March 03, 2012

WHEN JOURNEY MEANT MORE THAN DESTINATION



This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 25; the Silver Edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The topic for this month is 'When Journey Meant More Than Destination'.

Beauty was not her thing .She had ordinary wavy but stubborn hair that refused to stay and fell all over her face. The pimpled cheeks ( thank you, puberty) and the hideous glasses which she had since 9th standard, said she was anything but pretty. That made her work hard and study.
But competition was fierce; and struggling in a premium institute to prove herself was beyond the word frustration.Turns out, there were many more smarter than her, and better looking too. " Life is indeed a bitch.. " she thought. Moreover, it turned out semi stalking a guy for 3 months was not a pleasant thing either. Well, what do you do, when the guy is the smartest on campus ( who FYI had traveled abroad to present papers in conferences , and was a brilliant playwright) but look at him and give a goofy smile at every failed attempt of casual conversation.

There is always research help that one can pretend to ask. But how long can that conversation last?

Then like in any other movies, off came few tresses, and roommates who redesigned the wardrobe made her believe she was indeed a hottie. But then, she never did care much for looks, was it for him that she did it? No! She did it for herself. Yet, he did talk to her after the play . "Maybe beauty makes an impression after all, sometimes better than the brains", she thought.

And soon began the late night chats and the long walks..neither admitted anything. She wasn't sure and he wasn't ready. They talked longer hours and soon she decided to tell how she felt, he wasn't ready then. But when he was ready, she thought may be it wasn't love. The roommate who heard the stories thought both were crazy. ( not crazy in love, just the usual crazy)

They did talk later too, may be about the feelings too, I don't remember but she told me about what he said to her about their first meeting; " I noticed you in hostel mess, with glasses on and unkempt hair and knew that I could come over and talk" She figured he didn't care for her looks and those words changed her. Did they get into the relationship? No, they didn't. She told me, it wouldn't work out and they didn't want to try.

Was there any point in the whole story and talks that went on for months? Was there any point in the confession of feelings which later changed with the season? Was there any point in that long moonlight walk when he told her she looked beautiful? Perhaps not. Perhaps the point was not to be in a relationship, that is no end. There is only meeting of two worlds. Perhaps the point was not to meet but to just be in each other's presence with no end road or destination. Just the journey and the presence.


The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

14 comments:

viva_andya said...

hmmm. a nice story which makes you think about the Journey and Destination.Refreshing one indeed. ATB. :)

watch out for mine..
http://aniruuud.blogspot.in/2012/03/when-journey-meant-more-than.html

aativas said...

Hmm.. some journeys lead us nowhere indeed!

Megha said...

nice story....i liked the casual tone :) All the best for BATOM

Unknown said...

@Megha: thank you:)
@viva_andya: thanks a lot..
@aativas: that was the point..

D2 said...

I liked that the story was rather open-ended. All the best for BAT. :)

Anonymous said...

I thought it was going to be another love story, but the 'nowhere' made me love the story which depicts reality. The last line was the crux :)

Unknown said...

@D2: well, thank you:)

Aishwarya said...

nice story!! a beautiful journey may not always lead to a destination! :)

all the best!!

Someone is Special said...

perhaps the point is to be in each other's presence with no end road or destination.. ! Great story..

Unknown said...

Intimacy of friendship and together can be felt here. Cheeky!
Good luck for BAT.

Animesh - When Journey Meant More Than Destination

Sweta said...

I liked this story :)

best of luck for BAT!!

dishitd said...

nice short story! - a different ending made it simply better! :) all the best!

Vikram Pyati said...

Very very well written...probably a journey need not have a destination.. or may be after a point in a journey the destination is no longer appealing..

just another wake up call said...

the fact that you handled the usual love story differently made it very nice and readable! good luck for BAT!