Another Journey!!! - Short Story
Nov 9 2006 | Views 1499 |
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Tags: Italy Painting Italy Journey Florence Mail Poet Pharma
Tags: Italy Painting Italy Journey Florence Mail Poet Pharma
No reply from him. It is the 5th day. Yeah!! I am counting days, hours, minutes.. No reply, whatsoever, on that long heartfelt mail of mine. Does it happen to you? You don’t realize what you have got until you lose it? It is too early to say, if I lost him. Well, too early even to conclude whether I got him at the first place. That’s not the point, the point is he has not replied to my mail and that’s what is bothering me.
***
“How breathtaking is that piece of work!!!” came the voice from behind.
“Oh!! It is beautiful indeed!!" I responded politely. Very unlikely of me. Yeah! To talk to a stranger like this. That too in a public place. Agreed, it was a museum and the crowd would be decent, still. I looked back, what I saw was a tall young man, must be in his early thirties.
“I wish, I can spend next few days here.” He read my mind. Had he not disturbed my thoughts I was transported into the 18th century. The elevated frames, the muted lighting and a pin drop silence had created a mystic air in the room that was enough to mesmerize my senses.
“I am here on a business. I will be here for another day and then will be off. I can’t get enough of this city. Too many places to cover in too little time. Is that what Florence does to everyone?.” Opps!! Again he spoke my mind. How much I hate that. He kept talking..
“Look at this painting. Does it take you to another era? Another century perhaps? The color, the texture, the characters, they look so real. Look at that man standing symmetrical with his hands folded and eyes gazing at you. As if he is looking through you, he wants to tell you his story...or making you realize your story. You need cosmic ears to listen to them, celestial eyes to understand it. Feel the painting, don’t just look at it. You know, you can have any conclusion you want to.” He was talking passionately..
“I think, the idea is to discover what the artist wants to convey. That is why this audio guide is handy. Just push the button and click on the number, it will tell you the biography of the artist unfolding the painting.” I said, matter of factly.
“I know, but to understand what the artist wants to say through painting, you have to engage in a game.”
“A Game?”
“Yeah! a game. What I am doing is, I stare at the painting, picturize it visually and it plays a story in my mind. The image reflects many alternatives to that visual.. To check, if we think alike, I push the button of this audio guide to see what the gentleman has to say.”
“Does your conclusion tallies?” I asked with a curiosity as if my life is dependent on his answer.
“Never actually.”
We both laughed.
***
Waiting for someone or something is not necessarily the best virtue I possess. Still, I decide to wait, patiently for his mail while preparing this presentation. Oh yeah!! I have this meeting in Copenhagen tomorrow. Another conference, another presentation, another propaganda to tell the budding crowd what wonder drug my company is contemplating. Yeah!! That's what I do for living…Sigh!!
***
“Tell me, what brings you to this city and the museum?” He asked me with a mischievous smile.
“I am a pharmacist working for a pharma company. Wander from one country to another attending conferences and conveying my company’s agenda. Thus, broadening my company’s interest…” I stopped as if to realize I am telling too personal things.
“You seem to be this big shot pharma girl?”
“Well, that’s what my profile says, yes. During my business travel, I explore the country. That’s what I like about my profession. Selling drugs for living and buying life through selling.. What brings you here?”
“Love..”
“Sorry? He caught me off guarded.
“Yeah!! I am in love with you.”
“ I didn't get that.” I started looking at him suspiciously.
“ Joking!!!
“Poor attempt at that.” I was visibly upset..
“I am into this family business that makes lamps. I am attending international conference of Lamps and Light.”
“Cool!! So you are this tube light guy.”
“That’s quite unflattering” He said shyly. We laughed at that…
***
I am about to leave for the airport. Decide to check the mail for the last time. Well, don’t know, what's the definition of last time. It is the nth time, I must have checked mails, no reply yet. I am beginning to have a headache now. I can’t stand this perplexity anymore. Let me write another heart wrenching mail telling my state of mind. Will that be of any use? He wont read it at this point in time. It much be a late night for him. He must be deep in his sleep dreaming. Would he be dreaming of me?
***
“Which is your favorite painting?” I asked him.
After a long pause, he said “Primavera by Botticieli”. “I am totally in love with that painting. The exquisite lady with sublime features with her aristocratic smile is something, I would like to carry with me…. “
“Ummm!! This businessman is a poet too.” I said while raising my eyebrows.
“No, it is the poet in business suit talking. I am planning to buy the replica of this painting from the shop.” It was silly, but we laughed again… and again for laughing on a silly remark.
****
Does he check his mails often? If he does then he would have replied to my earlier mail. It is like ages, I don’t see a reply. I really want to talk to him. God!! Are you listening? Long distance relationships are pain. You don’t see a person, linger on the moments spent together and wait for replies. Wait a minute, was it a relationship?
***
“Hey, you can’t pay the whole bill. Let’s go Dutch way… “ I screamed with an attempt to catch the bill from the waiter.
“Nopes, let me keep the accounts unbalanced.” He said while paying the bill.
“Why so?” He was good with words.
“They say, never clear the accounts that gives you another opportunity to meet. Besides, I have to watch an Opera tonight and after that, you can buy me a dinner.”
“Ghosh! You have fixed “our” program too?”
“You wanted to square off the accounts, right?”
“You are too much.”
***
I have another hour or so till the boarding takes place. What if I write down my true feelings, at least, it will make me feel better. Not difficult to locate the cyber café on this airport. I need to solve this mystery building in my mind.
“I got the mail!!! Ohhhh!!!!!!” I literally fell off my chair with hundreds of questions racing my mind..Does he or does he not? Is that love, infatuation, liking or strangers meeting for no reasons and then it is another…
I open the mail
J,
I think, you have got the wrong email id. I am not the person, you are intending to send this mail to. Hope you find the right person. Have a Nice Day!!!
Sam
Was it intentional? Or, I like a fool took the wrong email id? What do I do now? Maybe, another…
~THE END~
P.S- The beautiful pic of La Primavera by Botticieli
To know more about this painting click on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primavera
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