Azure Waters

[This is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to people alive or dead is purely coincidental.]

"That is not Blue", you declared, tossing your long ponytail in emphasis. "It is Azure."
"Same thing."
"Isn't that just like a man", you said. "Calling 'azure' 'blue' is like calling your 'boutique investment house' a 'bank'. You wouldn't like that would you?"
"Whether it's azure or blue, the water is just as tempting", I said diving in. We frolicked in the pool all afternoon.

Megan, my love, did you flash into my life only to teach me the shades of blue? Did your mother ever suspect I stayed with her as long as I did, only because of you?

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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

In October 2010, the Burrow is presenting a collection of drabbles inspired by the colours of the Spectrum. Read this Bule drabble and many, many more  exclusively at the Burrow..

Swinging on Gates

The gates of the house I grew up in were ten feet high, or twenty. They towered over me and weighed a tonne. Only a giant could even think of scaling them, I always thought.
But despite their size, they were perfect for swinging on. For many years after that, I did not find a swingable gate.

Yesterday, I taught my kids to swing on the tiny gates in their grandfather's house. They love it, and have already spent several hours doing nothing else.

But watching them play, I wonder if my gates were really as gigantic as I remember.

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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.


What about you? Have you swung on gates? And are they really as big as they seemed when we were kids?
And do check out Danette's fantastic post on perspective- here.

Passion

Her concentration was intense; she would not be distracted from the task literally on hand. A perfectionist; she had to get every line of the pattern just right.

Her customer had paid her in advance. She only came a few times a year; however satisfied, it was unlikely her customer would ever remember her enough to come back to her. She could have done a bad job and gotten away with it. But she gave it her all.

For her, applying henna was not just a way to earn some extra money. It was her passion.

Passion makes everything worthwhile.
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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

What is common to Maslow's Theory of Motivation and Writer's block? Head across to Burrowers, Books & Balderdash  to find out, and to read an awesome drabble on finding intelligent life on Mars.

Colours

On the train the other day, I was suddenly reminded of a holiday in Goa. Normally, I would have immersed myself in the memory, but on that particular day, I chose to probe further. Where had that memory have come from? It was a day like any other, a train like any other, but something had reminded me of the lovely resort we had stayed in three years back.

Then I saw it- a silk scarf in the same shade of blue as the lagoon-shaped swimming pool of the resort.

Isn't it amazing how some colours can trigger buried memories.


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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

In October 2010, the Burrow is presenting a collection of drabbles inspired by the colours of the Spectrum. Read them exclusively at the Burrow..

Listen to yourself

My first trip on the Delhi Metro. The man at the ticket counter told me which platform to go to. My instinct told me he was wrong, so I asked another. He corroborated what the first guy said. The signage was ambiguous. I asked a third and got the same reply. My sense of direction could not be that wrong. The train arrived. I should have climbed on, but I chose to obey my instincts.

A train came on the other platform. I climbed in.

Had I not listed to myself, I would have ended up in the next state.


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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.

They do it for their husbands

Beauty treatments, new clothes, matching bangles, dressy shoes. Intricate henna patterns, exotic bindis, professionally applied make-up.
On Karva Chaut, every woman tries to looks as beautiful as a bride-  she needs something to take her mind off the growing hunger and thirst. She eats before dawn, and breaks her fast only after sighting the moon at night- the same moon which invariably plays hide and seek. It is difficult but not as difficult as not being able to drink anything till sunset.

They do it for their husbands. Do the husbands appreciate it? Most just take it as their due.

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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words. Another drabble on Karva Chaut here.

A 'Rewind' button in your life?

This post is inspired by a question that Margot Kinberg placed on her blog - "If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you, and what would it be?"

'Rewind' means going back in time and doing something differently from how it has been done. Tempting, isn't it, to ask for that power?
But is that all it is made out to be?  You can choose not to date the guy who later hurt you, but you can't transform yourself from the geek to the glamour doll even if you wanted to. Avoiding the heartache would have been worth it, you may think, but can you be sure you will not end up meeting someone worse?

No 'Rewind' button for me. I'd rather make choices and not look back.

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A drabble is a story told in exactly 100 words.