THE SEASON’S GATHERING

“Marne ke baad bhi meri aankhain khuli rahin,
Aadat jo parr gayi thi tere intizaar ki.”

Faiz Ahmad Faiz

13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984

(On His Birth Anniversary)

My Adore,

               I teach myself not to fall in love, for love gives me hundred and one reasons to live. And I don’t want to live long; I can’t bear the hypocrisy of this world.  Yet, again I find myself in agreement with you, after all, a genius like you have known love and madness ‘the twin’ better than me.

Spring is in the air.

A woman in love often elucidated the way her lover smelt, the attire he wore, and how his splendor mesmerized her. The lemon was sour, the knife was sharp, her hands were soft, the blood was red, she did not notice the deep cut when held captive by his charms.  She sings, ‘My feet gets numb and everything becomes blank. I don’t know whether he will ever summon up the courage to take a step, but then what? That will not be enough for me. I will expect him to say something more for the silence will kill me.’

A woman longing for her lover has often lamented, ‘The season does not look magnificent without him. He should not have smiled at me; it gave me a bad headache but, I still I keep on thinking of him. Now, he is gone and I am remembering the moments spend with him. He vanished without a trace and I don’t even know what his deepest likes and strongest dislikes are. Tell me will he pass my way? Will he be unfriendly and cold?  Whatever it is, I pray that he keeps his heart warm.’

In these, we find woman placed in two situations, one when in love and other when longing for her lover. In both the contexts, an element of love<obviously>despair, confusion, hope plays the tune. What about you? Were you ever confronted by such passion?  Yes, you were, for your ghazals were expressions of anguished love.

But my note to you does not rest here. It will be incomplete without letting you know my condition. I am not in love, I am longing for anyone, I am just waiting. I am yet to see his face, I am yet to know his name, I am yet to feel his touch, and that is why I look at the sky every night and chants, 'Come, whatever it takes either by boating, flying or walking.' And in all these I find myself waiting, waiting till my eyelashes become heavy and remember you, my dear poet.

                                                           Yours Truly,

                                                         Ayangti Longkumer

Note: Friends, whenever I write something intense you get emotional, which is good. However, the best part is there are a certain set of readers who think I am experiencing certain kind of emotion and starts speculating who that ‘lucky’ guy is? I am happy when they do that, after all, a good writer is someone who convinces the reader and makes them see the emotions in the way (s)he wants them to see.

19 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN YOU ARE DATING/GOING TO DATE A WRITER

1. Every writer has her/his own addiction. Drugs, Alcohol, Sex, Killing (worse case), Smoking, some weird addiction which is usually not an addiction but an addiction for us. Can you handle these? 

2.Don’t expect us to make the first move, we don’t have the time. In case if you really want then write to us or if your language sucks then come forward and give us a big clue to understand your feelings.

     3. We are writers, we are poor people. Of course, there are J.K.Rowlings and Salman Rushdies, but they are someone who won’t or you won’t date, so if you expect us to be rich then you are living under the greatest misconception. 

4. Don’t ever use the word ‘struggling’ before our occupation. There are better substitutes like ‘aspiring’ or ‘blooming’ or ‘budding’ but the best one is ‘underrated’. 

5. We are crazy people; we have an unconventional way of living. Don’t tell us to change, for this is the reason why you fall in love with us at the first place. If you’re willing then adjust or the door is wide open for you to leave.

6. Yes, we are crazy people but we are not retarded. Don’t ever lie to us; we know when you are lying. Years of observing people and reading their expressions have taught us one thing, that we are smarter and better liars than you, so don’t try to outwit us.

7. Writers have a strange sleeping pattern, some rarely sleeps. If you are in a live-in relationship with a writer or is married or going to marry a writer then get used to the sound of the keyboard. At least, we are doing the duty of a night security personnel for free. 

8. When you are with us, we might not give you the best of gift, but surely we will give you the most creative of gifts.

9. We love travelling, do let us know if you have motion sickness or else please don’t accompany us and spoil our so called ‘inspiration seeking trip’.

10. Sometimes we get lost in our thoughts, please don’t continuously inquire, “What happened?” Because you are not the reason.

11. We talk about people. Please don’t think that we are bitching or gossiping about them.It is just that some kind of constructive plot is structuring in our mind.

12. Don’t mistake our communication skill as petty flirtation.   

13. Don’t leave us in our worst of times. We might dedicate our magnum opus to you.

14. When you gift us, gift us something which has to do with writing ranging from vintage typewriter to Mac Book Air :P

15. When you are with a writer don’t praise other writers. I mean, you can, but not like say, ‘I love this writer…I bought all his/her books…crazy, crazy, crazy.’ By the way, this is not called jealousy, rivalry or insecurity but it is called ‘seriously you spend more money and time on that book than mine?’

16.Until and unless you yourself is an Award Winning writer, please don’t give us unnecessary corrections.

17.Always encourage and inspire us. We might be sociable but deep down inside, we are a loner. We are a loner that is the reason why we write. 

18. If you have to leave us, then don’t give us 101 reasons. One true, solid reason is enough to convince us not to let you stay in our heart.

19. There is a saying, ‘If a writer falls in love with you, you will never die.’ Always, remember these lines. Interpretation up to you.

20. So, when are you going to ask a writer for a cup of coffee?

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VALENTINE’S DAY AGAIN: ALTHOUGH YOU DID (NOT) KNOW

Some days ago my sister posted a profile status which was successful in attracting my attention, these were the lines,

“Things that start with 'V' are usually over-rated.”

Wow, true, Victoria Secret’s Angels are highly overrated, but then there are guys like Tiger Woods who makes us pity them. However, I am not going to talk about those Angels. Coming to the point, even Valentine’s Day begins with the letter ‘V’, and that is how the journey begins,

You know what my deep darkest desire is?

Guess One: You might be thinking that I want some handsome hunk of burning yum to come wrap in towel below his chest and throw it after he sees me on the bed NAKED! Okay, that is not my darkest fantasy that is a scene copied and pasted from Shania Twain’s record-breaking song Still the One.

Guess Two: I want a man to come all the way looking for me when I leave him without a word. If no image is hitting your head then let me relief you, just take the last scene from Love Aaj Kal. Nay, it hardly happens in reality especially if a woman is from an ‘insurgency belt’ *media, media, media writes it that way* like Nagaland. Why do I say that? Once I invited someone to my hometown (no hard feelings, that individual was geographically from North India) the reply came as, “What if it is a trap, what if I am kidnapped?” Phew! Negative effects of action thriller movies.

No more guesses, my darkest desire is not at all dark but yeah it is a fantasy which I am living with. My fantasy is to have a day, a day called, ‘Have You Ever Really Loved Someone Day’ and that day should be in between February and November (9 months J ). Indeed, without questioning ourselves this question, Valentine’s Day or any other day becomes meaningless. This Valentine’s Day I will be questioning to myself, “Ayangti Longkumer, have you ever loved someone truly, madly and deeply?”  Till then, let me stalk on my elder sister’s (whom I loved, loving and will always love but there are times when I just want to sell her on some auction website) profile time again for more inspiration.