Friday, February 20, 2009

The depravity of desire

Desire squats on her life like the brown wedges with turquoise stones on the t-bar strap she picked up last week: not needed, but hard to not need.

She rummages through the internet everyday, like the chest of drawers at home, pulling out things and lives she likes, stuffing the rest back in, haphazardly, in an orderly chaos that always lets her pull the right rabbit out of the hat.

However snazzily she cloaks it, hiding it under different needs each day - this voyeurism is starting to smart at her conscience now. Peeping Tom, she chides herself. Peeping into lives that she wished she was living. Homes she wished she had helped build. Food she wished she could cook and serve and gloat over. Jokes she wished she could've used to break up the thick silence at home.

And all that, that is around her, the dependable life she is living, the home with its klutzy inhabitants and inherited furniture, the greasy food of the age-old maharaj, the efficient conversation of discord-free days, all that is so hard to need.

She has learnt to make the right choices, the ones tagged practical. She even knows the right things to say, the right time and the right people. But her betraying words are like her shoe-choices: they are not what she needs, but so hard to not need.

There are voices in her head today, some have always been there: washing dirty linen in public. She wonders why these words won't go, why her ears are hot, why there's a squeamish feeling of having stumbled upon something putrid, private and not needed.

7 comments:

Swati said...

Kind of disturbing. Thought provoking. Interesting. I read you is the only comment I can offer at this moment.

Sujatha Bagal said...

But shouldn't the ones letting you peek into their personal lives be the ones feeling guilty (i.e., us)? And there is plenty of greasy food, efficient conversations going around. Only they are not written about!

Sujatha Bagal said...

NM, pls forgive the earlier flippant comment. I have a feeling now I misunderstood your post.

Choxbox said...

wow. i am going to re-read the post, all i have to say right now is that you write beautifully, just in case you didn't know already.

Anonymous said...

that's the thing though, internet is just a window that offers a glimpse into the most glamorous side of a life. Just a window. An invitation through the door will be more of an eye opener,don't you think?

I am like you too, I just cant write this well :-)

Anonymous said...

'the depravity of desire' so aptly titled. A very stimulating post and you said so much in so little words!
more power to you. cheers.

Nino's Mum said...

Swati - 'kind of disturbing' sums it up exactly. Loved the cartoon strip you sent me :)

Suj - your words are never flipant and always welcome. as the husband says, truth requires the partnership of two people - one who has the courage to say the truth, and the other who needs even more courage to listen. hug.

choxbox - :) thanx.

tearsndreams - welcome here. I think you've put it aptly, but the post was a criticism of my perception that sees only the 'greener' side of it.

preeti - could definitely use more power currently, lol!