Adrija

“And even though the photos are black and white, they gleam
incandescent like all the colours of a royal flush. This island is a beautiful
place, despite being filled with fools and savages. And if these photos of
yours are the only ones that outlive you, maybe that’s an ace that you can
keep.”
― Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

“..We were born in 1948. Do you believe in nakath?’
Any musician or sportsperson worth their sweat will tell you that
timing is all. Aside from believing in yakas and curses, Lankans also
believe in nakath, in the auspiciousness of time, extending Feng Shui to
the passing of moments. On Sinhala and Tamil New Year, if you face
west and light a lamp at 6.48 a.m., you will receive joy; if you face north
and spark up at 7.03 a.m., the sky will fall.
‘I don’t believe in nakath.’
‘How does 1948 sound to you? Auspicious or suspicious?’
...
‘You watch your mouth. Do you know which countries were born in
1948?’
The Benz halts in traffic, but there are winds in every direction. ‘If
this land is cursed, it is because of men like Wijeratne and Solomon Dias.
And because of those who protect them,’ you call out, emboldened by the
distance between the creature and you.
The creature yells out the names of five countries. And the Benz
disappears with the gargoyle on its hood. ‘I’ll be watching you,’ it snarls
and you see it no more. But the five names that it called out echo in your
ears. ‘Burma. Israel. North Korea. Apartheid South Africa. Sri Lanka. All
born in ’48.’
It doesn’t matter if Maali Almeida believes in nakath or not. Because
it appears that the universe most certainly does.”
― Shehan Karunatilaka, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

“Because the sunset, like survival, exists only on the verge of its own disappearing. To be gorgeous, you must first be seen, but to be seen allows you to be hunted.”
― Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

“If, relative to the history of our planet, an individual life is so short, a blink of an eye, as they say, then to be gorgeous, even from the day you’re born to the day you die, is to be gorgeous only briefly.”
― Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous