This post has been made as a part of the IndiBlogger The Lakme Diva Blogger Contest. http://www.facebook.com/ilovelakme
Nothing could have made the fresh yellow tinted walls of my apartment brighter and sunnier other than the summer sun. And that somehow manages to wake me up every morning from the deep slumber and the previous days tediousness. That's one good thing about summer time, inspite of all the sweltering heat, humidity, scorch...every morning seems to be a new day, a bright beginning and a hint that path we are heading will be lit forever. That's how we get to mentally prepare ourselves, but the body needs to be taken care of. For example, no matter how much of romping about I will be doing under the sun, my day should start with Lakme Sun Expert skin lightening Facewash, followed my Sun Expert Moisturizer and Gel. This is one consumer brand, my skin is comfortable with and it really makes my summer more enjoyable.
I am basically a B.Arch student studying in Vijayawada, AP. And summer is the time, where you can no longer survive or work in the extreme climatic conditions of Andhra Pradesh. So we get a 2 month summer leave after our semester exams get over and this vacation, like all the other previous ones, is gonna be FUNtastic for me. Waking up in such a bright room during summer has its plus points, the heat won't let you feel numb or drowsy and the bright indoors tickle your brain with the thought that it would be a shame if I don't get to utilize this beautiful day by staying all day in. And then, after freshening up, the thing that hits the brain is planning out all the stuff I should be doing in order to make my day fruitful and you know, make my life sunnier! (I know it sounds cliched, but that's how summer is for me).
So I get to have old friend meet ups, lemon soda, ice cream, salon, shopping, whopping on the java, movies, luncheon, tea parties, evening walks, pani puri etc etc and finally when I am back to my own place, the body is all worn out, tired but the face and the pupils never cease to smile. It's not only how I am living my life this way, my friends are always there and guess what...the fun continues as they all come over to my place for the slumber party, which is only the better half of the funfilled day. Giving each other face massages, manicures, late night talks, movies, popcorn...and so on.
There are certain days when people will be busy-busy with other works, but that has never affected my regular rut of outings! I will be out on my own, with my tote and umbrella! Now hitting the roadside shops, bookstores, libraries and crafts mela is an awesome way of passing time to me. You must be wondering that how on earth I am so jobless??? Well I am not, get into architecture and you will know it. A 2 months vacation of nothing doing is essential for all those studying B.Arch!!! Then there's all the crazy outings me and my friends people get to do like one day trip to river bank resorts, beach, amusement cum water theme parks, all of which makes the summer super enjoyable and super duper exciting!! But its always the same thing back home, a routine of face massage and water drinking and tan removal remedy! Thanks to Lakme, I never had to worry much about my skin on that front! :)
sigh. beep. hmmm....
Waiting is futile. And hoping is getting on my nerves nowadays.
Gotta start preparing for tomorrows presentation. Another 2 hours of decision making and the rest of the night to be spent on compiling all the photo snippets.
Ah great! Now the coffee mug is also missing! How on earth am I supposed to stay up without the java!
Eileen! EILEEN! A petite girl, in her twenties makes her appearance inside the room.
What now?
Have you seen my coffee mug?
It's with you all the time! You had have your evening beverage in it a few hours back. It must be somewhere inside this shithole, Maddy.
Never mind, I have found it, you can go off.
Eileen twists her mouth and positions her hands over her hips. Oh no, not another round of boring lectures!!!
