Sunday, October 7, 2007

Thoughts & Smoke

He always smokes in his room, sitting on the chair lining up music on the computer, or on the bed, lying down, staring at the ceiling, or standing at the window, looking out. Like the places, the moods vary too, from extremely upbeat to extremely melancholic and everything else that lies in between these two celebrated states.

His thoughts come out in fumes from his mouth, gently oozing out, reaching different parts of the room. The smoke is the carrier, his dwellings are the carried. That is to say, if you look closely enough, you’ll see him missing his home and his mother on top of the suitcase on the almirah, covered in a grey, thick layer of dust. If you observe the cobwebs in the corner of the room minutely, you’ll see locked between the shreds, him having second thoughts about his angry outburst the other day. And if you happen to look underneath the bed, you might just be surprised to find a few dreams – some nurtured and some murdered.

Etc Etc.

So in this way, everything that he thinks about stays close; it doesn’t disappear, drifting away from reach. It stays close, within two or three metres of where he stands, sits or lies. And in this little thought fortress he lives, like a king guarding all he has.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hardly believe that was an interaction of The Self with The Other. Instead, I am quite sure it was about The Ego talking to The Self. You still opine that we must be hell bent upon discussing The Other? All our writings tend to be autobiographical. Anyway, your decision.

However, I will hardly take anything from the short write-up. Think!!

Prabhu Dutta Das said...

You are born, your eye open outwards, in particular all your senses open outwards. First you become aware of others and then by and by you become aware of yourself.A circle is created.But this becomes a reflected circle as awareness of "others" becomes reflected. It is then you accumulate the feelings of your own self.In between the curls of smoke you scaled an illusion.Once you break through it,you give it all to keep it to yourself-"YOUR IDENTITY".

P.S. Didn't want to get into this, but aaj kal ke posts(lankys and this one) made me ogle it.

Anonymous said...

Well, i have no intention of making some over-the-top comment here; i'll keep it short and sweet. :)
A nice short work, though less thought provoking for fellow smokers. Seems like even you were a little unsure of what exactly lies in that smoke or in particular the B-Wing smoke. ;) But true, its all in those few meters. \m/ keep it coming.

Piper said...

Lanky:

Was Mr. India, Man, or A Bird's Eye View 'autobiographical'? I don't think so. Yes, some of our writings are personal but it'll be unwise and boring on the readers to make all of them so.

Prabhu:

Was your comment meant for some other post? Didn't really get the connection.

And 'ogle'?

Jezuz:

It was only a thought, a dream. And I put it down in words. That's all.

Anonymous said...

aha...yes indeed...it would be a bit boring

but then again, isn't blogging or writing for that matter all about articulating whatever comes to our mind

instead of channelizing them in a particular direction?

you might say thought are too abstract without a direction...but then it's the abstractness which appeals to all of us

a two pronged debate that might continue forever.

i rest my case for the time being

Calvin said...

alright, where is the self and where is the other?

anyway, you prick. you have started addressing yourself in third person. that's not good enough for fortifying yourself against my criticisms!

anyway, my dear perennial smoker, its a good idea to see your life within 4-5 feet of the enclosed space that in which you exist!

Don't you dare overdo it!

Random Guy said...

How many time shave i craved something to lessen my stress.... to assess me in my thought process... the answer is simple many say... you need a smoke... just a smoke they say....

anyways interesting thoughts....