The Candlelight Club

Last evening, I cried. Today morning, I cried again. I hear these words, and my lachrymal glands start to work overtime.

Woman: "These candles, what does it mean?"
Man: "You'll find out. Lets dance now"

These lines are from the movie "Waterloo Bridge (1940). They don't make movies like that anymore. Romance doesn't happen like that anymore. You don't see love like that anymore. You hardly even see restaurants like that anymore. Couples don't dance like that anymore.

We have a very dashing, charming, handsome Robert Taylor and a beautiful Vivian Leigh holding each other with only the slightest of touches and dancing. This happens at a place named "the Candlelight Club". Three men playing the violin to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne" , with candles lit in front of them, complete the picture. At one point, the men intently play, and take one look at the crowd, and swiftly albeit delicately put out the candles. Screen fades to black, while the two continue to dance. The only guiding light they have is each others eyes.

In the darkness, you then hear the strains of the song........

My mind fades to the rude shock of 2009. I sit in a "coffee bar" that tries to include the concept of outdoor seating irrespective of the location. I hear the blaring noises of the traffic going by. I look around, see a young couple loudly singing along to something on the lines of 'My life would suck without you". All the while desperately trying to count the change in each others pockets using their toes. or hands. Or both.

I'm almost gasping at the change 6 decades have brought about. Three generations. Innocence lost. Loving glances turning to lustful stares. Waltzing in each others arms turning to frantic one night stands. Stolen Smiles turning to bawdy pick-up lines. When did all this happen? Where did the purity of true love get lost? I try to process all this information, and I'm left wondering.

Was the 40's a time of total sexual deprivation and suppression that primal thoughts had to come bursting out in the open someday, or is the 21st century a time of total deprivation of innocence and romantic cleanliness? Are we not allowed to be sweet anymore? Are we so busy trying to fit into the kinky schoolgirl's uniform that the snug headmistress' wrap chokes us? Are we so busy trying to pretend we dont have earnest feelings, to a point where we cannot get them to the surface anymore?

Close your eyes, mentally light a candle and touch the hand of someone you love. Put out the candle, open your eyes and tell me what you see.

I see a teardrop.

I do...

The story of US...

This one goes out to the five of us.

28th January, 2009:
Bangalore, India: One is slogging away at work, and checking mails.
Kolkata, India: One just got married! and is busy settling things, and she checks mail whenever possible.
New Delhi, India: One has quit her work to relocate and keeps checking mail every 20 seconds. When she gets new mail, she gets into action immediately.
London, United Kingdom: One is on a project, and is mailing us to fill in whatever details we might have missed out on her life.
Somewhere over the India Ocean (on a flight back from he Maldives): One is just getting back from her honeymoon and in her head is composing the text message that she will send out to her girls.

Less than 2 years back:
-We were all unmarried
-We were all students
-We were all in one place, under one roof, and had the same kind of lifestyles.
-We would share table, plates, cutlery, food, books, and showers.

Now:
-We have jobs
-We have husbands
-We have lives in different places
-We have routines, schedules, responsibilities.

But....
-We still talk junk.
-We are still "tuned in"
-We dont need to see each other to "connect" we just do.
-We dont even need to hear each others voices to "connect". We just do.
-We always have someone we can discuss Cosmo's "special sections" with.
-We always have someone who will give us HONEST reviews on our clothes, shoes, hair and weight.

Thank God for my girlfriends!! No one makes them like that anymore :)
Do we.... each other.. take each other.... to love and respect, for richer or for poorer, for single and for married, in bloated and in 26-inch waist thin....

I DO!!!!

The Perfect New Year

Three days to go, for a brand new year.
A brand new date.
A brand new day.
A new sunrise.
A new path I want to take.

But it is today
that's completely new

Just being here, with you.