Hi, I am Madeline G. Polter. Age 25, female and working as an assistant editor for the famous fashion magazine Boho Touch alongside Eileen Mitchell, my roommate and coworker. We both work under Samuel Peterson, editor of the Bohemian Touch magazine. I am actually new to this place, since it had only been a month, I had started out as an assistant editor for BT, but not a newbie in my job cause I had worked for many more prestigious magazines before this. Being an assistant editor for a fashion magazine in your twenties...what more can a girl ask for? But that's just an emblazoned title, the work is not at all as glittery as it seems. Moreover it sucks! This magazine? Is just a year old and is having enough problems with the funds.As for me, I didn't have to apply for my post at all. Moreover it was Mr P, who had happened to know about me, through a friend of his daughter, came begging to ask me to take up the job. And I had been such a fool to fall for his kind childlike eyes and roundish face! He has features similar to that of my own dad, whom I have only seen in photos. I had thought or rather hoped that maybe their is a certain connection, which got intensified when Mr. P told that I resembled a lot, feature-wise, like his his own daughter!! I was just 20 who was given an offer for asstnt. Editor and a hope that I may somehow track down a long lost family member, that being my own dad. I fell for it and viola I landed up somehow in some shithole apartment in Lower East-side New York. It had been only a week since I had moved in with Eileen in her apartment which is way better than the previous one, but still as shitty. Rather it was kind of her to let me in. She had wanted to share it with someone who would a) pay half the rent b) not bore her c) be ready to get bored with her own lectures and d) be a perfect roommate material (!!!) However one thing was pretty clear, the fact that symbiosis existed between the 3 of us, i.e my colleague, boss and me. They both needed me and I needed them too, in order to survive in this city. I wasn't brought up in New York, moreover my entire lineage had nothing to do with this place, or the country! But after schooling and all, I had given some serious thoughts regarding my future and had finally realized that this editorial world is where I totally belong in. Not exactly editorial, sarcastically saying journalism. After having graduated from some college with a degree in English Hons. I had managed to bag up quite a few exciting jobs in magazines n newspaper (read famous ones), but here's the catch: I could not possibly be rooted to one place, one blessed job. I was constantly on the move, sometimes the area or the city or even the country!! But it had all added up in my resume. And I must admit, my position at work place keeps getting better with the newer jobs I get myself into. So to be totally honest, that is exactly what keeps me going, rather hopping from one office to the other. But this time, there is one huge blip, the magazine that hired me is a big failure and by the time I had come to know about it, it was quite late. The office was situated in New York and I was offered a good enough post; now that was a major sell off!!!!! I didn't care to check about the popularity statistics in the publishing market, such an idiot I was!! But my boss Mr. P is ever so hopeful about the "upliftment" in quality, now that I was here. Not to mention a word about my salary and had it not been for Eileen and the sharing of rent, I would have been literally homeless. Mr. P says that once everything is set, the debts are cleared, there will be a high rise in salary. In other words, I had a boss, an office of 15 workers, and the bank looking at me and waiting for the so called "change in the trend that sets everything straight". The job was hectic and depressing cause nothing seemed to work right. I mean fashion?? Firstly copying and analyzing the style and trend of the season's latest by Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire etc etc is not what one can produce in your next issue!!! Secondly none of the workers, excepting Allen and Peter (they had previously worked in a salon!!) were remotely associated with fashion, including me. And finally Mr. P, the boss was doing it all cause his daughter (as I have been told by Eileen) is a big fashion fanatic and wishes to run her own Big Fashion League in New York and plans to take over the mag after it emerges out clean from the mess it is in. God the Kid is only 18, she should be attending Jon Bon Jovi or an Aerosmith concert somewhere instead of wasting her time thinking about taking over her dad's position. No wonder back in my hometown, we used to label any American passing by, crazy Yorker. So back to where I was, my job that is. Its not a 9 to 5 job as anyone would expect a normal one to be. It starts from 6 and may lead up to 10 to 10.30 (in the office itself) and there is always work to be done even when we are back to our apartments. That may take up the entire night at times and the main reason behind this is the less number of workers, the low popularity, low pay and the debts. So that again comes back to Mr. P and his faith in me to help them get rid of the situation. You see how tied up I am to this job now??? And the worst part is, I have no clue where to start and if by any chance if I am able to get the system to start, I have no idea regarding how to keep it going. Now for the other part of the story. The connection between my estranged dad and Mr. P. I was 6 when I was told that I don't have a dad when I had asked my mum about him. I used to see the dads of other kids in my school coming to pick them up when the classes were over. And I was 16 when I got to know that I have a dad, who is no longer staying with us and is possibly living in some other part of this world. I had accidentally stumbled across some photos and when I had showed it to my aunt, she had slipped it outta her mouth. Well you see, here's the glitch, when I had first seen Mr. P, the first thought that hit my head was the resemblance his face had with that of my dad in the photo. I keep the photo with me all the time though. And when Mr. P was making the offer, or rather getting desperate ti hire me for the post...I simply couldn't say no. A part of me was saying to turn the offer down cause the job requirements didn't somewhat go with my resume, but a bigger and better portion of me was wanting to take up the offer cause a) it's New York b) assistant editor!! c) there might be a chance this guy is actually my runaway dad. And I simply couldn't say no to him. Which brings me to the present condition where I have a magazine to look after, a parent to track down and settle up things with both. And once I am done with this, I am seriously running away from this place. So in the end, I always manage to find myself a reason to put up with all the trouble and when it's over, to move on in life. I gotta go back to my work now, it's just one of those endless night-outs and java gulping and the arranging of papers, photos and presentations. Thanks anyway for stopping by and listening to my stupid work story. I hope your's is not as bad and even if it is, I have nothing else to do other than wishing you good luck.
