With sand slipping away under his feet, King Suriya observed the desert ocean in front of him. There was no question of giving up. Determined to win, the King moved towards the next slithering dune, right then he saw, or he thought he saw, a shadow. He looked all around, but could only see the golden brown sand soaking the sunlight happily. The King looked up, the blue sky turning bright white almost blinded his vision. King Suriya thought, ‘illusion’, and resumed his journey.
The Vulture King followed him.
The Vulture King
They will meet, King Suriya and the Vulture King, and set out on a fabulous journey. Read the novella ‘The Vulture King’ by Aditya Thakur, an indie author from India. It is enriching.
A cotton wrap dress, flat sandals, a jhola bag, drop earrings and a messy bun, Miss Bhattacharya looks ready. She is beautiful. Oh, she doesn’t like the bun, okay. Open hair looks fine, more than fine I mean.
She cannot hide a smile, still she tries and smiles more. Just look at her, she is trying right now. Her crazy talkative mind is talking. No, not talking, but singing, yes, she is clicking her fingers… now she waves her hand rhythmically in air.
Miss Bhattacharya is walking, she is humming, the wind plays with her hair, and she lets it. She is a sweetheart! And she shouts at the auto rickshaw driver. What? Well, yeah, the driver nearly splashed her. It’s a crowded street for all.
But our Miss Bhattacharya lives in the present, she has crossed the road and is humming again. She loves to wear her smile, even in difficult situations, even at the crossroads. You know where she has reached now? At a crossroad, will she turn left or right, maybe she will go straight.
Miss Bhattacharya is a woman of decision. And so, oh, she is turning back, she is running now, running back. Time check! Yeah, she is late, oh no. She must have forgotten something, some silly little thing, no worries. We all forget.
“Oh, how can I forget switching off the stove, the iron, the fans and the lights… stupid, stupid… yikes, I think I forgot to lock the door, arrh”, said S. Bhattacharya.
Ha! Alright, this is all normal. These things happen with everyone. Only yesterday, I forgot something… can’t even remember what it was. Shut up! The point is, Miss Bhattacharya rules, she rules her simple, crazy, funny life. (I used crazy twice… why?)
Who am I? The narrator, of course. My distinct voice makes it so obvious. Oh, you can’t hear me, my bad.
Where did Miss Bhattacharya go? I am the narrator, you cannot leave me. Wait for me Miss Bhattacharya, you’re the protagonist!
Miss S. Bhattacharya dressed as a warrior or a queen, I guess. She likes to dress up, okay. It is an old photo.
The room was dimly lit, the colours were all crayon textured and old… they all easily submerged in it. More footsteps could be heard and voices… voices were telling each other tales only known as a secret before by some selected few. Voices were joking, but just for a while. Soon they were talking MUSIC.
Soprano saxophone and electric guitars
Rhythms were played verbally and details were given through gestures. People gathered around knew it was time… time to create. Like a charm, everyone flowed, everyone flowed and synced to reach the MUSIC.
Organ, double bass and drums
Time stopped to bask in the musical waves… the musical waves were powerful enough to capture time. It danced, yes, it did. The room stayed dimly-lit, crayon shades also didn’t change… the room and the colours were in awe like little children looking through a wire fence… even the floor swayed… in a silent way, everyone did.
Trumpet, soprano saxophone, electric guitars, organ, double bass and drums later reminded Time to begin.
“If I have reached your voicemail, will my message also reach you… the message that was meant to be a talk… a conversation… will it be heard by others… will you listen to it whilst storing the grocery… and at what time… surely not now, right? Don’t answer these questions… I have got the answers already, yet I continue talking, recording this message… and now I hope you’re not there, letting me go on and on like this… I hope you’re not there, lying on the sofa, thinking whether to pick up the call or not… I hope you’re not there… My mind’s is talking too fast for me to keep a record of what it is trying to say to me to convey to you via this voicemail. Hmm… So anyway, it was nice… nice voice-mailing you. I guess, I just wanted to hear your voice. Bye!”
“Hey! Me again, sorry for the bizarre voicemail… but not if you thought it was kind of funny… okay, bye!”
“Hi… about the voicemail, it was bizarre… but definitely true, very true… okay, ciao!”
The monk was tired, he drank the water from the rivulet, still felt the same. Like the dark heavy clouds that take over the sky so often, the monk had almost given up to such heaviness. If only he could just sit there forever and listen what stories the wind brought to him.
Thinking this he got up and moved ahead. One step at a time. The seamless pattern, the embroidery cross, squares, diamonds, chevrons on his sweater soaked in the sun; it was a parting gift, the monk couldn’t refuse the loving people of that small village.
Strong wind currents and his rough hard shoes made music together; often the pebbles added to it.
Lines on his forehead made him look tense. Just then he reached a fork in the road; the monk stood still and saw two things – the rough path ahead and a tiny little flower beaming at him, growing out of the rocky mountain. The monk walked towards the flower and stared at it.
He smiled and resumed walking ahead. His smile echoed in the mountain valley.
A roguish year, 2020, I believe was a twist in our LIVE story. Terrible, oh, terrible things happened. Let us nurture hope, let us learn from our mistakes, let us help each other and contribute honestly to this change.
Let the old charm of stories work, let stories heal your tired heart.
This colossal twist proves that the great writer is planning to finish a chapter, but the story is far from over. Dawn is about to break, the sun rays will fall on a new beginning soon.
Come to Chiming Stories, pocket old and new posts and watch, along with me, the horizon.
Gabbeh, the 1996 film, is a simple tale of a gipsy girl, her clan and the way their life goes on. Unfolding beautifully just like an artist painting a canvas, Gabbeh quietly touches the grand questions.
Arthdal Chronicles is a South Korean fantasy drama TV series that takes us back to the Bronze Age in a mythical land named Arth, where different human species and tribes struggle to be on the top of the power pyramid.
Silver cascade shimmering the night sky, music to the waves and surreal beauty to the eyes, the Moon loves the art of discipline.
It may be difficult to believe for the Moon’s splendour defies time, it stupefies the clock, it follows the path of a dreamer, but how could this be possible if the Moon knew not discipline?
Yes fly! For walking on the second track is dull and usual, but dreaming high, high, high requires tools. Tools like the right pair of shoes, a chirpy, gritty soul that eats butter-jam dreams, a soul that drinks milky-milky creams.
In this moment, I am a little bit of this and a little bit of that, I am complete and incomplete, I am pleased and uncertain, I wish for nothing and I know I have to wait.
Because the distance covered reminds me of the hurdles I have crossed and the ones I could not, it reminds me of a throbbing past and a dreamy future and it reminds me of how much time is left.
Meredith and the Green Lake
Illimitable Splendour
A joy so complete without any rise or fall, so free without any time corners, so real without true being false, false being true.
