The walking dead (TheTelegraphicTales)

[“I'd never given much thought to how I would die. But dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go.”
“About three things I was absolutely positive: first, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him – and I didn't know how dominant that part might be – that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.”

--- quoted from the novel Twilight]

No, this isn't any love story. Neither it has anything to do with vampires nor the characters involved are thirsty for each other's blood.

The quotation above is just one of my favorites from the novel series by Stephanie Meyer which does cross my mind everytime I think about him, Mr. Walking Dead (W.D.).

Believe me he doesn't have any fangs either. Also he's not a zombie. Though sometimes he does behave strange but I am counting on him being a human, since he's my therapist and I need him alive!

So Mr. W.D and I belong to the same Alma Mater but we never knew each other back then. Atleast I didn't and hope he didn't stalk me as well.

I dared to initiate a telephonic conversation with him once. The odds being in my favour for he appeared normal and not like what I'd always imagined. After completing my graduation, on returning home I met him a couple of weeks ago. The meeting was planned at a metro station since we had to travel in the same train towards home.

Ok, you probably want to know about his appearance here in the scene.

He is a sturdy looking man, unshaven beard but always dressed in formals. Wears clothes with neat creases, belt buckle kept perfectly in the centre of the waistband and his shoes freshly polished even towards the end of the day.

On his arrival that evening, I immediately noticed his dark gloomy eyes, something that I observe in everyone during the first meet. He extended his hand for a handshake. Firm and gentle, not crushing the fragile bones of my hand. I was quite drawn to his persona. Firstly, because of his dressing style. Secondly, for his smiles and laughs which were good enough to ease my apprehensions. And thirdly, for those deep dark eyes somewhere led mine into his soul and vice versa.

Throughout the journey he stood at an arm's distance neither being close making me uncomfortable nor staying far to loose any attention.

A lot changed within that one hour. They felt more like 3600 seconds worth spent. Soon we parted ways, committing to continue the conversations further over the various electronic medias.

I couldn't talk much as it was our first meet and he wasn't my therapist then. Well, honestly he isn't a specialist and doesn't hold any degree in this part of healthcare field but he is a good friend playing a role just to keep me sane, preventing me from turning into a raving lunatic and being there whenever needed. Though the time took its toll and we couldn't be together again since then, but still it's not the physical presence that's always needed.

Now the equation has certainly changed. No more anxiety or hesitancy while talking but I am still scared of his raised tone which is even loud and clear while being transferred electronically from his outbox to my inbox in bold letters.

Most of the times he appears to be desolate, maintaining a pellucid glass wall between me and him so that I can see through it clearly but never reach out to him.

Some days he is strict and lecturing me about the whole damn world, considering me like a child who knows nothing. Yet sometimes it's totally reverse. I'm still not sure of who is helping whom. Our roles get switched in between at times with him mostly on the stubborn end!

You see I am an innocent dove here!

Also, since he prefers to follow such a demeanor I gave him the above mentioned name. I don't exactly know how he feels or perceives the things around him. He inclines to stay placid by nature.

There are moments of closeness when I feel like we are in the same bubble but if I make any slightest mistake of scratching with my pointed nail in any area, the bubble would burst and he would dissolve into the thin air leaving me where I am. Alone.

So, I let him be while waiting patiently for the stories to come out on their own, someday.

P.S. Do you want part two of this story?

From inside a nutshell...

Auldrin

HibernationLetters 18

The initial memories I have of the city are all credited to its heat. My first response to the hot, humid spells of the climate was an impulsive haircut. Those long strands once reaching my waist no longer belonged there. It was the language barrier which caused me so much loss, since I didn't clearly understand the length that the beautician informed me about and I gave a thumbs up. My new hairdo, just barely touching the base of my neck made me feel hideous. Luckily you never had to see that phase because the sad part of the story was the heat which still continued to kill me even after this sacrifice.

Believe me for most of the girls/women these timely haircuts are a huge sacrifice.

I'd always enjoyed the rains. Being under a near constant cover of clouds eventually made me fall in love with the city too.

Now the extremes of weather back home doesn't suit me. The summers being too hot & dry and the winters easily freezing outside.

After your arrival the winters would be the best. Sitting close to you, surrounded by your arms, the warmth was cosily perfect. I'd never feel that much of cold in your presence like you were a different species of a man in a machine constantly controlling his body temperature and radiating some heat as well.

Now it's cold all over again. Even in the summers and especially during the nights.

