Letting Go.

One of the hardest things you will ever do is to let go of something you have held on to in the darkest of times, harshest of hours and roughest of roads. But if it doesn't offer you a reason to wait around, there's nothing to do but to let go.
When you invest your time, efforts and emotions in something or someone, it's only human for you to urge your patience to hold on just a wee bit more.
 You wait. And you wait. And when you're tired of waiting, you wait some more. Not because you cannot go on without them, but because you always dreamed that you never would.
An ending that you thought you would never see. A beginning that you thought would never end.
It comes crashing and you don't know which way to run, because by now you're hallucinating of them in every nook and corner of your mind and heart. Some would call you crazy, but I'd call you real.
If you feel like your world has come to a standstill, that time has frozen and life seems like a haze with illusions of solutions but no real way out, I'd call you human. Just another human with a heart.

If you hold on for longer than you've considered letting go, all the strength in the world isn't going to be enough to give you the little push you know you need. You're at the edge of the cliff and you know you have to take the jump, but your heart tugs you backwards. Why wouldn't it? You've spent an eternity cherishing the solidity of land, kissing the grounds and nuzzling in the comfort of what is nothing but a slab of mud underneath your feet. But it's your comfort zone. It's where you've always been. It's like home and you've shed your masks here.
When reality hits you like those sharp winds, you wonder what will happen of you if you fall. Scary, indeed. But what if you fly?

You build something from scratch, you tend to it, nourish it, pay heed to every need and meet every expectation.
Much like growing a plant.
You sow the seeds, water it every day, make sure it gets the sunlight it needs, pull out the weeds that eat at its soil, prune the branches that wither, just about anything it takes. But it's a plant with more thorns than flowers. It pricks your fingers every time you attempt to nurture it. Yes, it gives you beautiful flowers from time to time, but what purpose does it serve if your vision is too hazed by the tears it drew to admire the excruciating beauty of the flower that blooms among a bed of thorns?

Life offers you a lot of chances. Some seem easier than the rest and some seem impossible to hand out.
Some situations resemble a death sentence and some will set you afloat all the way to Cloud 9.

But sometimes, you have no choice but to let it go. No matter how miserable it makes you, no matter how much it breaks you, it's the right thing to do and you know it.
Letting go of anything that involved love may seem like a task so impossible that it may physically break you. And there's only one thing worse than that, it's to hold on to something that hurts.

If it doesn't make you happy, let it go.
Sometimes the choice is between letting go and letting go.
Let it go.

Between The Books

"For it was books that made me feel that perhaps I wasn't completely alone."

I first met my best friend when I was in kindergarten. I was visiting the school library during my vacations and there she was, surrounded by a pile of my favorite books. That's probably why today, sixteen years later she's my best friend in all of mankind.

Growing up, I wasn't exactly a social bee. I had a disturbing childhood and a high school life, parts of which would safely pass off for a nightmare. I have some horrendous accounts from my adolescence that I have happily put away under the 'Please Ignore' tab in my memory.
Throughout this tumultuous journey I've had so far, I've had one steady source of strength; my books. Be it Archie's, Roald Dahl, Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, Abdul Kalam, just about anything and anybody. If it was there, in print, I wanted to read it.

There's something so alluring about the idea of an alternate reality! Living life through someone else's soul, peering through the glasses of another being and recognizing your heart beating for someone else's sorrow is an experience that helps you grow as a person.
When I read a book, I've lived in a different part of the world, seen a different era and spoken a new language; all in a matter of a few hours and each different from another. Books are a uniquely portable magic. What fool would let go of one? Or worse yet, never pick one up?

I don't drink and I don't smoke. I haven't felt the need for either supplements to transport me to a world of make-belief. I prefer what I like to call a book hangover. The inability to get past the world of the last book I read is much better than the throbbing headache an alcohol influenced hangover gives you.
I remember, when I first read Harry Potter, I was probably just nine years old. I couldn't get over the tragedy of not being a witch and I looked down upon myself for being a Muggle. I distinctly recall having spoken the Hogwarts lingo for a long long time after.

Seven out of ten people my age prefer movies over books these days. I confess to have judged every single person who has frowned when I say I'm reading a book. Give me one reason not to and I'll give you ten as to why it's only legit.



Books can create a gravitational force within you that drags you into the world you're reading about. The protagonist's heartache becomes yours. You laugh, cry and fume along with him. You can feel the butterflies in your stomach when he has a romantic moment. You sob away to glory when his loved one is torn away from him. You cuss under your breath when the antagonist strikes his signature move. In a turn of pages, his world becomes yours. Between the pages of a book is the loveliest place to be.
Without books, you have only lived one life. Loved one man. Weathered one era. Encountered only so many people. Seen only so much. Learned only so much. Felt only so much.

For you see,
It isn't always about the happy ending. Sometimes, it's about the story. 
Life is too short to live it just once. Pick one off the shelf. Delve into another world. Create your own portal and travel to a world of your choice. Reality may not give you that option, but an alternate reality will.
If you had one wish, where would you go and what are you waiting for?

The Beautiful Mess

A tiny coffee shop in the middle of nowhere,
A lonely soul looking for a pair,
A stranger taking shelter from the storm,
It was but a love story taking form..

Hollow like a copse,
Heart filled with despair,
She clung on to what was, a rather treacherous affair.

A single tear welled up, and many others followed,

Treated with disregard, her life was just another bunch of sorrows..

It had been quite a while,

A month, maybe a year..

She had but forgotten what it was like to smile.

Rough and rigid, he was a man of flair,

The world at his feet,

He lived life with not a care..

He knew what it was like to be vulnerable,

Had endured pain beyond the bearable..

She had had her share of heartache,

Tread on ghastlier paths than she could take..

He'd sworn never again to look love in the face,

She had grown weary of the never ending chase..

Two unknown souls with a single pain,

Two estranged hearts that'd never be the same.

She blinked back her tears as her bore into her eyes,

Her nerves reacted with an electric fear,

The kind when fire meets ice.

Within a split second, he knew she was the one.

Her tattered heart skipped a beat,

Something invigorating had just begun.

Sparing no room for thought, he sealed it with a kiss.

Resurfacing from heaven, she knew she'd tasted bliss.

They pranced out of the coffee shop,

Her lonely soul had found its pair,

Hand in hand through the storm,

This lovely damage was beyond repair.