Wonderland

A phone call in the morning woke me up and invited me to Wonderland. So, of course, I said 'Yes'.

In the Wonderland, Alice is lost and strong. She is almost a sprite, even in the real world. Or maybe, especially in the real world. When her prospective mother-in-law calls her gardeners imbeciles for planting white roses instead of red, Alice calmly suggests painting them red! (Alice’s prospective groom, Hamish and his mother strongly reminded me of the mother and son frogs from Thumbelina).

The White Queen is ethereal and - a tad mad – reminiscent of Professor Sybill from Hogwarts, sans glasses.

The Red Queen with her grotesque and bulbous head is like a spoilt, tantrum prone child,

yelling 'Off with their heads'. And yet, there is this single scene when all her subjects rebel, she murmurs to her wicked knight: "You were right. It is better to be feared than loved." It is then that you realize that this monster and tyrant perhaps harbored a small, subconscious wish to be loved, just a little.

And the Mad Hatter. Well, he is mad. But like Alice tells him, all the best people in the world are (I will remember that next time I worry about going round the bend). He is brave and ridiculous. He rues the fact that Alice is never the right size - either she is too small or too big. And then when Jabberwocky lies slain, he has his heart in his eyes, as he tells Alice, "You could stay." It made me wonder if a Mad Hatter with orange hair and orange eyelids couldn't possibly be the Prince. After all, this was Wonderland!

Yet the Wonderland is dark and a mite depressing - even after the White Queen banishes her sister. The colours are bright and vivid but not cheerful, bordering on garish.

This is no young girl's innocent imagination running rampant. It is a place where all the dark fears in some way came alive.

All is not lost, though. As long as you remember six impossible things:

1. There is a potion that can make you shrink
2. There is a cake that can make you grow
3. There are animals who can speak
4. There is a cat which can vanish
5. There is a place called Wonderland
6. You can slay Jabberwocky

Maybe, I would make up my own list of six impossible things to recite every Monday morning to defy the depression of another five days of mundane monotony. :-)

Despite and inspite of all the above, what I am carrying with me out of the hall and will hug to myself when I sleep tonight - is the visual of the beautiful blue butterfly, that the Wonderland's caterpillar turns into, flying out of the screen and almost landing on my hand. That, to me, is the magic of Wonderland!

Until next time, keep dreaming!

P.S: I would love to hear your list of six impossible things to beat the weekday blues. Do post them in the comments section. :-)