The Eve Way…

“Forbidden” – the word has something… a magnetic charm which entices all, men and women. Whatever comes with a warning is always the most appealing. And thus the Eve way is charted.

I know this topic is discussed to death. It’s just that two recent articles on similar theme have ‘inspired’ me to pen down my own viewpoint. While one article was about pursuing forbidden pleasures, the other chronicled the reasons behind the nice girl falling for the bad boy. I call it the ‘Eve way’ simply because the first woman chose to eat the forbidden fruit.

Almost all of us must have treaded on that way, or at least looked towards that direction at some point in our lives. Tell me, as a kid when you were taught that “stealing is a sin and a bad habit”, didn’t you always find your classmate’s colourful eraser as “the must have”? Perhaps many of you actually ended up stealing that eraser. I did.

The eraser is just the beginning. The little germ, thus, is implanted. Soon the saying “little drops of water make the mighty ocean” is proven to be true. Hence the list extends to 10 rupee notes from parents’ moneybag, cheating during examination (even though you know the answers!), crushes or boyfriends of ‘friends’, the banned books and movies, the first taste of cigarette and alcohol… well, it can and will go on and on. What is forbidden is always more exciting. All of us secretly desire to take a bite of the forbidden fruit and most of us do dare to take the bite. Those of do not indulge, well, they get the kick out of imagining the ‘forbidden pleasures’J.

Now let us come to the second article about nice girls falling for bad boys. Hmmm… the very thought is quite exciting, isn’t it? All those analysis, hypothesis and conclusion about how the innate need of a nice girl to nurture and rectify the bad boy leads the girl to fall for the boy sounds good on paper. Might as well be true. But can’t there be any other reason? What if the good girl has actually been longing to do something out of the convention, something that is polar opposite from what is expected from her?  After all, boredom is always bound to set in any kind of routine. A good guy will just be an addition to her already mundane life, nothing new to feel good about.

This might be a curious case but this comes from the horse’s mouth. I find the perfect boring. When I myself have so many flaws, why should I burden him to be the epitome of virtue? Years ago, after watching the film ‘Dhadkan’, I brazenly confided to my friends that I don’t want to get hitched to the Mr. Perfect played by Akshay Kumar. I can actually list down countless movies where the villain appears more exciting and more human than the hero. After all I have grown up on Shah Rukh Khan’s passionate interpretation of the bad guy in ‘Bazzigar’, ‘Darr’ and ‘Anjam’ (I actually hated the heroines for ignoring himJ). All you nice girls, you have to admit that Chuck in ‘Gossip Girl” is always more alluring than Dan… Chuck – the playboy with the “I am the best” attitude and those sad eyes! (Already I am letting out a sigh!)

Then there is another facet. There might be a wildly bad persona which is dormant within the good girl. The arrival of the bad boy wakes up that persona or at least makes her aware of this sleeping monster. However, to each his or rather her own. I won’t play ambassador of my kind. I will rather talk about myself.

I certainly don’t see myself getting settled with a bad bad guy. But the prospect of a perfectly nice boy also brings out a yawn. By the way, the ‘marriage’ word continues to give me jitters! Thus, let’s not broach that topic. The point here is that it seems I (and most of my friends in that case) am surrounded by imperfect guys and none of us are complaining. Although there is occasional lament at the dearth of ‘good guys’ (read marriage material), that comes because of social obligation. But yes, it does feel good and happy to know if someone meets the perfect guy.  However, the definition of perfect will vary from person to person. So for me, my perfect guy will have to share and enjoy the things I love, for instance, a good drink. Now by social and family norms, isn’t a teetotaler the perfect example of good guy?? Excuse me, but I don’t need such a saint as I love my glassy very much! So, my definition of my perfect man need not necessarily (and will certainly not) conform to the social definition of the one.

This topic can’t be concluded one article, ever. Even I can’t comprehend why nice people most often fail to resist the tempting ‘forbidden fruit’ and end up skirting the prohibited zone. But I can certainly understand and feel the excitement, the adrenalin rush in getting entangled in dangerous liaisons. The Eve Way is fun which comes with warning and an expiry date.

Droplets of Blood on The Rose

The black moon has deluged my cursed life.

Your blood is still on my hand

Your vociferous cries scare me,

The whiff of your soul is somewhere buried within me

For your hazy silhouette still turns within me.

I beg you not to haunt me,

I know I am guilty for your blood,

But I only watched from the sidelines of my own life

As your life rushed by.

The pungent smell of your burnt blood is suffocating,

Please don’t punish me more,

Though I know I deserve this.

I am trying to bid you goodbye

Putting end to those nightmares,

Empathize with my doomed existence

So far I have lived a luckless romance,

Those droplets of blood on the rose are killing me,

I beg you,

I have no more strength to face your punishment.

I can only pray for you and for me,

Let my guilt and thy blood be washed away by the rain.

Fairy Tale Gone Kaput

Little Red Riding Hood is feeling lost in the woods.

She wandered into the woods alone despite being warned by mommy. Mommy had said, “Don’t befriend any stranger. Evil lurks everywhere.” Mommy had especially warned about the Big Bad Wolf.

Little Red Riding Hood wished to see the world, through her own eyes. She pondered over mommy’s preaching and chose to ignore them. “Generation gap”, she concluded. She believed how could she know the world if she didn’t befriend strangers in order to create her own space in the social jungle. So she happily greeted and met numerous strangers. To her credit, she did made many good friends.

She met many wolves, some nice and a few bad. Those few bad wolves failed to dampen her spirits. She thought mommy was unnecessarily concerned about the troublesome Big Bad Wolf and she believed he didn’t exist.

Then trouble knocked at her door. The Big Bad Wolf was here. But Little Red Riding Hood failed to recognize him! Can’t blame her! He was good looking, articulate, gentle and knew the jungle well. She believed he was her Prince Charming, just like the ones in the lives of her friends Cinderella and Snow White. It appeared to her that only he could understand her real emotions, taking good care of her in every little way. She adored him, put him on a pedestal. She had found her soul mate, or at least that was what she chose to believe.

So much in love was the naïve girl that she ignored all the signs of trouble even though those were very clear. Deep down she had desperately hoped that the Big Bad Wolf would mend his ways, just for her. She thought her true love would win over his heart. So she overlooked the danger signs. The signs of heartbreak. And she went on giving everything to please him, her ‘Great Love’.

But the heartbreak was imminent. She saw the signs and tried hard to stop it. And she failed miserably. The Big Bad Wolf got what he wanted… and he moved on. Poor Little Red Riding Hood! Adding salt to the injury, he left a note to her which read like this:

“Hi Little Red Riding Hood,

Do not cry over split milk. I had never committed anything to you. So you should not have dreamed about something which I had not promised. You should have known that this is social jungle and all wolves are like this.”

Thus, very articulately (typical of the Big Bad Wolf) he puts the blame on her for her own heartbreak! He makes her realize how foolish or rather childish she was to invest trust in a stranger. He made her see the reality, the reality which her mommy had warned about.

Now Little Red Riding Hood was lost, really lost in the fast lanes of the social jungle. She is now scared of every wolf coming her way. She sees the image of the Big Bad Wolf in everyone. Poor Little Red Riding Hood! Love has become a four letter insult for the heartbroken soul.