Mirror Magazine - 100 Words on 'stories'

There was something…
Something precious
In those age-old stories
Grandma brought to life
Sitting by the fire
On those cold winter nights

Her eyes changed vividly
Together with mine
As we both got smitten
By the courage of the prince
And the beauty of the princess

Long since her departure
I wonder
Sometimes without sleep
Why did she etch a print so deep?
Of a princess so illusive

Making me a wanderer
In search of fantasy
Making me a loner
In a world gone mad
Yet, when I think back
There was something…
Something precious…

From the beginning
To the end
Life moves on
Passing many a stage.
Each, carrying stories
To ponder,
To reminisce.

Infancy – a fairytale
Childhood – a fine story
Of light-hearted exuberance.
Youth – a romantic novel.
To follow up
A burdened Family Life!
A narration of
Duties and unrest.
To end up
With records of ailments
And the sad tale
Of solitary seclusion!

One cold morning in December
A pair of blue eyes
Came to rest upon me,
And kept following my tracks
Day and night
During our practice of mind-
fulness
In the midst of stark silence
Serenity and beauty
On a mountain top.

I did not know his story,
He did not know mine
Yet, we connected deeply
And next,
We were in love.

Our strong presence
Through the awareness of
each other
Negated the need to know
The story of the other
Even though we belong to
Vastly different cultures and
nations
One from the East, and
The other from the West.

The child sat on the doorstep, thinking… “Mother,” he called, “Where do stories come from?” “Stories… Ah! They come from – Jathaka Katha, the Bible and grandpa’s head.” She wondered what silly question he will ask again. “Aren’t grandpa’s stories the best? Oh! How skillfully he weaves the believable into the unbelievable. Like grandma weaving her two-coloured mats. He thinks I believe them all. I pretend to him what a hoax he is!
“Mother what am I?”

Once upon a time,
I was a fairy princess.
A ship’s captain.
An adventurer…
All these and many more,
When Daddy read to me.

Then I learnt my ABCs!
No more story time
With Daddy by my side.
If he seemed hurt
I never noticed,
He’d let me have my way.

By chance,
I came upon,
Daddy reading to my little sister.
Answering questions
Making up endings
Just to please her.
Just like he’d done for me,
Once upon a time.

If only for a moment,
The years would fall away….
Once again I could say –

Daddy please,
Just one more story.

‘Once upon a time…’
Yet another fairytale unfolds itself.
But like no other, it’s real and true
A tale full of love so pure,
innocence, friendship, trust and respect
Meant to be ended, with
‘Lived happily ever after…’

The only fear that haunts me…
The painful tug at my heart…
‘Will my daughter be fortunate enough
to have a story similar to mine?’