A short story on the irony of a globally celebrated day

Trigger Warning: Mentions of physical abuse.

It was four in the morning. She woke up with a start. Her eyes hurt. In the dim light of the small lamp beside her, she checked her right hand. A deep scarlet scar ran across it. She got up and went to the mirror. Her eyes were swollen and cheeks were red. She looked worn out. Not because she had just woken up.

It was because she had married him.

Society will call his kind the domestic abusers, or criminals. For beating their wives at home. Whatever. She did not care. She knew the same society called her kind the upstarts or sluts. For trying to survive in a place where they are constantly downtrodden.

Last evening she got home from work a couple of hours later than usual. It was her birthday and her friends forced a treat from her. She knew she was done for if she was late to get home, but her heart fancied a little enjoyment.

The aftermath of his rage was visible all over her weak body. He had hit her with his leather belt. But more pain came from the abusive words he used. He accused her of cheating on him. With her colleague. With his friend. With their neighbor.

She washed her face and got started on that day’s chores. She had no time to weep or lament about her situation. He would wake up any minute and would demand tea. And breakfast. And his towel, and pressed clothes. And polished shoes. They were her duties as they were a servant-less middle-class family. In a monotonous rhythm, she did everything, without any complaint. She had to go to work that day, and couldn’t risk being beaten black and blue.

Office norms required her to wear the traditional sari and his norms required her to wear it ‘decent.’ Still she could not evade the stares of random auto-rickshaw drivers or passers-by. They seemed to see through her covered body. She usually walked or took a bus ride to her office. He drove the only car they had. Her license which she had procured before marriage sat in her drawer unused. She hated buses when she wore saris. It was uncomfortable with the crowd and more difficult with the glances of half of them.

That day she decided to walk to the workplace. The fewer the people who saw her scars, the better. She passed by a school and saw preparations for some function gearing up. She hurried to her office and met up with a colleague at the entrance.

“There’s a luncheon in the afternoon. For the Women’s day celebration. It is your day. Did your husband wish you?”

She remembered the leather belt and the scars and the swollen eyes and the remarks. She replied with a smile, “He does, every day.”

This is a short story I wrote in school for a paper on Women’s day. I had shared it on Facebook that time and thought I’d share it here now.

I was fourteen when I wrote this — a decade passed but news stories from all around the world tell me that sadly, the plight of many women around us still stays the same.

Reading this now, my mind screamed FILE DIVORCE at her many a time. But then I remembered how many households still consider divorce a taboo in my country and unfortunately, an alarming bunch of women would choose abuse instead of leaving the ‘security’ of marriage.

I remember when I showed this story to one of my friends at school, she replied, “Oh man, I don’t want to get married after reading this.” We chuckled and shrugged the whole image off our young minds.

Our teacher, however, corrected us saying that a bad marriage is not the only gateway to the abuse faced by women all around the world. She talked about various instances and case stories that highlighted the sorry situation of fellow women and I still remember to this day how anxious I felt to even think of stepping out into the real world after the inevitable process of growing up.

I have no hope left of a world free of atrocities against women. How would I, when the first news I hear on the eighth of March was a case story of a woman assaulted by a group of policemen as she approached them to file an FIR in broad daylight? The reporter stated that a couple of female police officers stood witness to the heinous crime and did nothing. This is not even a singular case. At least, the country where I am from faces high degeneration in the effective working of organizations responsible to ensure the safety of women.

The same afternoon there was a whole documentary of female judges and police officers taking measures to strengthen the voices of women. Faces of officials smiling for the camera seemingly deafen out the wails of lesser privileged humans of their own gender.

The irony kills me.

What’s up with this new feature of sending a notification to writers every time we bookmark their stories?!

Okay, it is good to know that you intrigued someone with your title and it feels great to be assured of potential reads (unless they never get back around to read it :/).

Until I noticed that the writer will also be notified of the name of your list in which you’re saving their works. Sorry, whaaat?

Those of you with lists like Reading List, Weekend Reads, etc., don’t need to worry. But not me :P

Imagine seeing a notification — Amy Rosie has added your story to their list Weird ass titles… or Read, bitch.

They are legit lists I had created. :P

It was all in good fun, I never intended to ridicule anyone. I did not know people could see that. I feel so bad right now, jeez… I apologize to those who had to see that.

I made them private though I don’t know if that’d prevent a notification from being sent.

