She Lived!

She dreamed.
She scooped a piece of sky
And placed it on her tongue
She walked through storms
And rammed into walls.
She bled her passion,
She shone, she dimmed,
She dared.

Highway

Mahabir had a change of heart. If he could, he would have gone back in time and undo what he did in a fit of rage. What he did not know was that he set her free the day he dragged her, gagged her mouth and shoved her in the back of his car. Her fiancé looked on, scared like a five-year-old. “I told you not to come out at this hour. I told you” he had screamed at her, almost blaming Veera for getting kidnapped. She had fluttered like a captured bird. she had growled through the gag, refused to eat, even tried to escape once. But Mahabir knew that in this part of the country, she could run for days and still find nothing. Finally, she came back to them, falling on her knees like a tired traitor.

37 days later, Veera was a different person. He had seen her sleeping peacefully on the rocks. He had seen her playing in water fountains from broken tube wells. He had seen her hang her head outside the truck's window and take in gulps of fresh air. It was hard to look at her and not catch her infectious dimpled smile. In captivity, she had found freedom. Who knew? Who knew the rich girl was a prisoner to her own people, in her own world. Mahabir had always hated the rich. The grapes were not sour. He knew the masks they wore. He knew they lived in palaces made of dried leaves, built on a veiled dishonesty. Veera blew the leaves of her family that night when she spoke of her uncle. He was not sure what triggered her memory, but he let her speak. Mahabir could hardly make out what she was trying to say between her heavy sobbing. “He would take me inside the bathroom,” She said, pausing only to wipe her tears violently. “I would shriek in pain. I hardly knew what was going on, I was … I was six”. He did not want to hear more. It felt like reading someone else’s private diary, like peeping in someone’s bedroom. But Veera went on. “shh ..shh, He would say, I am done. I am almost done. Don’t say anything to anyone, my little girl” She turned to him. “I told my mom. But all my mom said was Shh... Shh, Don’t say anything to anyone.”

She was silent for the rest of their journey that night. Mahabir knew better than ask her. But that one-sided conversation changed something between them. She no longer behaved like a captive, sometimes to his own exasperation. Did she take me for a friend, a confidante? She would dance with his men and ask him questions about his mother. He had shouted at her, even threatened her, warning her never to ask him questions about his past. He had lived the horrible days once. Living them once again, even if it was in his own head, would be nothing less than a torment. But the foolish girl only broke into a fit of giggles. “You are cute,” she said, pouting.

They had traveled half the country together and now he was tired. She was the daughter of a rich businessman and whatever led to her kidnapping was bygone. It only made sense to set her free. He would miss her, but what was he thinking? He could not even begin to imagine a life with her. What would she do? Be the wife of a criminal? Bear his children? It was difficult, but it was time to part. So he took her to Manali, bought her a few warm clothes and when it was time to say goodbye, he placed a phone in her hands.

“What does this mean?” She asked, confusion very clear on her face.
“Go”
“Go where Mahabir?”
“Go” He yelled.
“I am not going anywhere …listen to me Mahabir”

Why is it so difficult to see that she can have nothing to do with me.There was no point arguing and he was scared she would convince him to live out whatever fairy tale dream she had, of living on the mountains. He could not give that chance, to her and more so to himself. Mahavir gripped her hand and ran towards the two policemen he had seen while walking up. Before she could understand, he ran again, leaving her. “Mahabir” He heard her scream. But he did not dare to look back. “Yes, madam? Is there a problem?” He heard the cops say.

It was while standing at the ticket window at the bus stand that he knew she was almost as stubborn as him. She had probably followed him. “Listen to me Mahabir” she almost growled. “What is going to happen from now is not something you decide on your own. We are in this together.”

“Go and sit near the column” He whispered. She looked around, covered her head and walked away.