You are so far away yet the beauty of this love is the moonlight that we share every night.

Wandering around in search of the stars…

Auldrin

Message

Hi friends,

The blog  https://drvasudhakumari.blogspot.com/?m=1 is now active and running.

This is an attempt to reach out to you people with some reliable facts, rising health issues of concern and how to lead a healthy life.

Hope it's useful!

Yours only

Auldrin

(DrVasudhaKumari)

The Readers

It's strange how one thing that we all humans have in common i.e Time, decides to change one fine day.

Forget women it's the 'Time’ that has a major share of mood swings, up and down, good and bad, chaos and peace.

As for me, it's just been still lately. Though the clock is ticking but I am not moving along with it.

I never realised I would reach this far with this blog.

Writing has always been a hobby since I was a child but until 2years back it was never public. All the firing motivation & courtesy to my sister in law that these words found life.

Initial phase was an insecure one, difficult to understand what is good or bad, what is safe to write, what will attract the masses, what will not make the people judge thinking it's my story. All these insecurities yet no readers.😀

I started reading more, observing everything around me better and slowly outgrew all those apprehensions.

Fiction or reality, love or hate, humour or sarcasm, poetry or stories etc I decided to give it all to the outside world and leave upto them to decide the background.

The readers are free to search for the source or feel the pain or find the truth behind every piece I write.

I will continue the way I want.

It doesn't matter as long as I stay immortal in these verses.

The readers still exist.

Somewhere away in the desert, dusted in the weather, reading everything I write.

Some overseas for whom I don't know if they know that I know about them.😋

One placidly reading & searching for solace.

One far away in a shady place waiting for some light from here.

And don't even get me started about the one who is advising me to write our story!😱

I secretly hope there are more. The anonymous followers add the spices for changing the flavours time to time.

Happy to celebrate the 💯 with you all.

Cheers!

You will always find me here…

Auldrin

The friend who abandoned me!

‘You need a haircut, it's like horse's tail in the end’- she said.

'I don't have both time and money to spend right now’- I replied.

'Come here’- she said approaching with a giant pair of scissors in her hand, probably which tailors use to cut clothes with.

I didn't run. There was no point of doing that as she would outrun me. Though lean and thin but she was much stronger.

I woke up to the reality. No one was around me. No hostel room. The walls looked different too. It was a dream again of my friend and I was home.

Almost over 8 months now, since she left the hostel without saying a word to me and never contacted again.

My college time best friend with whom I shared my darkest secrets, one fine day disappeared into the thin air. No other friend knowing about her whereabouts. No response from any of the contacts she had given me. None of her own working as well. No response from anyone in the family. No one answered at the home address I'd found in the directory. No idea whether or not she's alive. Nothing!

Frustrating isn't it?

Filled with rage?

Feeling dejected?

You won't know how I feel.

We had been together for years, in all our ups and downs, in sickness and in health, with love and laughter growing the unconditional bond of trust.

Yet she's gone with no clue behind.

No hint of trouble and no tinge of despair.

No trail behind for me to follow.

I am living with it everyday now, some days awake and some nights in dreams.

I always loved her eyes until now for I feel betrayed by them. Life has been a constant turmoil since then.

During the initial weeks I used to dream of a dark lonely passage with her being at the other end. I would try to walk towards her but the passage ended into a bright light burning my eyes. I used to wake up scared.

The next following weeks were spent dreaming of atrocities of our country. Tears rolling out of my eyes in sleep.

My thoughts crowded with fears regarding her well being.

But I didn't want to give up.

So I have decided to stay here at the other end of the tunnel hoping for her return.

Along the support of her dreams again, this time all the happy and fun-filled ones.

Also, with my fingers crossed!

QOTD- Has anyone of you ever been in my shoes?

Auldrin

HibernationLetters 17

Sona!

My ears are echoing with this name and eyes filled with flashes of the first time you said it.

I can vividly remember every second of that day and night.

Every smile, every laugh, every touch, every memory pellucid infront of my eyes.

“There was a time when we both shared rains from the same cloud.

Now even the the clouds above us come at different times.” (-saved into drafts)

“There was a time when our fights were dissolved by snuggling.

Now such closeness has become one of the reasons for the fights.” (-saved into drafts)

“There was a time when my tears were caressed by your lips.

Now those lips speak hurtful words to cause more tears.” (-saved into drafts)

“There was a time when you would never let me go.

