Thursday, July 3, 2008

..........................................:BETWEEN THE LINES

It’s a bustling Thursday evening holding on to a lot of wet promises and raindrops against a hot-aired, empty sunset. Menaka looks at her reflection in the life-size mirror sitting pretty on one wall of the lavish washrooms, on the same floor as the ‘Bike and Psych’ Pub of one of the premier multi-star hotels in Chennai. The reflection smiles back at its gorgeous mistress.

The red halter neck and the swishy purple skirt clinging to those curves and contours lend Menaka a classy, yet smoking-hot look. She runs her hands down the front of her skirt out of sheer habit, and her eyes lock on to the stunning antique ruby-red ring on her ring finger ................................................................

………………………………………………….Menaka wishes for the antique ruby-red ring to transform into a red-hot partner. Maybe tonight is the night. She smiles at her mock optimism. Menaka could be quite the Queen Bee of any group: her diva dynamism, infectious enthusiasm, maternal instincts, nightingale voice, razor-sharp wit and way with words, group-political prowess and intuitive maneuvers get her buzzing right to the centre of any hive. Hiding behind that impeccable grace and spider-web charm is a spoilt little kid; a little kid who peeps out from behind the vixen veneer, a little kid who loves to laugh and help people, a little kid who is a staunch believer in family, religion, traditions, dignity, duties and responsibilities and a little kid who hankers for real romance.

“In a city of self-proclaimed Kings, would I chance upon the shining blade of my Knight in romantic armor? Well, maybe ‘Bike and Psych’ would provide the answer,” She takes a deep breath, joins her group of friends outside the restroom, smiles and nods as she breezes past the friendly bouncers into the yellow-lit club.

She orders a Tequila Martini and her friends order pitchers of beer, a mixture of shots and cocktails. Vinod, a friend of hers sits at the adjacent table with another friend of his.

“Menaka, this place gets a hard-on when you’re here. You look gorgeous. Meet my friend Varun, the dancer extraordinaire.”

Vinod and Varun join Menaka’s table. Menaka radiates a blazing smile, hugs Vinod and shakes hands with Varun. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, and you must know, I have a thing for dancers (winks).” Varun wears a red party shirt, teamed with black trousers. Menaka smiles inwardly at the thought she tries to push down her fluttering heart, “He’s your red-hot partner, something tells me….”
Varun returns a suave smile and says, “Not really a trained dancer, but invisible dancing shoes have a thing for me when I see beautiful women like you and my feet itch to dance.”

Menaka and Varun move opposite to each other. Everything and everyone around them fades into colorful oblivion. Their glasses clink and they gulp down their drinks. The hunter eyes the prey; only, neither of them knows who really the hunter was and who, the prey.

The First Time I saw you
you were standing In the Rain
there was something about you
that made Me Look Again
the Way That You Let The Rain
fall Down On You
the Way That You Smile
when Your Eyes Met Mine
ooh,Ooh...”- Courtesy Wise Guys (The first time I saw you)


“Can I have this dance?” asks Varun.
Menaka blushes and replies, “Oh Yeah, Why not?”

Varun draws her into a merengue sequence. Menaka knew a little jive and had always taken well to a male lead in a couple dance. “But this is whopping different,” she muses, as he led her into Caribbean twists and twirls.

As if he heard her muse, Varun tells her, “This is quite simple. Just follow me.” He suddenly put his hands over her head, loops it down her upper back and waist, comes spine-chillingly close for a tingling second, and when she closes her eyes to savor the feeling, he twists her on his right feet, does a side basic and leaves her untouched, into a dizzying twiddle, only to touch, steady and coax her into the next forward basic movement.

“Lady, swing you hips along with mine. It lends a deep flavor to this dance.” Menaka blushes at the all the activity hip-down.
“A lot of things are swinging in your favor, least of all the flavor,” she quips in an unperturbed voice. Inside, she was quivering.

The lady in red is dancing with me
Cheek to cheek
There’s nobody here
Its just you and me
It’s where I want to be
But I hardly know this beauty by my side
Ill never forget the way you look tonight. .. -courtesy Chris De Burgh, Lady in Red.

