Nawwab and I: Restless and Talking of Michelangelo

t: Chalo
N: Where?
t: Kaheen nahiN.
N: You are restless.
t: That vase over there is not restless.


N: “Some slaves are scoured to their work by whips, others by their restlessness and ambition.” [John Ruskin]
t: “Restlessness is discontent and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man and I will show you a failure.” [Thomas Edison]
N: You are a man: “Women are the fulfilled sex. Through our children we are able to produce our own immortality, so we lack that divine restlessness which sends men charging off in pursuit of fortune or fame or an imagined Utopia. That is why we number so few geniuses among us. The wholesome oyster wears no pearl, the healthy whale no ambergris, and as long as we can keep on adding to the race, we harbor a sort of health within ourselves.” [Phyllis Mcginley]
t: “To put meaning in one's life may end in madness. But life without meaning is the torture Of restlessness and vague desire--It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.” [Edgar Lee Masters]
N: “A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.” [Charlotte Bronte]
t: “Restless thoughts, like a deadly swarm of hornets arm'd,
no sooner found alone, but rush upon me thronging.” [John Milton ]
N: Restlessness camouflaging inactivity is crime against Peace.
t: Who said it?
N: Woof woof.
t: Yours?
N: Don't press.
t: “The press is no substitute for institutions. It is like the beam of a searchlight that moves restlessly about, bringing one episode and then another out of darkness into vision. Men cannot do the work of the world by this light alone.” [Walter Lippmann]
N: "Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment." [Henry David Thoreau]
t: [silence]
N: "The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence."[Sylvia Plath]
t: [silence]


N: You said 'chalo,' let's go:
Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
t: wah wah, wah wah!
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question …
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.


N: I knew I could trust TS to bring you out.
t: Is that a smile or a smirk?
N: You should know better, we do not smirk. Our emotions are simple and uncomplicated.
t: Yes O Wise One.
N: Don't be condescending with me.
t: You know Nawwab am not being...OK..slightly perhaps. But more in praise than anything.
N: In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
t: OK let's move on and end this?
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.


N: So, where do you want to go with this?
t: Am unsure. Should I finish the story or the poem. Or should I visit the Window people?
N: Let's walk down to the window showroom. Walking is good.
t: Rain is in the forecast.
N: You don't want to go. Ok finish the story.
t: Am wondering if it is enough to end it on the precipice.
N: It is a glimpse of life. People face choices all the time.
t: Alright, let me put this away first.
N: You are restless!