She had found him. She had come back running to him -- to her own kidnapper. I might have taken her away from her world, but she has made me human again. He did not know what is to happen in the future. Heck, he did not even know what will happen the next moment. But she had made him believe. Maybe he could have a life. Maybe he could be what his mother wanted him to be, unlike the beast he had become. Mahabir did not remember the last time he felt so happy. He turned towards her and smiled, maybe his brightest in years. “Yes,” He seemed to say. “We are in this together”

All Veera could do was lean her head back and cry – tears of happiness. To the world, she was kidnapped. In her heart, she was free.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was an idea that somebody gave in fleeting at the Writer's club -- To write down your favorite scene as a practice to 'show don't tell' concept. I wrote this because as usual I was in a dearth of original ideas. 

Consider this as a disclaimer -- "I DO NOT claim to call this my story just because I wrote it in my own words" 

Now that we have this out of our way, I really enjoyed writing a part of Highway like this. I picked this scene because A- I love Highway (although it bores you in parts, as a whole it is a great movie) and second I was totally in love with this scene because I fell in love with Randeep Hooda's smile and Alia Bhat's expressions that follows. So tell me if you enjoyed it.

Through Pages and Screens

My hook these days is Game of Thrones – the series. By hook, I obviously mean something that I am hooked on to. I would have certainly liked to watch all of it after I had read the books but what can I do if the author himself has not finished the writing. Why I started watching the series at the first place is an interesting story – for another time. Today I am here to wonder out loud about how different is a scene on the screen and on papers.

Game of Thrones is an epic. You need a genius of an artist to create several characters with a back story for almost all of them, new traditions, a new religion, and new languages. Basically, Martin decided to play God and create his own universe. Every page gulps you in. Every character, every story, every war – All you can do is turn the pages and get yourself engrossed into Martin’s creation. The television series is equally riveting. However, it is interesting when you experience a story simultaneously on print and screen. There are some obvious differences in both the mediums and none of them have me complaining. How many times do we see two versions of the same story and actually like it?

As I write this, I have finished watching season four. And as I watch each and every season and compare it with what I have already read, firstly I am quite pleased with myself because by and large I remember most of the story. And why is that something to be proud of? For the sheer size of the books -- they are huge, with every story in tiny details. So to remember at leat 80% of it is pretty cool! A Song of Ice and Fire series moves along through point of views of all its characters. Again, to my untrained reader eye, it is almost an impossible feat to take a zillion characters, give their point of views and have a whole story move forward. Nowhere does it feel broken or discontinued. But when the same people come alive on your screen, something changes – for good and for bad.

To begin with, you can take brilliant actors but they can never emote out all the emotions we read with such lovely details in the books. You also end up feeling closer to characters or even away from them. Take Robb Stark for example. In the books, we saw the complete story of Robb Stark through his mother’s eyes. In the show, however, he is there himself to live out his story. So although in the show we see how Catelyn worries for him, how she helps him, how she understand him and compares him to his father, we still get to experience a walking talking Robb Stark, unlike the books. I like this because in the books I never really felt connected with Robb and before I could start pondering over why he is not given his own voice in written words, his story is over.

Shae never comes across as a very strong character. In the books, I am not sure if she was even meant to be. On the screen, she holds her own in front of Tyrion. She fights with him, she disagrees with him, loves him fiercely and urges him to leave King’s landing with her. In the books, we only met Shae when Tyrion meets her. The book Shae never formed a specific personality. We know Tyrion really likes her, but she is not his strength. Margery Tyrell is a character I am still getting to know in my pages. But on my screen, I feel she is much tougher. While there are only whispers of the “friendship” between Loras Tyrell and Renly Baratheon in the book, their relationship glares at you through the show.

Cersei is way, way, way shrewd in the books. She is downright nasty. Although after his journey with Brienne, you kind of start liking Jaime, but Cersei is brutal. In fact, in the books, she is totally engulfed with the power game and has no time (or love) for Jaime after he comes back. And hang on, Brienne is in love with Jaime? In the books, I interpreted their relationship only as that of respect and honor. But in the show when Cersei asks Brienne if she loves him, she looks down quietly. I would have liked it if a few things were open to interpretation in the show as well.