They settle into a romantic trance. The hunter had lost. The prey had won.
Only, here there was no hunter but two prey going in circles around each other. Only time would reveal the outcome of this chase.
....................................******************************....................................

BETWEEN THE LINES
She runs her hands down the front of her skirt out of sheer habit, and her eyes lock on to the stunning antique ruby-red ring on her ring finger ........................……………………………………..
It replaces her more expensive, but boring diamond-wedding ring. To her advantage, age is her beauty’s most unwanted alibi: ‘Forty something and sexy’ is quite rare in her part of the world. Her marriage had spoken only two exquisitely beautiful words to her all through its life- her two beautiful children. Those two beautiful words alone had coerced her into forming her marriage into a decent life-sentence. Now, those two words had also flown away and become birds with their own nests leaving Menaka all alone in her empty nest......................................

Menaka wishes for the antique ruby-red ring to transform into a red-hot partner. Maybe tonight is the night.

If ever marriage becomes an unsatisfied hunter, and the hunter becomes his own inescapable prey, there’s nothing wrong in burying the gun, taking up the gauntlet and shooting other arrows. Age is never a barrier for breaking free and seeking true companionship.

My dream is to fly
Over the rainbow so high
My dream is to fly
Over the rainbow so high..-- Courtesy Yves Larock - Rise Up

31 comments:

--xh-- said...

you shouldn't have given those clues - read btw the lines and the ring...
if there where no clues, thn it would hv been hard 2 guess...

nice name for the pub :)

The King Centaur... said...

hey babes..

actually, this post is too god. I loved the way you described Menaka, and also the way you described her romatic adventure..

Atta Girl, keep rocking!!

Cheerz,
Teddy!

Vishesh said...

amazing...you are a genius( ya ya i pass it on back to you the g tag :) ) ...i never expected that twist...i expected something but not that...

Gunjan Aylawadi said...

wow!! great post!!
equally great thought...if only one can gather enough courage!

Sriram said...

awesome! The little bits of verse serve as the soundtrack.. that's a new technique of storytelling I havent seen :)

Sachin Sawant said...

Nice post........

Courage is name of the game....... :)

Keep rocking

Cяystal said...

Cheers to the the courage.;)

Btw,no clues should be given yar,it spoils the suspense!

**Menaka could be quite the Queen Bee of any group: her diva dynamism, infectious enthusiasm, maternal instincts, nightingale voice, razor-sharp wit and way with words, group-political prowess and intuitive maneuvers get her buzzing right to the centre of any hive


Omg.I'm jealous of her :P
I mean kuch zyada tareef nahi ho gayi iski?
Lol!

Heart'n'Soul said...

NIIIIIIICE

Loved it, loved everything about it

Meneka, Varun, the turn of events, the thing about courage, the verses... tum to chaaa gayi ho

Shruti said...

aah nice nice..
But what caught my attention more was Bike and Psyche.. wow.. how do u come up with these names ;-)

gypsy said...

soundtrack, dance and a nice twist...way to go gal...

ranjana said...

its an amazing post. not only your writing style is superb you have touched upon a bold topic and i completely agree with it.
pursuit of happiness shouldn't stop. and if the diamond ring doesn't make one happy then looking for the ruby ring is no sin...after all its one life only

kyamaloom said...

Woah!!
At first I thought its a subtle version of "Hello Stranger". But was amazed at the twist!

Really liked it.
Bold? Oh! I so love bold. ;)

And btw, I don't dance! So, I won't get Menaka?!? :|

maverick said...

i think i ve seen the pub..from outside during one of my trips to chennai...dont remember clearly tho...


anyways...very nicely drafted out :)..

g-man said...

"there’s nothing wrong in burying the gun, taking up the gauntlet and shooting other arrows. Age is never a barrier for breaking free and seeking true companionship" profound! i agree with xh about the clues though. the mystery would've been amazing. friggin amazing work there :) rock on!!!

Cяystal said...

Where are YOU? :X

Vineet Rajan said...

finally i am back! ehy i am not able to read anything on the blog or i am growing old! :(

Sameera Ansari said...

Girl that was some narration! :)

Very true,age is not a barrier for seeking a partner.

Hope Menaka found hers.

The last song is a really cool one.

