Of book covers..Of beautiful lives that are yet to be led.

In a beige rack full of books sits War and Peace. By Leo Tolstoy. I am quite taken by its cover. It shows portions of a woman in a flowing white gown. There is a hint of a man in a uniform in the background. Both have a very aristocratic feel about them. She is sitting straight and looking down. The book stops near her nose. I imagine her eyes to be sad. She seems very docile. Someone who is admired from far. The one who always gets noticed in a room full of people.

Certain book covers have the power that make my lips form a tiny oval of awe, my eyes to sparkle with fascination and my knees to go weak with giddiness.

I try to imagine what kind of days they were when people would wake up early on a cold, quiet morning, tighten their dressing gowns around their waist and brave the chill by opening the front door and stooping to pick their daily ration of milk bottles and instead be surprised by a cheap wicker basket housing a new born child. What would be going on in their minds when the baby looks at them through a sleepy early morning daze and extend its tiny fingers for them to hold. Did they feel an instant sense of responsibility toward this life? Is their first thought the well being of the baby? Did they have the heart to walk all the way to the orphanage in town? And as they walked did they hold the baby protectively in their arms or did they hold the basket gingerly? Did they, from time to time, over the years, think back to the day when they found a baby on their front porch? I wonder.

That fresh tingly feeling of a new crush? The small smiles, happy thoughts, the day dreaming, the quickening of the heartbeat, the shyness... Ah the delicious wonderfulness of it all. I am trying to wipe this grin off my face. In vain. Sigh.

 

 

I Will Follow You Through The Clouds, Big And Small. Yes, I’m all set to be start a new journey with Nutties. Save the date – 26 april 2014. And my grin just got wider & refuses to go away.