How would you feel if you were under a microscope, where you're completely unable to do anything...and even if you do...that would be the laughing stock of millions who are watching you... the eyes that follow you every moment... the glances, the smiles exchanged...why do you have that spot on your face...why is it kept this way? why this and not that...why dont you smile? why are you crying? are you feeling lonely? hungry?

And burdened under this 1 million whys ifs and whats...you start parting with the 'you' which you had carefully nurtured for all these years....

Silhouette

She walked down Mandeville Gardens every evening... Her floral printed skirt kissed by gentle summer wind...Her legs covered in stockings that almost resembled her skincolor... She carried a dark red umbrella, with its brown oval end clasped in her palms....her black shoes though quite old fashioned had the pointed heels, that made a quaint sound on the tarred stretch of the posh locality...

I saw her always from a distance..Never managed to see her face...Her back was quite alluring..Her fully formed hips, her stockings, shoulder length hair that kissed her loosely fitted shirt, formed a silhouette on my mind...I follwed her often, though keeping it as a cherished secret...Her red umbrella, and floral printed skirt, gently combed hair all added to the silhouette... I never had the courage to speak to her... I was never confident...My middle class Bong sensibilities overpowered me, everytime I wanted to approach her...

Today I had made up my mind... I stood on the other side of the road for the entire afternoon, just to have a glimpse of her face...

"She listen'd with a flitting blush...with downcast eyes and modest grace...and she forgave me, that I gazed too fondly on her face!"

I was in love...I knew her by now almost...How she walked...how she gently moved the curls that kissed her face... how she wiped the trail of sweat from her face...i just wanted to lift the veil...
just like the anxious lover on a first date, I almost stood there for hours....expecting her long awaited arrival...expecting the sound of her heels...her floral skirt and a girly fragrance that filled in the air each time she walked by...

There was a commotion near the main road...May be some sort of accident...I rushed to the spot...A trail of blood on the black asphalt...over enthusiatic and curious crowd...clueless cops...

A speeding vehicle had crushed another life... The face could not be identified... I peeped in... The red umbrella was lying on the side of the pavement... The pointed heels on the other side...It was almost twilight... I returned home carrying the silhouette on my mind and a secret in my heart...