Now, to be on the safe side, I made one list called To Read where I save posts I want to read and also those that I have read and want to give a shoutout to in the future or keep as reference for some reason.

The problem with it now is that there’s a chance people may get confused as to why I am clapping and leaving comments on their articles which I saved in To Read just a few seconds before.

See you next post!

Love.

I know many of you want your articles to go viral. I mean, we all like traction, who doesn’t?

But that is not the main point of your articles. That should not be the point at all.

In the beginning, every other post I clicked on had more than a thousand claps and 20+ comments and it made me wonder if I’ll ever manage to have that kind of engagement and felt demotivated before even writing the first word.

It still hasn’t happened, but do I look like I care? Well, you can’t see me, but I don’t. ;-)

Effort, consistency, and quality will eventually bring the appreciation you deserve and it’s worth waiting for.

But many of the Medium writers I found are not ready to wait and have chosen a wrong, yet heavily treaded route and that is what I am talking about in this post.

In the midst of very useful Medium advice by established writers, I see articles by people whose only agenda is to make their posts go viral. I mean, sure, many of us deserve recognition for the efforts we put into our writing but making virality the sole reason for writing a piece — man, at this point we most probably detach ourselves from *quality*.

I know this quality talk has been stated by many writers before, but I still find these kinds of posts in my feed, and that makes me sad.

For many of these virality guides, writing about making money on this platform is the ultimate step to making your posts click. So meta, don’t you think? They make money by writing about how you could make money by writing about how to make money.

That is not true, because we have an amazing bunch of writers here who write about anything under the sky and get a huge load of traction (and bucks).

Now, I know the reason for writing is different for each person.

Some are in it for the money, some others for the passion, others for both.

Pardon me, but I can never take the first group seriously. If this offends you, I am sorry.

Listen, writing for money is not a bad thing. Heck no. I’d love to do that too, only if good ol’ Stripe didn’t have beef with my geographical location or something :(

I recently read an article where the writer asks what’s wrong in using one’s passion to pay the bills. There’s nothing wrong. I’m not sitting here trying to cancel the entire profession of content writing.

The articles I have issues with though, reek of cunning. I wouldn’t have written this half-rant if I hadn’t read a few articles where the authors suggested that we abandon any other genre of writing whatsoever and focus on writing about writing, about shortcuts to increase your income, and about Medium tips and tricks.

I am targeting those articles where writers claim they made an insane amount of money in a very short time by writing about this platform and ask you to narrow down your topics based on what sticks on the Medium wall. They conveniently won’t tell you how exactly they made the bucks but that’s another story.

That suggestion triggered me. I am not against writing about any of those, I do write about writing — it is one of my favourite topics. This article is one.

But are you asking me to entirely discard fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and all the other genres and write about some overused or fake tips on how to earn quick bucks and sell it to my readers to earn some quick bucks myself? No, thank you. Even if I was in MPP, I would not do that.

Has the art of writing come down to this? Pardon me for being dramatic, but it aches to see people giving out advice on how to abandon your inherent talent or passion to write, and churn out words with just monetary goals in mind. As a literature student and a sucker for writing, I cannot stand that advice.

Again, I would have just rolled my eyes and scrolled past them if they were few and far between. But I’m concerned about seeing an overwhelming portion of this platform occupied by such money-making schemes. Thank God for the filters and recommendations — without them, I’ll be scrolling endlessly to get to a personal story or a poem I’d like to read.

Sure, we do have an audience for these ‘get those bucks real quick’ type articles, I won’t deny it. It’s your choice. I am not addressing you. (Well, I am,…kinda. Can we not encourage such articles, pretty please?)

Many of you might have not seen such posts in your feed and now might possibly be wondering why this girl is making a big deal of it. Trust me, from the day I joined, I’ve been stumbling upon lots of these articles. They crushed my motivation and inspiration as they seemed to mock me for even trying to come up with something to write about that doesn’t involve topics on money-making or making it big on Medium in a week, and having the audacity to expect readers to click on it.

If you’re new and deciding on what to write about, please try to refrain from jumping on the bandwagon of these kinds of posts. If that’s your niche then fine, I guess. But if you give up on your creative talent for ‘get rich quick’ articles, you’ll be letting me down ☹

When you start writing here on Medium, please make sure the first goal of your articles is putting an effort to effectively express your words in topics you are passionate about and bring loyal readers in through your charm. That will bring in money too, gradually. Unless of course, you’re living in a non-MPP country (I’m not crying!).

I hope I didn’t come off as arrogant. I just wanted to get this off my system. I am frustrated at the sheer amount of fake advice and the number of people who back these articles. If I can get at least one person to back off from going that route, I’ll be content.

Love.

And now, before you go, please check out these posts below by our fellow Medium writers:

Matt Hampton shares a beautiful, thoughtful letter to us on the art of story-telling. He writes —

Your loves and losses, smiles and cries, gaffs, goofs, witticisms, nuggets of wisdom, mundane daily routines, and your most magnificent moments will provide the magic that will make those stories your own. Every scent, sight, sound, taste, and touch of your life will help you enrich stories. Those details will make the world of your story real, a place where we let our imaginations and our hearts run for those few moments of escape. You, the storyteller, will break our hearts, make us laugh, and craft the things our dreams will recreate night after night.

Well, isn’t this what writing is about? Please give a read to this amazing piece and you’ll understand better what I was trying to prove with my story. I’m linking his story below.

An Open Letter to Everyday Writers

If you’re new to this platform, I highly recommend you read Rachel Wickremasinghe’s post to attract followers on this platform the right way. She effectively argues against the infamous follow-for-follow strategy and gives tips on thriving on Medium the proper way.

4 Reasons I’m Challenging Myself to Attract Medium Followers Versus Follow-For-Follow

To end this on a beautiful note, I recommend that you read Divya Goswami’s introduction article for the Reciprocal pub. She has a way with words that mesmerize me as a poetry enthusiast.

A String of Gratitude

Would you please consider buying me a coffee? Thank you so much. As an Indian national deprived of her MPP rights, this gesture of yours means a lot!

If your posts don’t go viral, don’t do this. was originally published in Reciprocal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A poem to myself, addressing phases of my mental health

I am looking at you
beaming with the thoughts
of your goodness, your love, and
your positively charged outlook on life.

I am looking at you,
smirking at your existence,
your bad vibes, your pretensions,
your cunning yet potentially trivial scheming,
your momentary satisfaction with flattery, and
your sad fetish for artificiality.

I am looking at you,
wary and tired
of your habit of self loath
draining the light from those eyes
detaching the mind from the soul
shredding self-esteem to pieces
causing irreparable wounds.

Until I cannot look at you anymore,
as it hurts to introspect and retrospect
tears drying up and screams cracking
there is nothing to do than wait
for that image in the mirror to polish itself
or fade away.

Would you please consider buying me a coffee? Thank you so much. As an Indian national deprived of her MPP rights, this gesture of yours means a lot!

Love.

Reflection was originally published in Evolve on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Six Word Photo Story Challenge: Freestyle

The horizon calls, and we’re ready.

The view above is from Seetharkund, a small cliff along the mountain ranges of Nelliampathy.

To me, this place portrays the bridge between two entirely different views to life. The cliff is known by two different names — Seetharkund View Point and also famously, Suicide Point.

Life and its choices, to me, are like this cliff. You can either take in the beauty of it or jump off without waiting to relish it.

I have been on that bridge many a time and every time I want to give up, I look towards the horizon and it is calling out to me.

We, with all our imperfections, are staring yonder, our minds donning a splurge of hopes — the horizon calls, and we are ready. You and me. Yes, we are ready.

Would you please consider buying me a coffee? Thank you so much. As an Indian national deprived of her MPP rights, this gesture of yours means a lot!

Love.

Horizon of Hope was originally published in Six Word Photo Story Challenge on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

I slammed shut the door to my dorm room

Walked away with my bags to never return

Took one last glance at your face

Our eyes locked for a second

You wanted me to stay

Ego won that night

Besties to strangers

Moments to

memories.

This is a poem where the number of words decreases by one in each line — from nine words in the first line, eight in the second, to one word in the last. I don’t think there is any particular name to this type of poetry. It is freestyle and not to be confused with a nonet(a nine-line poem that has decreasing number of syllables in each line).

The poem is about the time I had a huge quarrel with my best friend/roommate in college which culminated in me moving out and taking refuge in another friend’s room in the middle of the night and also waking up an entire floor with our tantrums.

Would you please consider buying me a coffee? Thank you so much. As an Indian national deprived of her MPP rights, this gesture of yours means a lot!

Love.

