Date With Destiny.....

I was walking down one of the streets in great Lisbon(Great Lisboa, as it is called here),totally out of company and not knowing the local language which is Portuguese.This was my first trip alone to some place so foreign to me.This is my first ever trip to Europe. In most Asian countries,which I had visited before,I could have easily mingled with the people there and could converse them in either Hindi, Urdu or Arabic.I had with me textual guide which would help me ask people about the place I am right now and where the place I have to go to is, and all, but as of yet I haven't seen any friendly face amongst the crowd.Everybody seemed walking to their own rhythm and seemingly unaware of a foreign girl in dilemma of how to ask help and whom to ask. I walked by the pavements and across the roads, realizing that these were the very same roads where centuries ago Julius Caesar must've gone past.The very soil beneath my feet must be holding such place in history which I may be ignorant of as many other walking across those streets.I was exhausted after walking for a very long time along the streets and knowing nothing about the language.I was disappointed that I haven't seen much of the city and this is my third day in the city.On the first day I visited the museums to realize that you couldn't understand the history of any city in a single day.The next day I visited the well-known markets intending to buy some souvenirs for myself and my kith and kin.I was again disappointed .No,the city had many specialties and amazing artifacts ,curios etc. which would make an excellent souvenir which I could keep for my lifetime, but with the world being a Global Village now, I returned to my hotel, disappointed. Why? Because everything that I buy here is available at my country or in that case any country at the same rates. Then why should I pay the Extra Tax to take them home! And the third day is going to have the same disappointing end to it. It's already three in the afternoon.I felt angry with myself and was furious at the cursed moment when I set out all alone.The next time I would make sure that I would arrange a guide for myself.
I was walking through a comparatively less crowded street.I noticed something peculiar. A man ,aged between 60 and 80 leaning on to a wall and reading some printed matter(I guess some newspaper). At last I found someone who is less busy with their own troubles.
I went up to him and opened my guide and started asking in a hugely accented Portuguese where the Castle of São Jorge was.He smiled at my absurd Portuguese and to my surprise and joy asked in French whether I knew the language.I screamed out " Oui" ,that is "yes" in French.He told me that its just two streets across and he could assist me to find the place if I liked .I was more than happy to let him take me to the place. He asked me why I had come here ,"is it a holiday trip or are u here for work?"he asked and also asked where I was from.I told him that I am an Indian student of History and I had come here because I wanted to know more about Lisbon and it's culture and would like to take with me some memories of the places which was once under the greats of the likes of Julius Caesar and Tiberius.He told me that he has been to India quite a few times and adores it's culture and people, both alike. At this I was embarrassed because as a non-resident Indian who lived in the middle-east for most of her life till date, I knew quite little about the country and I doubted if I , an Indian knew any more or rather even as much as this old man.He asked me what my name is and I told him that my parents named me Zarina but I'm fondly called Zara.Before I could ask him what his name is, he got me engaged in conversation and I doubted if he did it on purpose.He started telling me that human occupation on those hilltops began at around 6th century BC even though archeology tells us that the first fortifications began in the 2nd century BC.He gave an extensive and informative talk starting from the history to the architecture.He then advised me that if I was really interested in knowing more about the city I should be visiting some local bars and talking to local people and must visit some less visited places than tourist places like the Castle which I am about to visit.I interrupted him, complaining that how am I supposed to speak to the local people when I do not know their language and nor do they know mine.He told me that sometimes words aren't necessary to communicate an idea.Look at the silent films that was replaced by modern cinema.Although there wasn't any speech in the whole film , still people watch it because they understand it.By now, I was quite impressed by this man.He surely must be some person of importance,I thought.I couldn't suppress the temptation to ask him about himself.I burst out asking who he was and what he does and the usual questions that a woman of my age might ask out of curiosity.But he looked at me and smiled with the shine of knowledge that you could find in many little people. The light of free thoughts and liberal ideas.I looked at him but he pointed his hands towards a road that would lead me atop the hill. I understood there wasn't any need of insisting him on to telling me about himself.But before I walked away he handed me those printed pages that he had in his hands.I took it and smiled at him.An innocent smile of a youth ,quenching for knowledge.I could listen to him sitting down on one of the benches, which are there in both sides of the roads,behind me.I walked on, without looking backward , to my destination, where my destiny takes me.........
After a month I came back home ,having travelled various parts of Portugal,several pubs, several streets, and many roads and many more yet to discover.I was sitting in my flat thinking about the journey, that I remembered about the pages my fellow friend from Lisbon gave me.I found it amongst my books from Lisbon and started reading it.It was the copy of a typescript of a novel, a very interesting one indeed. I read it and now I knew who he was, who made me meet with my destiny.He was the very author who inspired me to travel to Portugal and I couldn't even recognize him. But I was not sad about that because I knew that I have to go back and find more about the place, its legend and I have a friend to go back to, my dear friend.

