An Incredible Vacation - IV(day 1)

God's own country- the place must be something beyond the ordinary, if not, a name as such would be very inappropriate. The countless appraisals about it time and again had made me very curious. I longed to see for myself if the rumors were true.

After spending more than a year with little more than a shred of hope, the approval for an Industrial Visit greeted my senses. I was in seventh heaven. The destination, Kerala.

I was surrounded by an ear splitting shriek when the coach, which was named and which carried us 'Legends', roared its engines to life. The noise was so loud that I wouldn't have heard myself think. Each and every one of my batch mates screamed their lives out in joy. I gave it my best efforts to pump up the decibels. The wheels of the tour vehicle were slowly set into motion. My dreams were on the verge of being brought to life.

Dancing commenced the moment we hit the roads, despite the words of advice that had been given by our HOD. As much as we respected her, we wanted to make this trip memorable. We were not getting another chance like this. The so called 7.1 surround sound and the party lights pumped up the adrenaline. The boys were all over the place, taking turns shaking to the music. The ‘Monisha’ song got the privilege of kick starting proceedings. Saravana and Nanda kept yelling instructions at us to sing along, we gladly obeyed every word of it. The song was hilarious. I gave out a hearty laugh as we chanted along. The occasional ‘Wow Whoow!’ by Dinesh kept us amused. The song that followed stepped up the tempo and all hell broke loose. Vishal started dancing like a mad dog driven crazy by lost love, Kishore wriggled and wobbled in a style of his own, Naveen Raj kept himself occupied by constantly shoving Vijayakumar towards Abisha, Gnana Prakash performed his infamous drunken dance, Arun partied as if he couldn’t care less about the world and Suhail was quite a revelation; his dancing proved to be as good as his voice. Inspired by a few lads from the above, the rest started trying to bring out dance moves of their own, which kept getting weirder by the minute. The weirdest of them all being Shyam’s multiple waves. But none cared about weirdness or stupidity as long as it was fun. It truly was a moment to rejoice. We sang and danced together like we didn't have a care in the world. A few moments passed by as such and later a massive cheer shook the walls of the coach. The girls started dancing. It was a view that none of us wanted to miss. Our eagerness to line up for the best view said it all. The girls would’ve hardly found a better audience, our gaze at them was unwavering. Saravana found himself transfixed at the sight of Swetha starting to disco and Srini got a memory that he would probably cherish for a lifetime, as his gaze got lit up by Sivaranjini, who swayed so elegantly. Kavitha and Ayesha came up with a good display and then there was Medhuna. She kept going over the same dance move again and again like a broken record. It was a treat to the eye, nevertheless. A gorgeous late evening sky  and a lot of other greeneries were presenting  themselves for our view, but we didn't even spare a thought for them. We were preoccupied by the marvel that the girls presented with their dances. I even noticed a few jaws dropping on the boys’ side. 

The dancing continued into the night, until everyone exhausted every last ounce of energy. The bus halted at a restaurant and we took our time reinstating our energies. Many of our voices started to take a deeper tone due to all the yelling. But we had to embrace it, the enjoyment was only just beginning. The travelling resumed and it was time for movies. Everyone leaned onto their push backs and enjoyed the comedy. The hour started growing late, but sleep greeted only a few- those few who had gotten used to sleeping over night travel. The rest were squirming and shifting restlessly in their seats. I finally got some shut eye, but was woken up a few hours later by the girls’ incessant chattering. I was frustrated on being deprived of sleep, yet it was heartening to see my friends share the same fate. It had only been a few hours since we'd had dinner; nonetheless we decided to munch on some snacks for apparently no reason at all. The bus halted for a second time to refuel. We dismounted to have a glass of hot chai and on returning I found myself dozing off into a dreamless slumber.

I was jerked awake, as the bus drove on a rocky path. The cool breeze of dawn gushed against my face. I lazily peeked out the window and had my first glimpses at the lands of my Goddess. It was as marvelous as it had been described. There were wondrous landscapes lined up for as far as the eye could see, they were all of awe inspiring beauty. The place looked so serene and pleasing that I could’ve admired it for eternity. A mountain range, with its peak covered by puffs of vapor, lined the horizon and to complete the picture, the sky assumed a tint of grey, making the view all the more spectacular. 
Everyone started waking up; a few hadn’t even slept properly. A low buzz of chatter started filling the bus. I started looking around and my sights fell upon a few girls who were up and walking. To say that their morning faces looked ugly is a gross understatement. Not wanting to look at their appearances again, I fixed my gaze in the opposite direction. I mean, we boys were born handsome; we would’ve posed no such threats. 

