October × Love

Love isn’t mere kisses on the region behind ears, or on neck or on lips,
It is a tender forehead kiss sounding like a response to a rescue call,
Feels like the ray of sunshine to a grieving sunflower, giving life and warmth.

Shiuli, the white flowers,
blooms in the night to only perish in the day,
Wither from the trees living, decaying, diminishing and disappearing over time.
Shiuli not just named after the flower
Her life portrayed the fading flower,
Of whose existence is perishing like the departing fragrance, every single day.
And Dan holding her life that’s on the verge from drowning in sickness, is LOVE.

Dan caring Shiuli,
like she is the last person in the world,
skipping his meals, sacrificing sleep, surrendering job
Running errands and Shiuli finding peace in just his presence,
and Showing progress in health is the power of LOVE.

LOVE is the emotional ride Dan lonely travelled in,
That divine and soulful journey;
a journey with minimal dialogues and conversations,
with uninterrupted silence interpreting a lot of feelings,
with eye movements and great heart sync.

//வார்த்தை தேவையில்லை வாழும் காலம் வரை
பாவை பார்வை மொழிப் பேசுமே//

LOVE brought back Dan from Kullu,
Not letting him stay away from Shiuli’s thoughts,
and the gentle apology he offers for leaving her
and the subtle response of Shiuli;
Hits the right chord of the heart,
Affirming the tenderness in love for the umpteenth time.

The efforts Shiuli takes to utter Dan’s good name
Right before the night her lung collapses taking away her breathe,
Taking away Shiuli from Dan, mother and siblings,
Heart achingly describing the pain,
Proves to me that suffering is LOVE.

//வாள் இன்றி போர் இன்றி வலிக்கின்ற யுத்தம் இன்றி
இது என்ன இவன் அன்பு எனை வெல்லுதே//

In the end,
Dan taking the Shiuli plant from her place to his,
Promising her mother that he would take care of them
with teary eyes that express infinite emotions is LOVE, unconditional love.

Dan’s selfless, compassionate feelings towards Shiuli,
and the ability of three words, a simple question, “Where is Dan” – transforming a human, moulding one to a better person,
Is more than LOVE,
It’s some, it’s some indescribable feeling
Of whose cause and effect was left ausaid and unanswered.

October, evoked deep thoughts in my mind
And deeper questions in heart,
It is not a love story but a story that smoothly teach us:
what love can be and what love is.

October isn’t a movie or it’s not just my birth month but a tale,
of a strong inclination towards a person
of whose backbone is a-
four letter ineffable emotions, at least to me.

//பாதை முடிந்த பிறகும்
இந்த உலகில் பயணம் முடிவதில்லையே//

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This piece was written months back and I wanted to post it in October, the season of fall.

On a random evening when I was listening the song “Pookal Pookum tharunam” from a Kollywood movie Madrasapattinam (2010), I found a beautiful yet painful connect with October (2018).
In both the references, there’s one person who settles with the decision- to live with the memory of the other who has gone miles and worlds apart.

Hence, I included a few lines from the song to build a poetic bridge in between the two masterpiece. 🤍