In Pursuit Of My Dreams

What's more to a restless heart and an ever-thinking mind

To accomplish missions and realise dreams of each kind.

Like the shining star that continues to glimmer and glitter

My heart yearns to touch the ethereal of nature and pastures greener-

To visit cities, countries, places of the world that are umpteen

Yet four scores in number have I in mind, to explore and to be seen.

Yes, indeed eighty countries have I to visit before I close my eyes

That my soul may stir me not and bother me with cries

That I could what I could cover in one mortal life

And live a contented, mirthful and a serene life.

This summer the Europe dream that was envisioned

Right from my literature days in Loreto

Talking of Keats, Dante, Pope my Professor Ms. Coutinho

Ingrained in me the desire, the obsession to gather glimpses

Of the classical, the gothic, the baroque architecture

Of churches, cathedrals, gardens, palaces and the archetypals

That one day I may before my eyes see the European lustre

That was described in prose and poetry of the Romantic pearls.

Off to the city of Budapest with a halt at Istanbul

We started on May the sixteenth with four souls joyful,

Yet two of my friends yet to me unknown,

Kamna my old pal, while Pragati and Poonam-

Just acquaintances and bundle full of nerves

As to how our journey and camaraderie turn out to be-

Hotel Silver City, Pest welcomed us with tourist tax to pay

Whilst we had no option but to nod our heads and sway.

The next day was to witness Europe at first sight and

Hungary made us hungry for more than how much eyes could meet,

As we saw the Heroes’ Square that commemorated the millennial anniversary,

A walk down Chain Bridge to reach Margaret Island

Mesmerising fountains and the self-scooter ride by each of us,

Parliament House and an exotic brunch at New York Café

That was a palace converted into a café

That served Hungarian food so delectable

The Café experience was only too inexplicable!

Checked into Hotel Caroline, Vienna our best stay

With triple sharing beds, store and an alley,

And there was more to come for two admirers of music and art,

Kamna and I headed straight to the Musical Show named after Mozart

The artists hummed the German tune, the ballerina danced

The most graceful dance and what an opera performed.

Sunday that was a city off and we four were on with friendship goals

Clicking the craziest moments, posing a trio gymnastic position

Acknowledging the gift of friendship, a divine creation!

Belvedere Palace Museum got us enthralled with the Umbrella Doll

And Mozart, live figures posed as statues in silver and gold.

The next in line was Prague, the city of castles and cathedrals,

Most momentous was music, wine, dance and dinner

At the Folklore Garden with the ensemble of Czech dancers

And our Poonam jived solo, great courage she mustered.

Berlin, the destination that followed never left us bewildered

For this time we had to explore on two wheels-

The long gap of cycling, left me fully flustered.

I wouldn’t want, I wouldn’t care if we missed the bike tour

But here came the push and there went the cycles to the core

A skill is never forgotten and yeah I was biking like a bird

That had just learnt to fly almost at par with Stephanie our guide

My friends were amazed, amused at my cycling flurry!

And thus we got to know the history of Germany,

The Jewish execution, the Berlin Wall division

Into the west and east and the issue of emigration,

The holocaust was all too a gory history,

But Alexanderplatz and Reichstag were great to see.

Berlin you beckoned and we came to thee.

Amsterdam was a place to explore,

The city’s night life and adventures galore.

Houses were like painted pictures or Lego blocks,

Canals flowing by subsumed by the modern facades

The wind mills churned the synergy of our hearts

Trinkets, souvenirs of tulips and Holland quickly collected,

To make way for a one night stay at Brussels

The Palace Square with golden frescos still bedazzles

The inward eye of an awe-struck visitor like me,

As though each monolithic statue smiled at me

The rich brewing coffee at the open street still-

Stirs my senses as I, after days recollect

Now the pyramid of memories I erect

A little heart that follows dreams reaching realisation

For sure the cosmos conspires towards its crystallization!

The last but the most magnificent memory

Yet untold from the memoirs of my travel diary,

She gives a second calling from the depths of my sub-conscious

You’ve got to revisit me coz I am the paradise called Paris.

She says, you’ve just touched me and I have left you longing for more,

You’ve romanced the heavenly aura at Eiffel and that’s my greatest cynosure,

Ah! Eiffel tower that stands tall, shines bright in day

And scintillates like fireflies glowing in nightly foray,

She hasn’t yet fulfilled a dreamer’s dream

My saviour shall someday redeem

And from the midst’ of nowhere, I promise thee,

I shall come with my hubby, to revere thy crowning glory.

In gratitude this head bows to the Supreme being

For the glorious beauty the four of us had been seeing,

And it was the divine calling for Kamna and me-

Notre-Dame Church appeared on our way, to my prithee

The grandeur of Christ paintings over-awed my vision so minuscule

With folded hands we thanked and got a golden jewel

A golden coin with Mother Mary and son

A souvenir to be seen by everyone.

Words could never end, thoughts would never bend

But dreams remain limitless, and the European adventure

Was a blessing in return of our past virtues

God gives us such hidden clues

That if one meticulously his dream pursues

He pays us back and clears all our mortal dues.

A soul that goes fulfilled in pursuit of its dreams.

Ekta Batra