The first day was to be spent at wonderla. We had planned to reach there at about 10 a.m., after having freshened up at a hotel. But we were way behind schedule, so the plan to cleanse ourselves at a hotel was put down. The news about the delay hadn’t ruined our moods as yet. We were having a good time listening to melodies that started to greet our ears. It went well with the serenity that lay outside. 

There was another break in journey and we got off the coach to refresh ourselves at a local lavatory. We then contented ourselves with a morning snack, as there were no hotels nearby for a proper breakfast. It was about 9 30 in the morning by the time we resumed travel and wonderla was still a long way to go. We had gotten tired of music, so we decided to take a shot at another movie. We did the usual cheering when something of our interest popped up on screen, but we soon got restless. We waited and waited, but wonderla was never to arrive. We searched for Satish hoping he would reassure us, but he was too busy tending to the girls, especially Abisha. He was clearly getting on Arun’s nerve. The waiting put our persistence to the test. Many broke down to swearing. And after what seemed like an eternity, we stood at the gates of Wonderla. God! I felt so relieved! Most of the boys got their knickerbockers on even before the journey had commenced, and the rest used the little space in the coach to suit up.  We entered the amusement park with a massive cheer and started exploring the various fun rides that inhabited the place. But misfortunes played their part and our gang of four found itself severed from the rest of the lot. It was still a spectacular day to remember. 

The ride that got our day up and rolling was named Wonder Splash. Shyam, Satish and Smasher had tagged along with us, but unfortunately for them, the ride was only to be taken in fours. We had to leave them behind as we hopped on the log raft that was at the ready. It slowly rattled up the rails and steered into a dark cave. We began screaming even before the ride showed us its share of thrills. The raft then plummeted at a rapid pace into a pool of cool water. For a moment, we were engulfed in a ball of crystal clear liquid which later soaked us to the last inch. It felt exhilarating. We wanted to have another go, so we mounted the raft again and made sure to yell a lot louder than before.

We then started walking on paths chosen at random, looking for other fun filled rides, but we were late, all the good ones were packed. Just about then, our eyes stumbled upon the landscapes that surrounded Wonderla. It was a stretch of pure wonder. But we didn’t hang around much to enjoy the sight. We had a lot more fun waiting for us. As we moved on, we noticed Srini and some of our other batch mates amongst the horde that waited for a ride on the roller coaster. We waved at them and then started wandering the place to see if there were any vacant rides at all. Suhail took notice of the Swaying ship and started pestering us to ride it. But we three are not big fans of rides that turn a man inside out, so we let him to it and headed to the water coaster. The coaster would’ve been pretty dumb if it weren’t for vishal. It was a wrong choice for a fun ride. Shortly after the ride ended, I found my cell phone as wet as a water log, in my pant's pocket. It was dead for all money. I disposed it into my backpack and started looking for Suhail. We got together and planned to explore all the water rides together. But Vishal gave us the slips and Nanda was hesitant to get himself drenched. So it was just me and Suhail doing the exploring. Nanda agreed to take snaps of us while we were at it. 

First, we headed for the fun glides. The slides were about three storeys high and quite steep. We crossed our arms over our chests, as instructed, and slid down at a pace so remarkable that we reached the bottom in no time at all. We then climbed the ‘Fun slides’ building again and reached the Pendulum. The ride was designed to be taken in pairs. The slide on this one looked a lot steeper than the one before. Once our turn arrived, we mounted an inflatable and waited as the metal underneath us started to tilt to aid our slide. But strangely, our float seemed stuck in its position. The attendant gave us a nudge to propel us forward, but he over did it a notch. We rocketed downwards almost as if in free-fall, screaming our lungs out. The fear of tipping off the edge made us yell even louder. Thankfully, we were still in one piece when the ride ended.

Next, we stood in queue for Turbo Sphere, which had the same setup as the pendulum. Suhail took the front seat and I sprawled at the back. We were then thrust into a deep dark tunnel that swayed and turned as we rode along. The droplets of water buffing against our faces elated my spirits. We shot out of the tunnel and entered a circular motion in a colossal tubular structure- a fitting finish. The ride was most certainly a one to rejoice.