The Longest Way Out

A long way to go...

Miles to walk before Its Dawn,

Years to Pass by before It happens,


The Eternity will shower upon us,

Will bring back to us our dear mother,

Our Earth!



But we have to go a long way,

A long Long Way,

Before the Heavens shine upon us,

And Bestow us with those blessings,

That we identify as nature...

The nature that brought us all up...

Who Gave us to drink and to eat...

To breath and to see....


Alas!

But it is us,

Her dear ones..

who destroyed her,

her sanctity,

her simplicity,

her beauty ,

her chastity,

and we made fortunes out of her ever forgiving nature..

Showed her that we are all but nothing more than drenching power loving creatures,

Who drank from our mothers blood and ate from her flesh,

And never ceased to look back and give back all that we have taken,

And instead, Took all that we could take from her....

We are all but nothing that she thought we would be..

Silver doe For U....

That's me for You.
A Silver doe.

For friends closer to me,
I'm that reflection that is always with them,
Whenever they looked back.

For foe's Closest to me,
I'm that Bridge,
that they never could travel past ,
And the one which constantly disappoints them.

For my dear li'l ones,
I'm that protective sphere that covers them all around ,
Like a baby in a mother's womb is protected.

For those who are far from me,
I am that piece of paper,
With literature that they could always read,
And relate to,
Whenever it is necessary.

For those in pain,
I'm that Golden drop of sun;Ray,

For those in joy,
I'm that black ink of reality;future,

For those with a fluttering heart,
I'm that blowing wind,
which brings with it the smell of their beloved.

For those who would never see me,
I'm that blank page in the bible,
that never was supposed to be read.

And for you all,
I'm, After all,
A Silver Doe.

I am a Free Bird......

I was only starting to enjoy my newly earned freedom.I was a brand new person ,with a new found persona.I had come off age.After all I am eligible to vote now... Ain't I?? I was busy flaunting the "attitude" that the Free citizen's of our land had.





But It didn't take long to get
bored with it ....very soon..Or
rather too soon ...I was
suffering from a troubled
heart...The Trouble of
self-realization had struck
me at last.It had to
anyways.....
But never thought the day
would come so soon.....
It's better late than never,
they say.. But I say, Better
Early than never ever.





I was grounded with
freedom.
So easily one gets bored
with the so called freedom
that one just die to gain.I soon found myself entangled between my own webbed thoughts.
Soon, I will also, forget all
these thoughts and live
life like the rest of them, in this mechanical world....
without even taking the trouble of thinking about this world or its inhabitants.No time to worry about those people who are suffering at this very moment when we are laughing away at some silly joke.

The Zahir --A Journey of self-realization

The Zahir

The Zahir By noted author Paulo Coelho , gave more or less a feeling of reading an autobiography.It gave me, as an average reader or rather a below average reader something to think about.It was really a thought inducing Process to read this book.I traveled with the Protagonist or rather the "Protagonist's husband(I believe Esther was the Main character of this book) through his two year journey of finding his lost wife, a war correspondent , whom he at first tries to forget and as the author says, the urge to find her at first is a passing thought and it then becomes an obsession and that is what we call a "Zahir".He Goes through a whole process of what i might end up calling self-renovation.He was convinced that all he wanted to do was find his wife, the love of his life.He initially tries to leave her thoughts behind and forget her and he actually succeeds to find himself a girlfriend who loves him as much as he loves his wife or atleast more than she loves herself.But still the Zahir remains and pills him back to the search .

