Sunday, November 7, 2010

Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho

Maria, a young girl from a remote village of Brazil, with innocent brushes from love failures at an early adolescent stage and hatred for love goes to seek her fortune in Switzerland, only to find that reality is lot harder than she expected. After working in a nightclub as a Samba Dancer for a brief period, she realises that this is not what she wants. After having heated discussion with her manager one night, she storms out and begins to look for a career in modelling. After waiting for a long time when her funds begin to dwindle, she engages herself for "one night" with an Arab for 1000 francs. Delighted with the easy money and after compromising with her soul she lands in a brothel on Rue de Berne, the heart of Geneva's red-light district.

There she befriends Nyah who gives her advice on her "new profession" and after learning the ritual from Milan, the owner of the brothel, she begins the job with her body and mind shutting all doors for love and keeps her heart open only for her diary. Soon she becomes famous and her colleagues begin to envy her. Months pass and Maria grows into a professionally groomed prostitute who not only relaxes one's mind, but also calms the clients' souls by talking to them about their problems.

The world turns upside down for her when one day she meets painter Ralph who sees her "inner light" and she instantly falls in love with him and begins to experience what true love is. (It is a sense of being for someone without actually possessing him ) Maria torn between her sexual fantasy and true love for the painter, now believes that it's time for her to leave Geneva with her memory of Ralph as she realises they are worlds apart. But before leaving she decides to rekindle the dead sexual fire in Ralph and learns about the nature of Sacred Sex, sex which is mingled with true love and which knows to give up your soul for the one you love, from him.

This story in fact, is Maria's journey to find what true love is by letting her own life guide her. She enters a life that leads her down the path of sexual awakenings and almost leads to her self-destruction when she is introduced to all sides of sexual experience. When she has given up hope to find true love, she finds her true "inner light" and her everlasting true love.