The Monarch

 

          THE MONARCH

                                                                                                                                



…And while you entangle that two-meter-long piece of clothing in a tie around your collar, I’ll be sitting here on the other side of the glass case that restrains me, watching you from afar. Occasionally, you come so close that I can smell the aromatic Guaiac wood present in your perfume. What a weird combination is Guaiac wood and citrus, though! But it somehow turns this room of apathy and monotony into a holistic haven.

I’m a painting of us- you and the-one-whom-you-left-behind-five-years-ago. I know you lie when you say that your resentment elevates drastically on seeing me, just like I’m lying at this moment, presenting myself as a painting when I’m just a garrulous little artificial bracelet lying in a strange yet overcrowded corner of the glass drawer across your room. But hey, aren’t I a metaphoric reflection of what has been painted out of an ordinary, cheap bracelet by you yourself?!

I'm an artificial jewel with a pretentious evil eye on my sleek body. Every inch of me reflects imitation. I'm all of these expensive, gaudy objects yet not even a fraction of the integrity they hold.

My other precious co-habitants mock my simplicity for I am the cheapest of them all. So, why is it that I’ve remained for the past five years in a place I do not really belong? Amongst ruby rings, silver anklets, heavily ordained Maangtikas, gold-toned figurines of religiosity, Ma’s priceless Bichhiyas, Papa’s mark of bliss on that first ever piece of poetry written as a fifth-grader?

Rumour has it that the only rationale that may be found in prioritizing a cheap object like me is an association with some bittersweet memory.

Remember the day you got me- the only band of friendship that the-one-whom-you-left-behind-five-years-ago gave you? While everyone went around proudly bragging about the multiple bands on both their wrists, you were content and gratified with just one which meant the only and the most to you.

Well, again, I lie when I say ‘you’ left the person behind five years ago. I lie since I owe my allegiance to my original owner. But what about my present, devoted owner-cum-lover; the one who confesses piled-up sentiments of rancour inflicted on me but vents, sobs and shares ill experiences at miserable instances of loneliness and grief?

What is this if not a loop of infinite unrealized trajectories?

You’re a big girl now- a woman, in fact, of great confidence and willpower. Then, why is it that you maintain a purposeful distance from everyone you encounter? Why are you afraid of even the thinnest string of attachment? Why can’t you let anyone enter your chaste temples of trust to repair the damage caused by your ruthlessly fanatic past? Why can’t you or why “don’t” you?

And the answer lies right there in the gospel-like preaching you conduct in front of people who ask you for any sort of romantically inclined advice. The answer lies in the very context of “loyalty” you speak of every now and then. The answer lies in your idea of emotional chastity. Oh, poor soul, your fidelity restricts any new accomplice from entering these chaste temples of trust.

You lament about the excessive damage caused but perhaps, you were never in the favour of any reparation that had to take place at all! Perhaps, you have fallen in love with the melancholy you were once embittered by. Perhaps, you don’t wish to give anyone else the place she once held in your life- your dearest best friend. She isn’t your regretful past or a passed misfortune, she’s an absent presence- your undeniable present as much as I am. I owe my livelihood and validity to her existence- she, who rules your kingdom of trust.

She’s a monarch- a rather minacious one- who exploits this kingdom of trust, yet the guidance of the book of the law the countrymen look upon is incapable and powerless when it comes to dissolving her tenure of eternity and establishing a delightful democracy of novelty. 


 Prose piece by:

 Sikta Tarangini,

 Content Head,

Pink Legal Naaz.

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