Now you finally decided not to stay anymore.”(-saved into drafts)

You continued with those harsh words uninterruptedly and here all my replies were converting one by one into drafts.

It’s been days, I haven't heard you calling me 'Sona’ or any other of those names you gave to the ultimate silence now at both ends.

Auldrin

HibernationLetters 16

You come and go like seasons now, but my weather has remained constant since the first time you left.

Last night I chose to be there again, next to you on the lake side. The water extending beyond our sight stirring us everytime the balmy breeze came our way. Somehow surrounded by tranquility the love shared seemed more profound. Sitting there till sunset staring into your eyes was worth every second. How much the water scared you and I kept assuring about my swimming skills that I would save the both of us incase the pier we sat on cracks.

Remembering all this I fell asleep. For the first time in the past 3 weeks I could finally sleep at night, like a baby. My thoughts were converted into dreams and there I was again with you cycling in circles around that lake. Sharing our joyful childhood memories where cycles used to be one of the prized possessions of a kid.

Amidst these incessant memories I found peace, this time without your physical presence but equally fulfilling. The chaos in my head eventually settled.

You seem to do fine as well.

Reminiscing all this almost made me miss my station.

I have to leave now. See you soon in the dream palace tonight!

Auldrin

Father's day chronicles (TheTelegraphicTales)

Today being Father's day, me and the officer geared up for our own personal way of celebration.

Walk and talk followed by a day filled with conversations pouring out gems.

That's our idea of making the day special, being in each other's company.

Here are a few glimpses.

Have you read today's TOI newspaper?

Do visit the LG vs AAP column on page 4.

Delhi's CM is successfully entertaining us with his hysterical behaviour for a couple of years now. Though now his cough & scarf are in a dormant state, his dialogue delivery shall leave you appalled.

Just like the headline of this column-

“PM Modi neither talks to me nor looks at me nor allows me to talk”.

If you've been hearing the recent events, Mr. Kejriwal is on a so called ‘dharna’ in an AC hall just outside the LGs office. By the images on the television he and his associates were comfortably lying there while his city was eating fried eggs straight from the pans kept outside in open. In this scorching heat and water shortage aren't the ministers supposed to be in their offices working for their people.

Why do we need strikes to meet the demands in our own country? Also, Can't we be the ones to take a step further for its betterment.

Anyways, I am sure that a man solely dedicated to his work, not even daring to stay with a wife will hardly pay attention to a raving person on his path.

Somewhere I still feel that nobody tops the list of maintaining a caricature like our one and only “Pappu”.

On the day our ex-PM, Mr. A B Vajpayee was admitted to the hospital, his first visitor was the famous leading member of the Gandhi clan! I wonder Mr. Rahul Gandhi had forgotten about the latter being a BJP member and not Congress but it was too late to turn around then.

Aahh...we had our share of laughter now you can too.

Amidst these discussions, Baba Ramdev ji appeared on the TV screen doing his extraordinary yoga stunts ('nauli kriya’ being one of them).

The bodyguard asked my lady to make mango shake and taking advantage of the perfect timing, she whimsically replied -

”Beta, why don't you have a glass of milk along with a mango and perform 'nauli kriya’!”

Hahahaha..the cheers of laughter filled the room.

Hoping for the day to continue in the same way

See you later.

QOTD- If Pappu and Kejru are the only people left with you on this planet, what would you prefer to do?

Have a happy Sunday.

Auldrin

Major hand-wash explosion (TheTelegraphicTales)

Major handwash explosion

Do you remember Ross's major shampoo explosion?

Here's a snippet-

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------

Ross: Oh NO!!
Rachel: What? What is it?
Ross: Major shampoo explosion!!!
Rachel: Uh, look Ross. This really isn't easy.
Ross: Oh, it's all over everything! Why?! Why me?!?
Rachel: Because you took three hundred bottles of shampoo?
Ross: I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You were saying?
Rachel: Well yeah, well look.. it's about me and..
Ross: OH NOT ANOTHER ONE! Oh my G--and it's moisturizer! It's even harder to clean! Why? Why do bad things happen to good people?!?
Rachel: Wow! Well clearly this is not a good time..
Ross: Uh, you think?!

---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------*---------

This is for your memory. I have the whole series memorised. Huh, if only I could remember all the drugs classifications like this😑...never mind!

Well such events are hilarious only when on television. It's a disaster in reality of which I was a victim today.