"As a kid I quite fancied the romantic, Bohemian idea of being an artist. I expect I thought I could escape from the difficulties of maths and spelling. Maybe I thought I would avoid the judgement of the establishment."
Peter Wright
"The modern picture of the artist began to form: The poor, but free spirit, plebeian but aspiring only to be classless, to cut himself forever free from the bonds of the greedy bourgeoisie, to be whatever the fat burghers feared most, to cross the line wherever they drew it, to look at the world in a way they couldn't see, to be high, live low, stay young forever -- in short, to be the bohemian.”
Thomas Wolfe
"The life of the young artist here is the easiest, merriest, dirtiest existence possible."
William Thackeray
"She was consumed by 3 simple things: drink, despair, loneliness; and 2 more: youth and beauty."
Charles Bukowski
The quotes above, finishes the story of the life I have led, my quest and where I am heading towards, in a nutshell. Yes, I must admit, bohemian life triggers my brain to work, to want something beyond comfort, food and a meager pay, to live a life or better still romanticize the very thought of living that way. Free spirited, that I have been, not always physically, but also somewhere inside my mind, where the consciousness holds no anchor to a certain place, but instead, wanders off to places unknown, of matters that were never discussed or even thought before, to wander aimlessly, freely amongst the many thoughts and the ruins of past happenings. And that's exactly what I have been nurturing within me, that is my plan for the future, to run away and never look back at the ashes that I leave. And the best part is, I will never have to care about where to go until and unless the continuous travel faces a dead end or a solid brick wall. If I am unable to stitch my soul and interest to the wonderful embroidery of art, I can however make art out of my life. That is exactly what I have planned to do in this long journey till death rises like the waves of a sea, comes ashore and washes away my feet. The journey won't be an easy one, and I would never want it to be a cake-walk either. I will miss much on the lessons that were meant to be taught to me, if I will float in the air instead of facing the obstacles. Then it will just be a life led and not learnt. But mere words are just not enough to give a visionary of what is bubbling up inside an artist, but writing out your true feelings is an art itself. An art to live for, live with and make a living.
I am younger than many but old enough to have experienced a little bit of this life.
And through whatever little I had to face, I have harnessed knowledge more than many.
Yet I am not tired of knowing it all, cause I am not afraid of what lay ahead of me,
I am amazed that why me, out of all, have You chosen to show life's chaos and harmony.
You have given the likes of us a sensibility so great and refined that we can feel it all.
Be it between the lines of a story untold or the verses of a long forgotten song,
We have heard, read and seen it all, but what is tantalizing is the sensation,
Which we get when we are lost in the meaning and that evokes a feeling so strong.
I am not complaining cause I feel it is a gift, a gift of understanding Your law and order.
And the only way to keep it going is to plunge time and again into the dark night,
Without losing faith in You and with the preset that what happens is for our good-
Cause the one who has never tasted foul will not get to acknowledge when it is just right.
