I am going to start a story thread...feel free
to add to it..let's see what we will come up with
Walking past that dense
forest of humanity there was only one thought that lingered in his/her mind.
- as far as we can
discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the
darkness of mere being..!!
But how does one do that? Even 'mere being' involves
a huge amount of running around to simply deal with the painfully banal yet
basic needs of food, shelter and clothing. But many have found their way of
finding their passion with all these banalities. Or have they...?
or they have, may be. Trying to work around
the available options only make people suffer in silence. Without much to
'change' individuals dwell in their own systematised life style. Only few stand
out moving on the path their souls yearn for!
Or Maybe the systematised life style is what their souls yearn
for but due to humanities pressure there is an illusion of more!!!
With such existential ponderings she kept
walking as if in a dream. Coming to her senses she realized the place where she
had landed up, where her feet had carried her on their own accord looked quite
familiar...
surprised a little, she realised she had come
that little marketplace where she last saw 'her'. The woman who had so
intrigued her. What had been about her that first caught her attention? She
tried to recollect...
'She' had come to her
out of the crowd and whispered in her ears, in a voice that reminded her of a
flowing brook "I can take away you pain." Then, as strangely she
appeared, as strangely she disappeared. Bewildered, she had searched for her
the whole evening. Questions screamed inside her. Who are you? How do you know
of my pain? How can you take it? Why will you take it? Who are you!?
But
her search was futile. It was as if she had been in a dream, and somebody woke
her up, and she woke up thinking of her dream to be true; but was disappointed
when she saw the world around her that her dream had ended. A dream, was but a
dream.
Today
again she stood there, looking at the world around her. The people, their
noises; just like an unruly sea tempest, trying to drown her, sink her deep, to
some frightful place from where there's no coming back.
And
suddenly all that tempest, all the storm, all the noise of sea waves clashing
and the windy cacophony ceased. It all changed into a familiar, peaceful,
mysterious sound. That of a flowing brook.
She
startled.
'She'
had come.
She' had come to calm
her soul. She followed 'her' like a river which flows consistently to merge in
the ocean. Unstoppable!
She
could feel her spirit alive after a very long time.
She
knew it was 'her' soothing presence which was moving here soul...
She
did nothing every time she met 'her'. She just listened to 'her' speaking, her
brook of a voice wielding gems from its depth. Every evening, she went there
and met 'her', every evening 'she' spoke, sitting there in her immaculate white
clothing and she
just listened to her voice, and on and on until the night overcame their little
tryst. She never asked who 'she' was, and 'she' never told. Instead, she told
her of places she had never heard of, of some kind of promised land, of
happiness and magic, and fairies and angels and someday 'she' would take her
there with her. And miraculously, all this took her pain away. She didn't
question her life anymore. Instead, she became a dreamer. She didn't know if it
was good or bad, but she liked dreaming. Of 'her' and her promised land.
One
day 'she' told her that she was her mother. She had never been so happy before.
'She' told her that soon she'd take her with her to that land she spoke of.
This evening was the time 'she' had promised. She eagerly reached that
marketplace. Finally, she was going with 'her', her own mother, to her place.
She looked for 'her' in the crowd, afraid that 'she' might not show up. She saw
all the people and loathed them suddenly. She talked about her mother to them
and they mocked her for talking to her mother . She hated them all.
Ah!
There 'she' was finally. She was afraid 'she' would not come, that 'she' would
be late. Her mother, with her voice like that of a flowing brook, calling her
to come. She went to her, running. Tearing that crowd apart and those people.
She hated them all. She hated them all for calling 'her' her "late"
mother; but 'she' was never late.
'She'
was always on time for her.
Always.
And
that is when realization dawned on her. 'she' had never been away, had always
been with her through thick and thin. It is just that she lacked the vision to
see 'her'. This revelation was like a cool shower on her otherwise burning soul
and it bestowed her with an inexplicable sense of fulfillment..
Participants: Aastha Manocha, Edha Jain, Ajitesh Bohra, Divya Balaji, Shubhra Joshi, Geetika Kaw Kher