When the Amazon pantry order arrived, one of the items being a 1L handwash refill had exploded! Just as I picked it up to see where the leak came from I was covered with soap in seconds.

Guys, this is the moment when you truly need people with common sense actually active at that time.

I rushed to the bathroom with the officer in order to fill the hand-wash bottles as quickly as we could but soon we ran out of them. Instantly he thought that it's simply soap so we can use it for washing clothes and started scraping the sticky material off my skin. I was moistened by the soap anyway what was left was to go and stand under the shower of an hour or so.

Ok I did that too.

Have you ever washed clothes with a hand-wash?

Leave that, answer this- In an era where we have different lotions/soaps for different areas of our body, have you had a full bath with a hand-wash?

Thank god it was liquid! Else just imagine a hand-wash bar someone used before you, what they washed last and what you intend to wash first!! Yes...Eww..is the word!

Next I went to check on the clothes.

The officer who was already exhausted after returning from work sat there next to the machine with a crappy face and said that the washing machine was broken!

It's not the explosion but the aftermath that hurts more.

I sat next to him, infront of us was the huge pile of clothes already soaked in buckets of that liquid soap and a broken “automatic” washing machine.

QOTD- What do you think we did next?

Whimsically surviving every day!

Auldrin

The maid to honour (TheTelegraphicTales)

The maid to honour

Today I realised about the fuss in media, actresses making comebacks into the industry after finally managing their respective marriages, to settling their kids into schools and some who were busy until their children did well in X/Xll boards. As for me, after surviving nights of turmoil I set my foot back into the sea of words. Let's see how far I can swim this time.

This is about Amma ( our maid in her late 40s). She is mostly punctual, her arrival being between 6:15-6:30am. Over the few months of my stay at home I have stopped using alarms for she does that part very well by switching off the fan on entering my room. With 42 deg celsius temperature one can easily get up from sleep with an automatic bath in their own sweat.

To me she is an epitome of tranquility, which is highly unlikely these days to find such a quality in a maid.

Mostly we experience a person who works for us, cleans our house as well as keeping us up to date with the society gossips, like who spent more & how much for their child's wedding, to the new extra marital affairs, who doesn't treat them well and they only love the home in which they are present for that particular moment. But Amma just does her work, has a cup of tea and leaves for the next house.

Strange isn't it? I feel we are blessed to have her and in order to keep her contended too I fight with my lady to not nag her about anything as the consequences of her leaving are frightened. Occasionally while me and the officer have our morning tea gup-shup I ask Amma about her views in relation to the conversation, sometimes she favours me else the other two. She ends up sharing some laughs with us, my motive being-making her comfortable, loved and respectful. The other day during the meeting of Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim, we were keenly interested in whether or not the WW-3 was to take place. Well not that we want any of it to happen it surely did add humour to the officer's question- Should I go to office or back to sleep? For he would prefer to be in peace lying on his comfy mattress in a cosy sleep, when/if anything like this ever happens.

There sitting in a corner, faintly smiling Amma finally gave up struggling with those curves on her face and laughed saying the work never stops till a person decides to halt, pushing all his energy on the brakes.

As for me, I have accepted the truth that one can survive without anyone in cities these days but not the maid. Believe me on this, she is 'the maid to honour’ in today's world!

P.S. The bodyguard(metaphorical) has asked to switch ON the AC in the hall so that when he arrives home from the killing heat, it will be thanda-thanda cool-cool😀

QOTD- Was my comeback fair enough for the blog-office OR barely charted in the box-office like Madhuri's 'aaja nachle’ or Ash's 'jazbaa’ or even Kajol's ‘dilwale’?

Auldrin😇

HibernationLetters 15

Since you left my brain is busy in search of ways for a distraction, maybe that's why it hasn't accepted any signals from the burning chest and the choking throat for an immediate action.

Here I am treating myself with therapeutic words, hoping for the discomfort to subside soon.

That last call you received was just to record your voice in my memory, one last time, as now that seems to be the only honest word you ever said to me.

The first one was rude- like the usual,

the second one showed slight concern- like I'd expected

& the third 'hello’ finally reflected your pain too.

There was so much I decided to say, so much that I wanted to change, me this time not you but like people say sometimes, when you finally find the right moment it's already too late.

So I stood still holding the storm inside and remained silent, like you always wanted. This time forever.

QOTD- Are you people wondering about the remaining 14 letters?

Stay tuned for more in the new series the “hibernation letters”.

Auldrin