Ego won that night was originally published in Evolve on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

To the Guy Who Said I am Leading a Whiny Little Life

Let me walk you through some stuff real quick

It was 10 pm and I was scrolling through Instagram minding my own business.

Usually, I swipe notifications away from texting apps while I am scrolling, sometimes not in the mood to reply.

But this time, however, a text notification caught my attention and instantly dragged me away from a hilarious reel I was enjoying.

It was a text from a boy I knew in school. Not a friend. Not arch-rival. Unfortunately, more than just an acquaintance as we are in the same friend group. But I repeat, not a friend. He is supposed to be a close friend but I never considered him one for several reasons (which I’ll come to in a while).

So, a frenemy, if you will.

I could only figure out a part of the text from the notification and it read, “It is sad you’re acting like you’re in high school still. Bro, you need to get out more. You’re not one of those whiny teenage kids anymore…”

I clicked on the text wondering what his deal was and found out that he had replied to a status I had uploaded.

The status update was of a meme.

This was the meme I had uploaded as my WhatsApp status.

*crickets*

Okay, so I share relatable memes on my status whenever I find one but I don’t find that whiny.

They are not relatable just to teenage kids and actually, more than them, I have seen adults sharing such memes all over the internet.

I even thought for a second that maybe this guy might have had a bad day and was taking it out on one of his ‘friends’ when he got the chance.

But that’s not it. And even if it was, my life is not his medium to vent.

He is not my friend — mainly because he is an outright misogynist who tends to pack his condescension with a shiny layer of friendly advice and pseudo affection. I know it and I stay away from him as much as I could. Some of our friends fall for that, some of us don’t care and some of us like me are completely disgusted by it.

He is not my friend — also because he is homophobic. I came out to my group of friends which sadly includes him. Every one of them was super chill (which should be the norm, but I am talking about Indian kids and it’s kind of rare for them to support the community in public, let alone their own friend), except him.

Because my family and friends who I care about are very supportive, I couldn’t care less about what this guy thinks. And maybe to not feel left out or deemed backward, he gave a long text one day describing how much he is proud of me taking that ‘big step into a very dangerous situation’.

*Eyeroll* I don’t know if he thinks I came out or was volunteering as a tribute for the Hunger Games.

(Side note: It is not at all a dangerous situation in a very progressive family like mine and he knows that. This pseudo caring thing he always does gets me.)

He almost always tries to initiate talks about lesbian porn with me whenever I post something related to my bisexuality.

Gross. I’m not saying lesbian porn is gross. I’m just not comfortable talking about it with a guy and a homophobic guy at that. He knows I’m not comfortable with it, but still tries. Gross.

Now coming back to the current problem. The 'sad whiny teen' remark doesn’t just stem from the memes I share about anxiety or depression. It is also because I am a K-pop fan. It is also because I post stuff about LGBTQIA+ movies, books, and articles. I upload updates of my favorite idols in broken Korean, Chinese, and Japanese. All of these are sad teenage stuff to this person. It is not, at least, for me. A lot of my friends and I love all these things and we’re 25.

Hey man, I am sorry for posting stuff that I like on my wall. I should be taking inspiration from you and posting dangerous road stunts you do with your motorbike that you show off every other day with a hundred pics. I should follow your example and post toxic, sexist, and vulgar crap which disgusts 95% of your contacts (who, by the way, are women — something you always point out to the other guys in our friend circle).

Again, it would not have irked me if the insinuations had stopped at our widely different interests. People do insult each other for their choices of interests. And because we are former classmates of high school, it is inevitable to pass remarks. I get it. I am not sitting here claiming to be sensitive about childish insults that friends pass at each other. We all do that.

This is different. His jibe is directed at me out of all the other kids who post similar things, because, out of all the other friends, I am the only one who is currently not in college or working.

He is of the opinion that I am not entitled to feeling depressed or anxious because I have no worries about college or employment as of yet. He once told me that as an only child pampered by the family and given the freedom to stay home until I figure things out for myself, I possibly can never have depression.

I have always made it clear to everybody that I’m on a break to focus on my mental health.

I am agoraphobic. I believe I have ADHD (not diagnosed yet, because I am not comfortable talking about myself to a stranger one on one). I have had suicidal thoughts in the past because of my hallucinating and impulsive behaviors. There are things that go on in my mind that I cannot express. I cannot sleep properly because I have nightmares every time and wake up all of a sudden breathless. Most of the dreams have me die at the end. It has a negative impact on my health. I had to shift my sleeping schedule to the daytime because of this. I start crying all of a sudden without any triggers.