We were unwilling to part with the water rides, so we had a go at it again and again until our tummies lurched in hunger. We four then grouped up and strode towards a restaurant. Every item on the menu boded massive expense, but we didn’t flinch. Having no plans to curb our expenditure, we ordered almost all the non-vegan delicacies available. They were properly served to us with a plate of- what looked like- lemon rice. We were expecting biryani. We made a mental note to never again buy biryani anywhere in Kerala and started to dig in.

With a repleted stomach, we strolled in search of more rides. The 3D theatres were out of bounds as our clothes were still drenched. Our attempts to sneak in were in vain. A coaster of some sort fell in sight. We decided to ride it as it too had to be taken in fours- an arrangement that we most gladly welcomed. Once we were strapped in place, the ride began with a painstakingly slow ascend to the top. I and Nanda hung on for dear life as were at the receiving end of the ride's wrath. The carriage that started wobbling and twirling as it moved along its rails. And by the time the ride ended, we were hungry again.

The Skies that remained gloomy all the while, finally broke out into a drizzle, which later intensified into a cool shower. Having been dowsed already, we had no need to take cover. Suhail went on to ride yet another tummy turner as we three looked on. This time, he had Gnana Prakash for company. I kept urging Nanda to try the Turbo Sphere with me. I believed it to be a ride that none should overlook. And after my relentless nagging, he gave in. It was Turbo Sphere time, one more time. 

It was then time for a swim. I had looked forward to it, but once I was in the proximity of the pool, I realized that it was infested by a nauseating amount of chlorine. I forced myself to let the opportunity pass and went on to snack at a nearby cafeteria, while Suhail and Vishal spent their time merrily splashing the torrents. Nanda and I had each other for company. We had our plates full and the sights of gorgeous looking pool-side women gave us little else to contemplate. To add to the exuberance, a cool breeze brushed against my face with all its elegance. I remember saying to myself ‘This is the Life’ 

We then literally dragged Nanda to the roller coaster which was weirdly housed inside of a building. Snaps were being taken time and again to capture the expression of every rider. We ourselves were in a dire need for a photograph to flawlessly depict our incredible time at the amusement park; the coaster came as a mere blessing. We hopped on the raft and after the usual bellowing; we saw an end to the ride. The picture came out a lot better than we had expected, but Nanda’s head was out of sight. We took on the coaster anew, wanting to satiate our craving for the perfect click. 

We walked out of the coaster building with a couple of photos in hand. They had everything we asked for, they impeccably portrayed our mirthful excitement. We then noticed most of our batch mates gawking at a ride called ‘The Twister’. Even if I were awarded with a lifetime supply of food, I wouldn’t have dared risk a ride. It reminded me more of a torture device that can be used to twist and turn the life out of people. Just the looks of it made me nauseous. I saw many of my mates throwing caution to the wind and boarding the ride. A few, obviously, threw up . I heard rumors that Boobathy Bagan sir embarked that monster, twice. Now that is what I call teen spirit!

After having our fill of seeing people throw up, we decided to bid adieu to the park. The already dim sky was darkening, and we were reminded of our curfew. On the way back, we realized that we had time enough for one more ride, a 3D theatre. It was just like watching a movie clip, but something kept poking our backs every now and then and there were bubbles and intermittent gusts that helped us dry down. The ride wasn't a total waste of time.

We strolled back to the entrance, waited a while for our batch to group up and then headed to the exit. The day was indeed remarkable, but it was not yet over. Once outside, we started taking multiple snaps of ourselves. Caught amidst all this chaos was Shyam. He became the eye of attraction. Every girl wanted a pic with him and the guy was so generous that he let them have it at a moment’s notice. Music and movies kept us entertained on our way to the Hotel. Shyam had managed to sprain his ankle, thanks to his jolly time at the pool. I pointed out a few warm up exercises to help loosen him up. But everything Shyam does gets a ring to it. His stretching, which I guess intentionally, was so much in synch with the song’s tempo that it roused a massive applause. I could see that, for the first time, he was basking in all the attention. I could see that he was happy. 

