Disclaimer:This is purely a work of fiction.Any resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely accidental, though semblance of reality is intentional.
My coming across THE DIARY OF A DUSKY DAMSEL is one such act especially as it happened on the eve of my favorite deity's birthday , who himself is 'shyam varna!'
It is indeed ironical that a literature teacher and a bibliophile can never be united in a person. They are forever divided by the sword of an insufficient salary!After meeting exigencies of the family economy- i often indulge the bibliophile in me by foraging for books at the (second hand book) street market that springs up in Gomti Nagar every Saturday .Last Saturday, while rummaging through a heap of commerce and science books in one such street shop,i came upon a dusty bundle of books.It turned out to be a complete set of Jane Austen's published novels! I immediately emptied my coffers and beat a hasty retreat, lest the vendor changed his mind! As i unfastened the string the books came loose---all six of them! And then tumbled out a seventh one! Though the cover was missing yet i could make out that it was a journal.The pages had yellowed and brittled away at the corners, and the spine was broken.For a moment I thought i had stumbled upon a treasure-What if it was Jane Austen's Journal...who is known to have kept journal of her life!!!! But as I leafed through the first few pages ,I came across a bold signature in black ink that declared with a flourish that did not lack flamboyance " Diary of a Dusky Damsel" It was purely by accident that the Diary of the Dusky Damsel found its way into my house.!!!!
.5th September-----After the rush hours of the festive morning,a lazy afternoon and a gourmet evening I finally planted myself in the study, only to find a signature in black ink , with a lot of flourish and flamboyance ,beckoning me. I remembered the journal signed in black ink ' A Dusky Damsel".I was intrigued by the contradiction between the Flamboyance and Anonymity!!!! Who was she? What kind of person was She? Why Anonymity? My head was full of questions and i couldn't wait anymore for a relaxed and more opportune time to read it.I finally reached out for it and began to read....Copyright@SEEMAEXPRESS
January 28,2015 : I had not advanced beyond the first page when such Severe pang of drowsiness descended upon me, that i fell asleep over the Diary. and that was the last interaction between us! But some how I feel , as i pass by my reading Desk, the Diary seems to draw me towards it.
January 28,2015 : I had not advanced beyond the first page when such Severe pang of drowsiness descended upon me, that i fell asleep over the Diary. and that was the last interaction between us! But some how I feel , as i pass by my reading Desk, the Diary seems to draw me towards it.
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