He was accompanied in this journey by an young man, who he suspected to be his wife's lover, named Mikhail. He was about 25 years old and had Mongolian features and was said to be fro Kazakhstan.He actually makes us realize that age is not at all a restriction to knowledge. There isn't any law that a 25 year old shouldn't be more knowledgeable than a 4o year old.And this guy is possibly what I'd call my favorite character in this book.Mikhail is a "gifted" youngster from the steppes whose mission in life is to spread the power of love.People Mistake Mikhail to be a Epileptic Patient.But he still sticks to his point that he's gifted and the "lady" is with him.I was slightly disappointed with the epilogue since it was as I had expected.Exactly!and I never like to think that some noted author writes an epilogue of such a standard i.e. a mediocre like me would have fantasized such an end.I had expected more from him.But Anyways, Go ahead Paulo. Hope much more from you. I believe more creativity is in store from you. Adieu Amis!! Love you all!!

Brida--A magical rendezvous...

When the story begins, I was astounded at how much a man can understand a woman's heart and so well.The story was extremely fascinating because the plot was all before our eyes.There wasn't the suspense factor that Coelho always tries to create in most of his books... Here all the facts were right before our eyes...We knew this was gonna happen and how....but what keep us reading on is the interesting way of speech and philosophy that were something we already knew but coming from Coelho it sounded way different and convincing. For example, the power of moon ... I have earlier heard about this tradition which helps you accumulate the power or rather the glow from the moon..and it is said to have an amazing effect ... They say it makes your day go well and it makes you feel as if electricity flows through your veins..This is in no way related to any magic or voodoo but this was simply a tradition that was followed by ancient people and I fear nothing ever so to talk about it ....But I must say I never knew that I would read about this in a Book... and I totally appreciate the author for having the courage to say things like this and that too aloud ..in a world like this where people say they are Very "modern" and "fashionable" but are still living in the primitive ages of fear of black magic and satanic worship.... which I have least interest on or knowledge about and feel better off without it....Well, According to me, we have moved forward form silly things, thoughts or fears as these ages ago... But still they say they are fashionable.. maybe it's time for them to realize that fashion isn't all about the outside but it must come from inside..somewhere deep inside our subconscious...it's not something that we wear on top of the skin...It something that we represent for ourselves or as our identity .....If there is God.. then there is an enemy for him.. but if we believe that after all, this too is a spark man's amazing imagination ... we might actually feel a lot more different about these primitive ideologies...Well, we have strayed away from the topic...
Well, My favorite character would be the Magus... Not just because the amazing character sketch, also because I'm a girl and find that character amazingly attractive *blush* ...Well, the book would be a three and a half stars worth according to me since It's the first of the kind I'm reading .. I mean to say romantic stories...I usually never read romances...than in poems...I might like to add that this is one of the best from Coelho, I've read . Other than The Zahir ofcourse....When I started reading the book..I just wanted to read till the end and wanted too know how he manages to give it a conclusion ..... When I was reaching the epilogue..I felt this "Void" ,For some unknown reason and just didn't want it to end and when I reached the end and thought about it ..I felt this certain calmness in the my mind.. Somewhat like "catharsis" ..I seriously dunno if that term is usable here... But somehow I felt this calmness... something that resembles the silence after a war or a calamity .....An atmosphere of serenity was cast upon me when I finished reading it .....
It was a pleasant experience.. I say, A must read for young people as well as the old ..who would like a peaceful read in their free time......
Adios Amigos!~

Dream on...

I Pray,
Each day,
To live life happily,
To let me do so...
To get devoid of sadness...


I dream ,
Every night,
To get rid of this loneliness,
To have this vacuum filled,
To have the courage to live life....


I Cry,
Every time,
To get past you,And
To leave your memories behind...
To die once and for all and end it all well......
I smile,
at myself,
To realize how stupid I've been,
To start life anew,
And to Dream on...

About
New Heights,
New fights,
New Mights ,and
New Nights...

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