Btw,was the pub's name inspired from "Bikes & Barrel"? ;)

Compassion Unlimitted said...

The twists,turns and the guessing game went on till the end.Very nicely done
TC
CU

Nirmal said...

hey tat was a great one//loveed it..

rantravereflect/ jane said...

xh-->
heeeee, yehhh i'm a mood spoiler!

the TM-->
HEEE,. yehhhh i love menaka as well.. she's an awesum person!!n the romatic adventure, yehhhhhh..

vishesh-->
man now dont pass on the tag jus cosya gotta (liek a tit 4 tat ;))
n heee, it's grt ya dint expect it

gunj-->
tahnks babe!!yehhh, this requires tonza courage..
:)

rantravereflect/ jane said...

sriram-->
heeee, yehh tried puttin 2 n 2 together there to get 5.. nice ya took note of teh songs :):) yipppeeeee..

sachin-->
yehh man, courage is a big thing, esp when it comes to relationships: isn't it?
;)

aayushi-->
yehhhh, i wanna give the clues, cos i dun wan peopel to run away before reading through ;)
n heeeee, zyaada tareef, well the woman in ques deserves this n more :)

div-->
yippppeeeee, ya actually made a note of te char names, then that's floored me babe!!

shruti-->
like i told ya, the original is 'bike n barrel' geeeee.. but doesnt ''bike n psych' sound betta?
;)

d sinner-->
yehhhhh, twists wen i write or dance are liek a huge parta me!;)

ranjana-->
welcome here.. n thanks a ton!!
n yehhh, it taketh conviction to break free n opt put.. sooo yehhh i believe in being happy , whichever way one thinks best!

sutta->
heeeeeee, well if it's not the dance, well impress n floor her with something else, something even bolder: i leave it to ya wild imagination :)

maverick-->
ya must also go there sumtyme :) it's a nice place :)

g-man-->
the next tyme, i'll try doing away wyd the clues :)n yeh,, i'd rock on!:)
heeeee

aayushi-->
ryte here babe!! :)
wazzup!!!
mwuahhhh

rantravereflect/ jane said...

vinni->>
wait for the whole page to load:(:(
n we all are gettyn old, even my page i guess..:(

sameera-->
heee, menaka is styll searching :)
n yehhh, inspired by 'b&b' :)

compassion unlimited-->
yehhhh :) glad i kept it up till the end :) geeee

nirmal--> thanks a tonnnnn man !!:)

Cinderella said...

Oh ! This was breath-taking woman !!

How you spin magic and twist an twirl your readers emotions whichever way you want !!!!

LOved it !

The Maverick Blog said...

hmm hmm... Awesomely written!
!! Kudos :)

Saim said...

If ever marriage becomes an unsatisfied hunter, and the hunter becomes his own inescapable prey, there’s nothing wrong in burying the gun, taking up the gauntlet and shooting other arrows. Age is never a barrier for breaking free and seeking true companionship. .....as they say, mo point in carrying a dead horse!!!
btw...v well written, d mood is brilliantly set up
n d clues served well for second guessing d twist @ d end.

Anonymous said...

I figured something was weird in the middle of the story.. But this..? NO way! Wow!

Macadamia The Nut said...

Your descriptions are fantabulous girlfriend!!!!!! Half the time I FEEL the characters.

And as for the thought behind it.. I agree 100%!!

You're only as young or old as you think you are.. and it's NEVER EVER too late to change your life, right?

crasiezt said...

IS there really a pub like that? Sounds nice!

And damn it I guessed that was her wedding ring..though of course I didn't think she would be in her forties!!

Written so beautifully! Loved it:-)

Raven said...

Belated happy birthday and thanks for dropping by Raven's Nest. I can see you are bubbling over with creativity here. Everyone is welcome at wordzzles, the more the merrier and I'm sure you will offer some interesting contributions. I post mine and Mr. Linky usually on Friday afternoon or early evening and pretty much everyone does theirs on Saturday. That's not really a rule (I'm not big on rules), it must means you have a better chance of people knowing you've posted and coming by to visit. See you Saturday.

Cяystal said...

When do you come online,Jane?
Once in a blue moon? :X

Anonymous said...

Nice write up. :)

UPDATES ON MY OTHER BLOG :)

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