“And this year’s best lyricist award goes yet again to David Dutta, the sole master of words, the magician who has been entertaining us with his divine poetry for over a decade now.”
As he walked towards the stage dozens of people hugged him, gave him their congrats, numerous pats on the back were received, cameras clicked till he reached the stage where one of the organizers handed him in the seven inch long fashionably styled silver award. Flashes of snaps….thunderous claps….distant cheers and whistles….his recent lyrics playing in the background….period….
Today the world cheers my success
Yet the heart jeers; what did I gain,
What did I lose?
You aren’t here my dear, what’s the use?
A cyclone..or was it a tornado?? She didn’t know. What was this place. Oh wait!! It was her home. Her mom’s room. But there are many cyclones. No thunder, no lightning, only slow moving cyclones. Tons of them, on both sides. Yet she was safe under this roof. They were not even approaching her. The black clouds are dispersing..bit by bit..like bees separating from a hive.
“Get up Lari!! Get up!!. We’ll get late. They’ve already called twice from the mansion.” She sat up in her bed.
“Huh,what? Late for what?”.
She rubbed her eyes and stared at the clock wondering whether she was still dreaming. Why would they call from the mansion and that too twice. Why now?
“What happened Sakina? Why are they calling?”
“ Dutta died Lari.”
“Three words Lari. Only these three words matter. If you’ll run after words they’ll engulf you in their whirlpool. You’ll never be able to free yourself. Don’t ask me to be expressive Lari. One day you’ll wake up and only three words will tell you how late it has been.”
“Lari!! Lari!! Are you ok?? Listen to me Lari. Your dress is ready. Come on hurry up. The funeral is in two hours.”
Some unknown force made her get up and the journey from her room to her car to her home, the mansion, seemed to end in just two seconds. Still clouded by memories she made her way to the porch, up the steps, to the left, reached the large wooden carved door and kept her hand on the rust handle, just as she had done innumerously since her childhood till she had moved out.
Inside she saw a crowd of familiar faces staring rigidly at her with disdain. If it had been another time she would have retaliated haughtily but today, at that time her eyes were searching for him. Then she saw his face. So serene, so celestial, and right there, at that very moment she understood everything: the meaning of his life, his love, his promises, his aims, his wishes all of which began from and ended at only one word, one being: her.
His fingers still bore no ring. His folded hands, one on the other however, left no place for hers to hold them. She bent down in front of the coffin.
“Three words”
His voice echoed in her ears again and again. She let out a large sob and ran away into the garden. She kept running till she reached the bench they had sat on for more than half their lives, had shared laughs and tears, fought and made up, and also, parted ways about a decade ago.
Silence spoken by the breeze
Broke sentiments with such ease
Another chapter ended midway
With nothing left for life to say.
“The famed David Dutta departed from this world leaving behind millions of mourners and an unparalleled contribution to poetry universally. The cause of his death is reported to be a heart attack. It seems like Mr. Dutta was silently suffering from heart problems for over ten years. Doctors reported no other complications.”
Click. Sakina switched off the television. She glanced at Lari sitting on her bed. She seemed to be in another world unaware of anything around her. Two days had passed and she hadn’t spoken, eaten or slept. Poor Lari, Sakina thought. After all it was her greatest loss. She nodded her head in grief and left the room.
The wind brings some unheard messages
Be quiet birds, let me hear
It says he misses me too
If only he’d know that I too cared.
“ Lari, see this. You’ve got to admit he’s amazing yaar!! I still don’t believe he had all this talent inside all these years. He owes this to you! All his awards are your contribution!”
“ Shut up! Just shut up Sakina! This is not mine. He is not mine. These words aren’t mine. That love was never mine. Don’t keep reminding me please. Another word and I leave the room!!”
“Oh come on Dutta! You’ve got to be kidding me. Love needs expression, depth that says more than just three words. Everyone says these three words all over the world no matter what colour, race and creed they belong to. Give me some thing no one has nor will ever give their beloved. Be expressive. You’ve got to be. There’s a reason poetry is called the language of the heart.”
“No Lari. How many times will we argue on this yaar? Just how many times? Three words alone can be enough to summate a life time of promises and an eternity of togetherness. Love cannot be trapped in a few expressive words. There’s a difference between treating love as a deity and as a commodity. It’s not something you advertise. It is understood from the beloved’s eyes, their smiles, the morning breeze, the setting sun, the rowdy ocean….but no, you won’t get all this. You see Lari there is a lot more to what you see on the surface. I don’t want to be expressive. The three words I say are and always will be more than enough. You however, will never be able to see the passion, depth and determination in them and in me. You know what Lari(his voice got fiercer now)you can go your way and I can go mine. You still haven’t responded to my three words and knowing you, you never will. You are a selfish woman Lari. But I’ll always love you. You are free today. Do me a favour and never show me your face again. You are a lot better in my memories. Please leave. The Lari I love and the Lari in front of me will never be one again.”
His speech ended. He stood up from the bench and hastily walked away. Her mouth agape, she glared at him walk away till he dispappeared inside the mansion. She wanted to run after him, smack him for his insolence and shout at him to take all his words back. Somehow he could be so explanative in telling her why ‘shouldn’t’ love be expressed lavishly but not explain the extent of his love for her. But he was right. She hadn’t responded yet. She needed time. He said love didn’t need any. She needed to find herself. He said he already had. She was free. He was bound….by his love.
Not even six months had passed since she had moved out from the mansion to Sakina’s apartment, that he started writing. Then his writing hit big. Within a year musicians were after him. The words struck gold for him and she remained aside, watching his life flourish, as a spectator, as a stranger. Once someone asked him how he wrote such heart felt words. There had to be some inspiration. Someone he loved. Simply and slowly he answered “No”. He never spoke any words of gratitude after receiving his awards. When asked the reason he always said. “These words are not mine. They belong to someone else. Someone who would enjoy their extravagance and think this is how deep love could get when in fact this isn’t even the surface of love’s ocean. But for me, I have no one to thank.”
Lari lived for many years after he died. She lived alone but had his words with her. During this period she listened to all his songs, gathered all the works he had always written, complete or incomplete and read them. She had, after all, wasted so many years in his lifetime not listening or glancing at anything he wrote because she had been so angry at him for pulling himself and pushing her away so ruthlessly. Yet, after years of finally reading his last piece, the one he had written the night he died, she broke down and sobbed away. Those were the only words that had and were still working magic on zillions of souls everyday on the planet yet she had never got to feel all her life. And yes, they were just three words.
If only words could captivate the beauty of life and its elements
There would be no need for a Shakespeare or Rumi in every generation.
If words could bind emotions in letters
Where would smiles and tears reside?
If only words could do magic
No one would ever, their feelings hide.
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