A lot of people go through similar things. And not all of them are necessarily plagued by daily mundane hardships.

I do go through a lot even though I don’t have an immediate burden of the future in my hand. That is all thanks to my family who kind of breaks the Asian family stereotype and gives me everything I want, including the time to take a break. I am grateful for that.

I don’t go about telling everybody about my problems. Half of the things I stated in the previous para are things most people have no idea about. Some of my friends know, only because they have asked repeatedly why I don’t join them on social gatherings many a time. Including this guy. That is what infuriates me.

I hope none of you who were nice enough to read this think I am being whiny or something. Well, that would be quite an irony :)

I don’t want to go on ranting and give the kind souls who happen to read this a hard time. I appreciate you for sticking around to read this much.

Have a cookie 🍪🌼

If any of you’re wondering, I replied the guy with a generic F*ck you, as I knew any amount of explaining will fall flat and would be a complete waste of time. Also, it is the most common phrase used within our friend circle. That tells a lot about us, I guess.

See you next post.

Love.

Before you go, please check out this beautiful poem by my dear friend Sujona Chatterjee. Her posts and poems always give me the dopamine boost I need, especially while dealing with the issues I discussed above.

Disclaimer- This article is largely based on my own opinions (as most of my posts are). If you are among those who support that challenge, it’s okay, I still love y’all. Please read ahead anyway ♥️

If you’ve been around for a while, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you’re new, I’ll explain briefly. 100 followers challenge (or Follow for Follow) is a challenge where you publish posts or comments asking other writers on Medium to follow you, with the promise of giving them a follow back. Simple.

When I joined Medium, it was everywhere. My feed was filled with posts like ‘How to get 100 followers in 24 hours', ‘I got 500 followers in a month of joining, so you can do too,’ etc.

It was a nice idea on paper. I too was enamoured by the way it could increase your following very quickly, especially if you’re new to the platform. When we check our page to see 0 followers, c’mon, who wouldn’t be tempted?

I hate to admit that my follower count hit 100 on the same week I joined the platform mainly because of my post about this challenge, which was more or less a very active trend when I joined. Everyone was doing that and I kind of jumped on the bandwagon as well. It felt good to see people following you left and right — the motivation to log back in during that time was immense.

It was a low-hanging fruit. That was the only pro about the whole trend.

I realized it soon enough. The time I seriously started writing, I realized that even though I had more than 100 followers in hand, not many were reading my works. Even the view count was too low with regard to the number of followers who will definitely chance upon my posts somehow.

That is when I realized that the mission of that trend was just to hit the ‘100’ mark for Medium’s partnership program which was anyways useless to me because I live in India. Well, maybe I knew this was all for MPP, but is it my fault that I wanted to also cultivate a loyal readership through that easy way? It is?

Oh dang!

Anyways, I understood the mistake I made and stopped commenting follow for follow under similar posts of this kind.

The main challenge on this platform though is increasing readership engagement. You are here to show your writing skills to the world rather than to earn money, right? (Oh well, both? Fine! I’m not at all jealous, ok? Lol.)

Still, apart from having a large number of followers, we want people to actually read, respond to and support our stories, don’t we? And that’s more important than the bucks. You can’t change my mind. :P

If you are new to this platform, you might want to be popular enough before you put your maximum effort into your writing. It is reasonable to think that way. That is the main reason some of us go the follow-for-follow route. I know I did. But I kid you not, the writers who actually read and support my writing are my friends I made on this platform after I

• started concentrating on the quality of my work
• took time to read stories of fellow writers, and
• made the effort to give appreciation and feedback

That is how you do it. Honest appreciation given out always finds its way back to you in some way or the other. That is what I was taught in an early phase of my life and it still holds true.

Self-publishing is great once you have found a foothold within the platform. Finding the apt publication(s) that would accept and publish your stories to their audience is the first step towards finding your own loyal Medium kin.

Now, wondering where to start with?

That’s where Reciprocal comes in.

(WOW.. does this have a sponsored ad/brand deal energy? I assure you, this is not sponsored, lol.)

This new pub is everything you need if you would like to be a part of that amazing bunch of Medium writers who support fellow writers through claps, comments, and highlights.

This wholesome publication is spearheaded by Sahil Patel who is happy to have all of you on board with your skills in writing and supporting (both are very important on Medium, in case you didn’t know :P).

