Celebrations
This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 16; the sixteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.
It was a hard ground that felt like sand paper. When he started his journey, it was the soles of his feet that were in contact with the ground, but now as he pulled himself closer to the station, it was his whole body. His elbows were scraped, bloody and fresh scab peeled bled out to leave a trail of red on the wicked hot dusty ground of pain and suffering.
All around him slow moving bodies crawled towards the direction of hope, all along leaving patterns of blood, sweat, skin and pus. These bodies had seen civil wars, droughts, genocide and lived to tell a tale of a people who now belonged to a nation listed as one of the poorest countries in the world. This is now, but before the list, was a struggle of massive proportions, under reported and quietly hidden under layers of stories of people around the world.
They walked, then crawled, then dragged themselves. He saw another man slump down dead next to him, and a voice inside him said, one less person to fight for food with. Then it was his turn to feel heady, light and heavy at the same time. He ignored the calling and moved faster. And faster. And then a dark blanket, a receding sun, some wild gazelles, the faces of his family lost, the screams of the women, men and children raped, shot and tortured.
A steady stream of water was felt by a hardened nearly numb tongue. His throat was shocked at the coolness of the liquid and some where deep in his stomach, that lay forgotten, he felt some weight. Foreign voices speaking in hushed voices saw him struggle to comprehend the fact that he had made it to the refugee camp. They supposed that he would thank who ever it was he thought was responsible for his arrival but left him alone to celebrate his arrival, against those who'd petered our mid way.
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This write up was inspired by Burundi, a small country in Africa. One of the world's poorest regions, I am sure there are greater stories that are in the making but untold.
The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.
Comments
Besides the fact that your post provides a welcome change from the veritable deluge of Diwali stories, the potency of your words is too stark to ignore-crisp, succinct and riveting.
Glad to have come across your blog!
P.S.Have tried to allay a bit of confusion with the "Sidra" issue too ! ;)
celebration to survive.
A very unique offering indeed!
All the Best Saro!
where were you all these days ??
This is my first time on your blog and I am gonna hang around for a longer while.
The story you presented is very different.
I liked it.
Kudos
All the best! :)
P.S. I like the name of your blog :)
Hi Pratibha: I hope it was a good different
Amity: thank you for your compliments...
Mudassir: thank you for hanging around and visit as much as you want.. was away from the blog for awhile, and well, finally got the batom date and topic on time :)
Jaspreet: thank you very much for the compliments, the aim was to make everyone feel as though we are there, so we can feel and well do something about it and may be give him company in his celebration as well!
gud luck :)
I loved the narration and the way it touched one deep inside without so many words flowing around.
Best wishes !
P.S: There was a fault of linking in my post for the BAT, but I would not have realised unless you had commented "what happened to the celebrations page?". Thank you very much for pointing that out!
Do read my entry and comment!
All the best :)
Here is my celebration:
Ms. Meduri- Celebrations
All the best for BAT ! :)
Good luck for BAT and do stop by, Someone Is Special - Celebrations
--Someone Is Special--
A great time I had on my visit. Wish you all the luck
I woudnt pick a concept like that for celebrations.
Would also want to commend on choice of words. Good one.
encouragement and support.
tiku: do visit as often as you can :) love opinions!
foolwise: that was just my thought exactly, srry if i sounded rude
with the statement. i've read and sent you in my response on the
post!
aashish: i didn't know how far to take it really..given the post
was on celebrations... but will take the feedback for future
reports.
maverick: thank you, i guess out of everyone here, you're someone thats been here before huh.
kshitji: i agree, it's a bit sombre.. what i was thinking though, is of personal celebrations against adversity... as opposed to the bright and beautiful celebration. and how sometimes, happy things come out of unhappy situations, and a celebration can happen even if u are alone.. a different spin mebbe?
Maverick: woohooo!!! *now i dare not disappoint!*
Kshitji: :)