After a short ride, we reached the hotel. Toting our hefty bags uphill to reach the inn exhausted us. A few prolonged minutes and later we lay sprawled on the cozy bed at our room. A warm shower got rid of our crankiness and then, ‘Where’s food?’. We had to run a mile cowering from the cold droplets of rain that patted against the back of our heads to reach a decent restaurant, where we found Venkat and co savoring their supper. Having in mind not to bar our expenses we ordered all that we could eat. It was a fabulous meal. 
After all the fun and excitement that ranged through the day, sleep wasn’t that hard to come by. We were propped up in bed, chatting like old ladies and before realizing it, I was on the shores of dreamland.

Darling In Pink

It was my summer vacation. After having spent about twenty days doing absolutely nothing, it was finally time for me to do something fruitful. The scheduled date for the in plant training, at the Air Traffic Control, arrived. Me and four of my friends, got together at the railway station, and strolled towards the ATC wondering out loud what they might have in store for us.

We were at its gate after a while and were asked to ID ourselves, twice, before being allowed to proceed further. We searched the building for the classroom, but some guy misdirected us and so it took us a while, but we managed to spot it before late.

The classroom was well air conditioned, so was the entire building, but by the time we arrived, there were not enough seats left on the boys' side for the five of us to sit together. So we occupied the last row on the girls' side.

We then ran a check on the class to see if there were any good looking ladies amongst it. There were a few OK ones, but none of note. Then we noticed the only girl sitting on the boys' side, a few rows in front of us. She had our curiosity and we waited to see if she was any good. But the boy beside her caught us peeking. He must have been her boyfriend, he started staring at us. But later we found out that the girl is someone whom we would never again bother to look at. She was ugly. But we weren't in any position to explain it to her BF, who kept shooting stares at us every now and then assuming that we were still looking at her. After a while, we got used to it.

The classroom kept filling up, but there was no teacher in sight. We whiled away time chattering about our uneventful summer. The only person who had spent his holiday worthwhile was Nanda. He'd had his passion for pencil sketching rekindled and spent his vacation trying to master his talent. He displayed us his portraits and gained a lot of appreciation.

The doors of the room opened yet again and this time a girl dressed in pink walked in. I turned my gaze towards Nanda, on my right, and found him gaping at the girl with an awestruck expression on his face. He glanced back at me and I am certain he found me equally amazed. 'Damn! She is beautiful!' we nodded to each other. She moved to sit in the row in front of us, in the seat diagonal to me. I knew then that those three days were going to be memorable.

Classes started, and unlike any other, they were interesting. Airports and airplanes have always fascinated me. And thanks to the overly enthusiastic coordinator, we got to know a lot about the girl in pink. She was from SSN, same course as us, same year as us and her name is Deepika. Her mom had been an employee at the ATC and the coordinator happened to know her. All reasons to rejoice.

I've always wanted to share a classroom with a girl as beautiful as the one in front of me. Whenever the topic got boring, I would just sit back, relax, and admire her. She was insanely pretty.

Lunch hour arrived and we went to eat at the canteen, but the food turned out to be horrible, so we decided to bring our own lunch in the days to come.
Classes resumed and the coordinator informed us that we would be taking a tour of the place from the day after. I was excited, even more when he said that guys and girls should mingle up and form groups for it. I prayed for Deepika to end up in our group.

The day ended and we headed back to the station talking about how unexpected the day turned out to be. We started looking forward to the next couple of days.

Day two began and started rolling by. The guy with the ugly girlfriend still kept eyeing us but that had started to entertain us. We started taking count of the number of times he looked at us in a minute. Six times on average was a really big number. During the interval we decided to stare back at him, all together, and try to make him uncomfortable.But Venkat was not willing to do it, so we had to leave him out. Srini too was hesitant at first, but later he  joined me, Nanda and Vishal and we started staring at him like policemen would at a convict, but he didn’t look back at us. He turned his head around only a few minutes after we broke the stare, disappointment.

Deepika wasn't wearing a pink dress that day, yet she looked cute. The time for the grouping came up and to my utter appeasement, she and three of her friends were sorted into our group. We had to wait till the end of lunch hour for the tour to start though. We made good use of that time.

We ate our lunch in the classroom and after satisfying our appetites, I and Nanda plugged in to music. He hadn't brought his earphones, so we had to share mine. We listened to some good old melodies and watched in peace as Deepika’s movements synchronized with the tune. Her head nodded to the music, her hands played the tune and her smile was harmonious.