Speaking of Brienne, as a small deviation, Podrick ( damn cute in the show, again almost un-noticeable in the books) is a “gift” to Brienne from Jaime while in the books, he stealthily follows her till she confronts and accepts him as her squire. Also, in the show, Podrick asks Brienne to be discreet about searching Sansa Stark while the opposite happens in the books. In the books, Brienne goes about asking everyone if they had seen a “fair maiden of auburn hair” not exactly specifying who is she searching for. If my memory serves me correctly, she says she is looking for her sister. Also, do Brienne and Arya meet in the books? I think no.

Daenerys's track is also not very different from the one in the pages. One difference was that as readers, we meet Barristan Selmy only when he comes out of disguise while as viewers, we already knew that Selmy had joined Daenerys. Her hands maids are Irri and Jhiqi. Missandei as far as I remember was a little girl. (Although I am totally in love with the gorgeous woman playing Missandei). Her dragons never get stolen and she is never betrayed by Dorreah. In fact, I am not completely sure if a Doreah lived between the pages of ASOIAF. I don’t remember Daenerys's incentive of going to the house of undying but she not only meets Drogo there but her other family members as well. That part was quite intriguing in the books. Also, there are no "thirteen" in Quarth in the books. (I liked that bit, though)

I loved Tyrion in the books. I am totally mad about him in the show. He is smart, witty, funny and the best character ever – whether he breathes inside the pages of a book or straddles through our television screens. I think Peter Dinklage is fantastic beyond words. Fans of the show will remember his speech after his trial and your heart just goes out to him. The last book I read in the ASOIAF series was A Feast of Crows and sadly, Tyrion does not appear in it. So I have no idea what happens to him after he flees King’s Landing (Although I have some idea through the spoilers). It is said that you can be brave only when you are scared and there is not a single person braver than Tyrion. I mean he deserves a whole post – he is that good. I can talk a lot about him and eventually I will. But for now, I will move on.

Speaking of bravery, Samwell Tarly is a lot smarter in the show. Whereas in the books you can read his thoughts and know how scared he is at every moment – be it at the wall or at the fist of the first men, Samwell on the show is far more confident. I like this change actually. I sometimes felt like holding the book-Sam and shake him and ask him to get a grip of himself.

Jon’s story is almost the same as that in the books. However when Sam meets Bran, Bran takes a promise from Sam that he shall not tell Jon that they had met. In the show, there is no such promise. Such are the tiny differences. Petyr Baelish introduces Sansa as Alayne Stone, his bastard child with black hair. In the show, she is his niece. Also, they blame a singer for Lady Lysa’s death. Sansa is quite timid in the books compared to that in the show. I am yet to read both the parts of A Dance of Dragon. So I don’t know what her fate is. Theon has not become Reek in the books yet (I mean not till A Feast of Crows at least) so I have to see how his track has been modified. A Feast OF Crows (AFOC) did not have Bran’s story at all so the last I knew of him was that he was stuck in the castle. He has moved on in the show and I am curious to know what words tell his story. AFOC also does not tell Jon’s story after he becomes the 998th Lord Commander of the Wall. On the other hand, I have read all about Arya’s journey to Braavos and Sam’s journey to the Citadel. I don’t know if this is in season 5 but I will know that soon!

No one (including Martin himself) knows when the next book is coming. We will see season six before that and I honestly think that it is not the worst thing in the world. Probably because the people handling the show are doing a great job. Also, because the actors are a treat. I will wait patiently for the Winds of Winter. Let Martin take his time. Maybe he is churning out his best work yet. In the meanwhile, I will satiate my curiosity with season six.And personally, I am yet to start A Dance of Dragons. So you may not hear me complain just yet!