I'm in a free fall, down an endless pitch black void. There’s no screaming wind in my ears. Just a dull silence. A silence, that comes with despair. And loss. And a million heartbreaks.

Memories from a quiet evening, from a not too distant past  float past me. Vivid memories of her warm smile. And her eyes. Most of all, her deep liquid brown eyes.

Everything dissolves and a warm, ethereal sensation envelops my body. And every fiber of my being is left yearning for a little more of her.


My 'space outs', have been slowly increasing in frequency over the past few weeks. The spells are immediately followed by a familiar persistent ache – that of a wild heart trying to claw its way out.

 'Love'. It’s a strange thing isn't it? It manifests itself in a million different ways.Yet, its first symptoms always originate in that involuntary piece of muscle in your chest,whose erratic behavior seems to know no bounds.

Thinking back, it was a rather serendipitous meeting. Random people. Random setting.

I drank in her warm demeanour, masked erudition and ineffable vulnerability, only to end up craving for more. A hurried tete-a-tete and few giggles later, I knew I was suffering from something more than just a crush. Phone numbers were exchanged and promises were made to call each other.The last thing I recollect, is the image of her straight figure standing silhouetted against the illumination of the mall.

When you are in the quest for virtues of the rarest kind and find them all in a single person, well within your grasp, you consider yourself fortunate, because you know, the chances of it happening again are next to nothing.But you see the universe, works in the most mysterious ways. When you covet one thing above everything else, the same mysterious forces that brought you something, silently conspires against you.

It’s been a long time since that evening. And a lot has transpired.

Promising though it might seem, I’m reluctant and scared as hell to take the next step. I just hate to think of all the carefully laid out plans that will go amiss. And the ripples it will cause in the future.

The Butterfly Effect...of it all.

The adamant rust stain on my favourite pair of jeans, the tiny yet conspicuous hole in my FCUK t-shirt and the vivid green mould on my precious mauve corduroys - I freakin hate’em all. And seeing them rot away bit by bit, always depresses me.

Just consider the amount of time, effort and money spent on picking up that perfect shade of stonewashed blue or digging up that garment giving you the snuggest fit you’ve only ever dreamt of .

They serve you faithfully through drunken brawls, pointless outdoor expeditions and other devious things the universe throws at you. And in the end, you lose them to some stupid nail sticking out of a bench or an old rusty clothesline. 

I mean, I get the whole “Everything that has a beginning, has an end” thingy.

But life just doesn’t seem fair at times to my apparel.(Sniff)

P.S: Now that the cat is out of the bag, I fervently hope that you don’t consider me any less manly (whatever that might mean) or suspect my ‘straight’ ness.

And however it might sound, I really am not the materialistic type!

At least, I keep telling myself that.

For the uninitiated traveller, Pondicherry is a small coastal city lying around 135 km south of Chennai,India . Few of the noteworthy aspects of the city are it’s perfectly straight cobbled streets, buildings with French architectural influences , an amazing coastal cuisine and lovely promenades.

It is late in the night. The dusty clock face shows a little past ten o’clock.

Persepolis is a movie adaptation of the autobiographical graphic novel of the same name written by Marjane Satrapi. The film went on to win the Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.

The film is history beautifully retold, for the timeline follows the progression of Iran from the fall of the Shah of Iran through the tumultuous times of the Iranian revolution, ending in Iraq’s invasion of Iran.As the story unravels, we see the protagonist’s perspective of her childhood years spent in Iran, her subsequent move to Vienna and her forced return back. 

The movie is witty for most its part and uses a quirky style that makes extensive use of the colors black and white.On the other hand, the monochromatic animation serves as a means to differentiate the past from the present and ensures that the most heart-breaking scenes remains intense.

So what makes this movie different from others?

While the rest of the world is bent on the extensive use of CGI effects and photorealism, Persepolis keeps it simple, elegant and old school.Among other things, the film explores the basic elements of society like family values, freedom and emancipation of women.

It combines humour,frank story-telling and a brilliantly composed soundtrack against the stark setting of the Iranian revolution to create a rich visual experience , that you will never forget.

Highly Recommended!