When Silence Speaks...

Bench 1 - Have you seen anyone lately? Bench 2 - No, been a while anyone stopped here. Guess the snow and cold is keeping them at home close to the fireplace. Lamp Post - Winters are always lonely. Tree - Well, there was that lady in red scraf who was here last week. I like her, she hums this beautiful tune, I can get used to her. Lampost - Yeah yeah, but remember everytime you get used to someone, they leave, and then we have to listen to all your cribbing. ain't gonna work no more bro! Tree - Come'on. That was just one time, some 50 years back. I loved seeing her, and she was here almost every single day for 2 years. What about that kid you are so attached to? Lampost - Oh that sweetheart, he always goes around me singing rhymes, such a lively one he was, why do they stop playing after they grow old? Bench 1 - Well, may be because they just have so many stories to share. Remember that old couple, they had so much to talk about, seen so many places, they wou...

"So, tell me. What's your learning from life? What is that one thing you absolutely loved doing or you regret not doing? That one thing if you have to call it out, that one thing keeps coming back at you." I asked looking at him. Desmund said "Oh yeah absolutely, I regret not being a pilot." driving past the signal. Desmund was a Jamaican in his late sixties who has lived in Ontario for over 30 years now, who worked in hospital then worked as realtor and now works in an auto care, where I met him last week after I dropped my Jeep for servicing. He was handling my pickup and drop off. I said " Okay. Why dint you do it, what stopped you, money, family etc..?" He - " Oh, I was just young and stupid. Very egoistic back then. I was 19, was in London. I wanted to join RAF, but I was trying a back door route. They said you can work as a steward for a year, and then you can train for a pilot. It was still part of Royal airforce you know. But I wa...

I walked along the Rideau Canal into Major's Hill park, watching all those old architecture when I noticed him. He was lying on the snow watching his owner. A black Labrador. Owner was an old gentleman in his late sixties. I walked up to him and said "It doesn't look like he is going to get up anytime soon." He laughed.  Me - "What's his name?" He - "Benson". I called out "Hey Benson, you like snow?" He came running towards me and started jumping all over me. I said "Do you want to play?" And we both ran into the snow. I made snowballs and started throwing it away, and he ran to catch it. We played for quite some time. Owner was an Australian, living in Ottawa for last 3 years. Benson did not want to stop playing, and playing with him was one of the best moments for me today. No pictures taken, want this one to stay in my memory. Well, kids and dogs, are the only two category of living beings I have dealt with...

You were very different from the others. The way you spoke about stars and universe, it was like you were part of them. I never understood your language, but I always enjoyed listening to you. It was so romantic when you spoke with such passion about universe. That friend of yours, Hubble, the way you discussed it's findings with so much excitement, I used to fall in love with you over and over again. The way you waited like a child outside the tent in freezing nights, to get the glimpse of milkyway, would always make me hug and kiss you. The nebulae, constellations, meteor showers, comets and so many such words, that I never knew before I met you; I started learning about them from you. For me everything was just a twinkling star in the dark night sky. You introduced me to them with names, like they were your friends, like they all were talking to you, like they all had some purpose. I thought you were crazy, but then I understood why you were so crazy about them. I still s...

She walked into the room, and saw a closed envelope on her study table. It read "Mi Amor Inocente". She smiled, kept her coffee mug down, picked the envelope, looked outside her window, and took a deep breath. She opened the envelope to find a handwritten letter. "I love you. Maybe not a lot. But just enough to make my heart beat a little faster everytime I see you smile. You might not mean the world to me, but I don't miss the world when am with you. You might not be the best thing that's happened to me, but a lot of awesome things have happened after you came into my life. You might not be my perfect choice, but my life seems perfect with you. You might not be what I dreamt of, but new dreams much more beautiful unraveled after I met you. I could have been a lot of things over time, but I could never be what I am today without you. I could have been a broken man, if it weren't for your shoulder during those tough times. I can cry like a b...

महफ़िल वो सजी थी शाम ए ग़ज़ल की बैठा वहाँ था मैं बस चंद कदम दूर उस से | सजी थी खुद वो एक खूबसूरत ग़ज़ल की तरह अकेली जगमगा रही थी वो किसी जुगनू की तरह | शायरों का हर वो लब्ज़ जो गूंज रही थी वहां, मैं पढता गया उन्हें उसके दिलकश चेहरे पर, जैसे हर ग़ज़ल की रूह उसमें बसी थी | कभी वो ओझल सी उसकी आंखें, जिनके किनारे आ रूकती एक छोटी सी बूँद, बयान करती, की वो दर्द महसूस किया है उसने भी | कभी वो हलकी सी उसकी मुस्कान, होंठों के किनारे आ रूकती, इशारा करती, की वो हसीं पल जिया है उसने भी | ना जाने कौन थी वो | पर हर ग़ज़ल के हर एक जस्बात की गेहराई, उसकी आंखो में झलक रही थी उस रात | आज भी दिल याद करता है उस शाम को, जैसे अल्फ़ाज़ों को मिल गया था एक हसीं चेहरा, जो आज भी दे जाती है एक अजीब सी सुकून इस दिल को । सरीता 6th Feb 2020.

"Kaputt!" he said. "Huh what?" she asked looking at him "Kaputt. That's what I am." he said gazing past the horizon, lost in thoughts. "What does that mean?" she asked slowly holding his hand, their fingers intertwined. "Broken. It means broken in German." He said squeezing her hand. They had met a few months back, when he was struggling with depression. She had entered his life as a breath of fresh air. "I don't think this heart can be whole again. I don't think I can move on. She is always in my thoughts when am awake and in my dreams when I am asleep. She is always around, I can never forget her." He said, pulling his hand away and lighting a cigarette. He took a long drag, and let out a sigh watching the sunset light the sky scarlett. "Everything reminds me of her. Even this freaking sunset doesn't give me peace anymore." He said with frustration. She came closer, locked her arm i...