The Scrawl TT23: Out and About

OUT AND ABOUT

OUT AND ABOUT

Edited by: Lucy Jones & Angèle Baum

Dear Balliolites,

Welcome to our second issue of the Scrawl!

Thank you so much to everyone who attended our events and submitted work this term. We hope you all have an amazing summer!

Your Comrade Shakespeares, Angèle and Lucy xx

June 2023

Flowerpower

By Angèle Baum

1. It’s one of those nights

That can’t bring itself to end Clawing towards the morning

It’s one of those dusks

That stretches on out Keeping day from dawning

This is my nocturne

This is my street light requiem

I’m going nowhere

I’m waiting for a friend

I see stars glow

Fiery and alive

Under their light

Animal imagination reignites

We own this night now

Because it’s all we have to own We take these streets No one going home

This is my midnight

It’s taken hold in my head

I claim my starlight

I cannot go to bed

2. Two drinks in

And my wines becoming water

The Lords not my shepherd

and I’m not sure I’m your daughter

Wandering out

We’re like lambs to the slaughter

If Eve had fallen in front of me

I’d have caught her

At the end of empty night

The day light of life begins

Bite into an apple

Discover new sins

Even the humble snake

Eventually sheds its skin

Sometime you gotta stop loving

And let the love in

Cat,kingoftherainbow

By Angèle Baum

Snailfieldhatesmondays

BY VIKTORIA

BY Freddie Houlahan

Bartolomedelascasas BY VIKTORIA

OUT(ERSPACE)ANDABOUT

BY LUCY JONES

Exploringoxfordthroughcolleges

BY IAN

For Puraani Dilli

Arani S Hazarika, 12th of July 2020

My drab mortal self is vehemently longing for my Soul— My Soul who is perhaps lost within the walls of a haveli or perchance thronging the galis of the bazaar, gallivanting through the trivialities of this special sheher…. I must have left her in Purani Dilli in some other age in another lifetime.

At the first note of the morning Azaan or a Masakali’s first flight of the day, maybe the first whiff of gulaab jal sprinkled biryani or that of hot, mouth watering jalebis, she must have fallen for the city and I believe I obliged and let her loose in one of the sheher’s patli galis….

My Soul has been wandering since with the bohemian breeze, dancing through every nook and corner. She jumps from one roof to another, flies to the nearest tower and stops to breathe in Dilli and her Khushboo… But as fickle as she is, this must only be for a moment! There she is again, flying across the azure skies, soaring and diving and landing on the roof of Khari Baoli, the masalas tingling her senses. She then makes way through the sheets of achaar laid out to be tanned in the sun and a bountiful of marigolds. And there she will be, running through Chandni Chowk, arms wide open, embracing Dilli with all her love, losing herself in the city’s love….

In this lifetime however, I’m in dire need of my Soul. I must search for her in accordance to my longing and find her, cajole her to come back with me.

But before that, for a few moments in time, I’ll let myself loose, paint my eyes with surmaa, bear jhumkaas, don a dupatta, sprinkle myself with ittar, and be off holding hands with my Soul— fall for the city she loves, embrace it she does. And by when we are done gallivanting through all galis, exploring all the havelis, diving from all towers and flying over all roofs, I hope she falls for me this once.

Glossary for Hindustani (Hindi/Urdu) Terminology:

Haveli (huh-vay-lee): A mansion; the connotation being of an old (possibly heritage) construction.

Gali (guh-lee): narrow lanes/by-lanes; they are a characteristic of Old Delhi

Sheher (sheh-hayr): City/town

Puraani (pooraani): Old

Dilli (dill-lee): Delhi

Azaan (uh-zaan): Islamic quotidian calls to prayer

Masakali (Muh-suh-kuh-lee): Indian Fantail Pigeon

Gulaab Jal (goo-laab juhl): Rose Water

Patli (puht-lee): Thin/narrow

Khushboo: Fragrance

Khari Baoli (khuh-ree baa-o-lee): A street in (Old) Delhi, India, known for its wholesale grocery and Asia’s largest wholesale spice market selling a variety of spices, nuts, herbs and food products like rice and tea.

Masala (muh-saa-laa): Spices

Achaar (uh-chaar): Pickle

Chandni Chowk (chaand-nee chawk): Literally translating to “moonlight street” is a market I Old Delhi, built in the 17 th century by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and designed by his daughter Jahanara Begum.

Surmaa: A type of Kohl

Jhumkaa: A type of traditional Indian/South Asian dangle earrings.

Dupatta: A type of South Asian scarf is the simplest way to describe it.

Ittar: Fragrant essential oil

PRAXILLAANDTHEAPPLE

BY LUCY JONES

FROMCLASSICQUOTES ANONYMOUS