Moments later, the tour began. No one seemed to be doing any work at the ATC, the machines had it all taken care of, yet the guys were being handsomely paid. We visited various blocks to have a look at the proceedings and later we decided to go have a clear view of the runway. As I watched the planes take off and land, I secretly hoped for something dramatic to happen as in the shows of Discovery. But the air traffic people had the place well under control. The place had many interesting stuff, but not all of them kept us fascinated. Occasionally some boring topic would show up and at times as such, I would realize how priceless it is to have someone as pretty as Deepika in the group. But like all good things, the day came to an end.

Day three was promising. It was our last day at the ATC and our darling was dressed in pink again. I've heard people say pink is pretty, but she stood prettier. She had the top few buttons of her shirt unhooked, nothing was showing, but it certainly spiced things up. The tour began again and we couldn't help looking at her. Vishal started asking stupid questions to the demonstrators, hoping to impress the girl. But the questions sounded too stupid even to us.

Later we were taken to view the control tower. The lift was not big enough to capacitate all the members of our group, so we boys generously allowed the girls to use it and then started racing up the stairs. The run made me breathless, I reached the top and Deepika stood there blocking the coordinator from my view. The few other boys who were in my group other than my friends had decided to drop off and join the others. The coordinator, who noticed the meagre strength, asked me about it. I was already out of breath and to make things worse, Deepika started looking straight at me. She was hardly a few steps away and God! She was marvellous. I was at a loss for words at first, but then I somehow managed to tell him that those boys deprived us of their company. We then went on to have a look around the control tower. The whole place was so much fun, I started wishing to get a job at that place.

Lunch hour arrived again and I and Nanda did the usual admiring as the day before, but we were not growing tired of it, not even at the least. I also noticed that she had one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen.

The final stage of the tour was upon us. We were directed to some place that is used to monitor the air traffic. Our legs started to hurt due to all the walking we'd been doing. I stood facing a demonstrator with Nanda on my left. Deepika stood beside the teacher, yawning. The day had obviously been tiring for her, yet she managed to look so pretty. We even admired her in her drowsiness.

The day slowly drew to a close and we were asked to assemble at the classroom for a final meet. The coordinator asked for volunteers to give a speech about their experience at the ATC. One girl came forward and gave an awe inspiring speech, it was all technical, but she had attention until the very end. She gained a huge round of applause. Deepika was then called forward, but she declined the invitation. We would have loved to listen to her, but a few things are not meant to happen. Then to our surprise, the guy who had been peeking at us for the past three days, stood up. He gave a good speech as well, but his girlfriend was still ugly.

It was finally time for us to bid goodbye. We had one final look at Deepika and then we started making our way home. We were surely going to miss her, but we could always stalk her on Facebook. As we started walking out of the ATC, she and her friends over took us in their scooters. It was the last time, probably, that we were going to see her in person. Only three words came to our minds as we saw her ride away. We didn’t hesitate to voice it.

“We Love You!”

Marina

It was the eve of a Friday. Me and my friends, Nanda and Ragavendar, boarded a train and headed towards Ritchie Street, hoping to retrieve a camera we had given there for repair. We carried enough money to settle the expenses, and a few extra bucks that would come in handy if we built an appetite along the way.

We got off the train and journeyed on foot towards the shop. The walk was long and tiresome. Our hunger levels started crossing wildest expectations, but we were bound to keep our desires in check. We had a job in hand.

We paid the camera guy his wages and had about 200 Rupees to spare. Surely it wasn't enough to feed the three of us satisfactorily. We were as hungry as a bear. With a mighty effort, we tamed our raging tummies. We had to. We had other plans in mind.

Ragavendar had suggested that the seashore would be a wonderful place to spend the evening. It also came with plenty of food stalls. I thought it was a brilliant idea. We started heading towards it once the job was done. The walk back to the station exhausted us, but we managed to board a train somehow.

A short while later we were on the shores of Marina. It was a little before dusk and a full moon glorified the evening sky. It was a marvellous sight, but it took little of our notice. We had something else pressing our minds, Food.

We were very careful in spending the little money we had. We thought of buying a two litre bottle of Pepsi, but that would have dented the budget and left us with no money to eat. So we contented ourselves with a bottle of cool water. We then started strolling on the loose sand towards a food stall that lay ahead of us. The cool winds wiped the perspiration off of our foreheads.