The publication requires members who are ready to actively provide support to other Medium writers and also work towards the collective upliftment of the pub and its contributors.

Reciprocity, my dear fellas. That’s it. That is how we all thrive in a platform full of readers and writers.

If you are interested, check out the submission guidelines to this pub in the article below. (Don’t worry, there are no stringent rules that could scare you away.)

We Are Your Partner In Your Writing Journey

More than seeing your follower count increase (which is good, I won’t deny), what actually warms our hearts are seeing fellow writers clap, comment, and/or highlight your articles. We feel loved, seen, and heard.

The claps and comments on my posts by my wonderful Medium friends have the power to make my day and I want that for all of you. The highlights on my articles tell me what my lovely readers liked or resonated with the most.

Consistent quality posts would definitely ensure your success on this platform. Pubs like Reciprocal, New Writers Welcome, Evolve, Coffee Times, etc. provide you with the platform for you to find your foundation.

If you are interested in joining Reciprocal, all you have to do is ask to be added to the pub under the guideline post. And once you’re added, be the awesome human you are — write away, and in addition, be the support system that you’d like to have for your own stories.

What you give out will come back to you as well. Haven’t we all heard similar versions of this moral?

Let’s join hands in this wholesome venture by Sahil.

If you’re interested, please check out these amazing writers who also write for Reciprocal:

Josephine Crispin talks about how online writing introduced her to the issue of self-promotion and how it is a necessary evil for thriving in such platforms.

Is Self-Promotion a Prickly Issue to You?

June Kirri talks about her frustration on finding obnoxious clickbait articles and through an apt comparison between Facebook and Medium, she points out the sheer amount of articles posing as saviors, misguiding (baiting)their readers — promising them unrealistic achievements or giving out misinformation packed with overconfidence.

I’m a New Writer Here and I’m Already Sick of Medium

As I’m writing this, Sahil has called for a Facebook group for Reciprocal. Please check it out and join the group if you’re interested.

It’s Time To Join The Facebook Group Of Reciprocal

I invite some of my amazing friends to check this pub out.

TzeLin Sam Megan Llorente Kannan Natesan Natasha Nichole Lake Kaleb Shumway Nikanshika Maddisson CZ Julian Cosky

That’s all for now. Looking forward to your wonderful writing.

Love.

Would you please consider buying me a coffee? Thank you so much. As an Indian national deprived of her MPP rights, this gesture of yours means a lot!

Why does the 100 followers Challenge fall flat? was originally published in Reciprocal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Crumbled white paper balls speckled the meadow
Lost in thought, sat staring at my own shadow

Searching for a muse in rivers and mountains
In those shining stars and colorful fountains

All in vain
It drove me insane

The gentle wind then made you sigh
Stroking your face as you held it high

Your eyes shone brighter than the summer evening
Their smiling gaze sent my emotions careening

It only took a breeze for me to recall
My muse is you, the parachute to my freefall.

Before you go, why don’t you give a boost to your serotonin with this beautiful poem by Alexandria Cooper?

Would you please consider buying me a coffee? Thank you so much. As an Indian national deprived of her MPP rights, this gesture of yours means a lot!

Love.

A poem

the benches are empty and broken

hiding out there in the open

reminiscing the bygone days

full of chatter and cheer

Echoes of tears and bottles of beer

branches above look down in pity

witnesses to tales both euphoric and nitty

they shed tears of leaves in pain

Years of lending ears, what did they gain?

As I wandered taking in the sights with a sigh

It seemed to me they were all saying goodbye

I stood still as the place faded into a void

the lost haven of memories shrunk into a polaroid.

The picture above is a part of my college campus which used to be a chilling hub for generations of students. It is right in front of the hostels and on the way to the academic blocks. We all used to relax on these benches and the tiled floors during mornings and midnights alike.

Last December during Christmas break, I went back for some paperwork and walked along the deserted streets of the campus. The whole university is going to get renovated after the pandemic break and this area is going to be completely altered.

The memories came rushing in and I realized that was the last time I was going to see my college as I would remember.

It felt awkward seeing a place that used to bustle with activities 24/7, dead silent. Not being dramatic, but I felt like I lost something in this place that I’ll never get back.

A lost space.

Before you go, please check out this absolute corker of a poem by Barbara Mac. This poem laden with beautiful imagery made me fall in love with the shade of mauve a little bit more.

Love.