Reflections

He notices a boat sailing in the middle of the river - the boatman trying hard to row towards the coast against the strong wind. He remembers the evening when he was sitting alone on the terrace of a two storied cottage - his college hostel. He recollects how he had a lot of people around him but yet he was alone. It takes a lot of courage to jump off but he had a lot more of it to be able to stand up and fight - to stay put. Today, he looks back and smiles at the moment and cherishes his bravery.

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Lights remind him of the time when he was home for Diwali. Clean house; colourful rangoli; bright diyas; new clothes; beautiful photographs. The decades-old building lit with polychromatic rice lights - hanging from terrace till the bottom of the first floor. As a kid, he would burst crackers as well - not anymore. However, there's this emptiness that he feels within. It is not unusual - he tries not to think about it. He is grateful for what he has today. He knows that life could have been better, but he appreciates how good it is.

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He remembers the night when he was stranded on the highway with his friend. They were off to see a friend at the hospital but had a flat tyre. They dropped the vehicle at a police station which was a few miles off the highway and walked back till the main road while incessantly looking for a lift. When a vehicle with two drunk guys stopped, they tried to escape but were threatened for life. Little do they know today whether the drunk driver had a gun for real or not, but they didn't want him to take it out that night to prove. Such was the darkness and emptiness on the road - such was the fear.

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He sees the birds fly high. He remembers how excited he was with the idea of paragliding in the hills of the Himalayas. While he is scared of heights, the idea of floating in air - as if he had grown wings - was good enough for him to forget his fear. He reflects on how there are plenty of other ways to fly - without wings. One needs an open mind and a light heart to feel the magic. There are no limits and boundaries to what one can achieve without the weight of chains. One needs to relinquish what pulls them down to be able to fly.

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When he applied for an internship during his college, he faced a test of perseverance. He recollected how in his twenty odd years of life, he had been determined to achieve his target. There were blockers and hindrances of all kinds that one can imagine - whether it be disturbances in his family or financial insecurity. His resolve, accompanied by some luck, had helped him conquer it all. And now it was about reapplying the lessons that he had learnt - to have patience; to not care about the strings that pull him down; to not leave any stone unturned - to hang in there.

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He spots a tree and recalls being rigid for what he thought was right. Should he have done it any different? Probably no. He was right in standing up for what he thoroughly believed in - through rain and heat - through snow and wind. Nevertheless, one needs to be generous - just like the tree. For the tree is tall and can make its own food, but it understands that when an axe is hammered on it, the only one who would try to save it is the one who it gives shade and fruit to - at least for some time - before the axe slices through.