The Unruled Notebook

Never in a thousand years did I think I would be obsessed with a late, delusional psycho who was also an exceptional artist and a noteworthy character with a peculiar interest for romance. My affair started around 8 years back; a time when I had started writing and blogging for the first time. I visited this pop-up museum of contemporary art which showcased Vincent Van Gogh’s choicest documentaries. Many of his famous paintings were also on display. That was the day I fell in love, with his art, with the way he loved, with the way he expressed himself before he fell into life’s inevitable trap. The beautiful yellowish hues that dominated his paintings, the sunflowers, the potato eaters and the starry night which comes alive in my dreams every night. Those letters he wrote his brother Theo with care, love and a pinch of attitude. That unconditional brotherly love, that aimless love he showed his friend and mentor Gauguin, that love he showed the random women he saw and paint...

After months of fervent anticipation, the day finally arrived. I packed my bags and left for the Chennai airport. Several hours later, the plane landed in Hong Kong. The neat looking stewardess from Cathay came in and said, "Welcome to Hong Kong." All my life I've dreamed of going to a different country. But there's been a change in the flight plan and my transit hours got extended by 4 hours which made a total of 22 hours of transit. Amazing! Some brilliant chap told me that the airline will cover the stay and food and conveyance. Well, Cathay had its own rules. They didn’t cover transit which is less than 24 hours; not even a minute. As wonderful as it sounds, this wasn’t supposed to be on the itinerary, yet!   I was on my own in the isolated airport for 22 hours. The child in me was excited though. It was a different place, I thought at first. When I started walking, I found the airport to be humongous to say the least. An ocean of shopping complexes...