter is such a brave girl! I owe my life to her outstanding courage!"

Be the change.

As I peep through the window
the balmy moonlit night
illuminates my face.

I see no sun
I see no birds
I feel the warmth of the moonlight upon my face.

There lies a star
gleaming in the colossal sky
asking you to be calm.

The vast expanse
the gleaming stars
the moonlight's warmth.

They whisper words of wisdom
they ask me to change
to change.

It comes with time, I whisper back.

To bring about a change
to do unusual things
to jump around because of no reason.

They ask me to change
to change
it comes with times, i say.

They ask me to change
to change
I'm ready, I say.

They ask me to observe dawn and dusk
they ask me to cherish the rain
they ask me to behold the flowers
they ask me to discover new paths
they ask me to witness the falling of leaves
they ask me to be the change.