We ordered a plate of bhaji for each of us and gobbled it down like a pack of hungry dogs. We ordered a few more, but our appetites grew insatiable  We soon ran out of money and had to force ourselves to stop. The only money we had left was for the journey back.

We then decided to move closer to the sea to have a clear view of the torrents. Night time had fallen upon us. The moon had the whole place dimly lit. The breeze grew stronger as we moved forward and a beautiful sight awaited us. The moonlight was so intense that the seawater glimmered in it, forming a patch of light on the tides. It almost looked as if there was a highway laid on the seas. I have never seen a view as such. We lingered near the salty waters for a while, admiring the scene. The shore that stretched to left of us appeared as if engulfed in fog- with yellow lights, from the food stalls, emanating from it. The winds from the ocean were making our times memorable.

Later we sat on the sands, a few feet away from the water, took a collective deep breath and eased our muscles. Even if I had been alone at a place as such, I would have had a good time; being with my friends made it better. We had the usual chit chat, passed jokes, laughed and had the time of our lives. The occasional gusts delighted us. A kid approached us with a tin of snacks and pleaded us to buy some. We weren't able to get him to leave, not until we promised him that we had no money left. We had a good laugh about that too.

An hour passed by as such and it was time was for us to bid goodbye to the shores. We dragged our heavy footsteps away from the beach and parted ways, promising each other to spend another evening together at the waterfront in the upcoming future, only next time, with a lot more money.

NightFall

The break of dawn has a soothing breeze, that calms the senses, and a warm sunshine that so often lifts the heart. But we tend to forget that nightfall has its own share of delights.

Every once in a while, there comes a day filled with so much nonsense that, at its end, my mind finds itself in a turmoil. At times as such, the star studded night sky has always been the one I look forward to for comfort. 

Lying on my back, on the grounds of my terrace, I dreamily gaze at the dots of light glimmering in the infinity and heave a sigh of relief, as my pent up stresses begin to melt away. There are hardly a few things that are more beautiful than the night sky, and occasionally, the full moon grants its presence, like a crowning jewel, making the view all the more spectacular. And one thing that comes as a topping to all this divinity is music.

Plugging in to music helps rule out all the exasperating noises that attempt to distract me from admiring the spectacle. A melodious tune works wonders each and every time.

Time flies by with no notice and when the hour gets late, I am left with no alternative but to drag myself down the stairs. But once it’s all done, I always end up with my spirits lifted and my mind appeased.

     The Gods of the night sky will always have my gratitude.

Possessions

There is always something that comes by in your life, time and again, that you dream to possess. Possessiveness, as we know, is human nature.

During my schooling, at the time when cellphones were becoming popular, I had an obsession for this particular song that I heard over the radio. I wasn't able to strike the tune off my mind. It kept lingering on and on like an old saying. But I didn't know what movie it featured in, so the only way I could listen to it was through the radio if and when it was played. I would spend hours in the evenings tuning in to different stations, yearning to hear that song one more time. I wasn't always left disappointed. The song would eventually present itself. But the movie name was unclear. It took me a few more days to finally figure it out.

I then requested my Sister to download all the songs from that movie onto my Mom's cell phone. I eagerly awaited as the downloading was yet to reach its completion. The song had something very unique about it that made my inner self levitate. I'd been so much at peace with myself whenever I listened to it and in a short while it would be mine, all mine. I would be able to listen to it as I pleased.

Once I had the song with me,I plugged in my ear phones and hit the play button, waiting for that feeling of bliss to spread within me again. But this time, there was nothing, the song felt empty. At first I had no idea of what went wrong, but later I figured it out. When I had been listening to it on the radio, there was a possibility that it might be the last time that I get to hear it, it might never been played again. At the least, It might take me a few more days to listen to it once more. Such thoughts made me value the music. I would live and breath with the tune for as long as it was played. The outside world would hold no significance to me for those few minutes. But now, things changed. I had it in my possession and realized, for the first time, that things remain beautiful or stay interesting only as long as they stay far from grasp.

One thing I could've done at that time was to delete the song files and to go back to listening to it on the radio, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. A part of me wanted to cling to it even at the expense of losing its worth.

Possession ruins beauty and more often it diminishes Love. But possessing is all we try to do.