Imbibed - a short yet long story

“Imbibe is like the rain that falls on you and drenches you...more within your soul than the body. It not just cools down the heat that the atmosphere generated...but conversely gives you warmth that wraps you round”, I told him as I imagined us getting drenched in the rains and his warm hug wrapping me up in its perpetual warmth. Teasing me, he was; and I said I’ll be imbibed in you so you can’t tease me. He laughed endlessly.

It had been about four days since we bumped into each other accidentally, over mutual admiration of our work in photography; and there we were...discussing life, work, profession, hobbies, habits - the good and the bad. We had struck an instant connection out of nowhere and that had already started to feel like taking us into a larger trouble. The four days had gone by as if it were four years and we already knew as much about each other. Somehow, there was nothing romantic between us, no frills at all. But we spoke of every detail under the sun and realised how clone-like we were. We had been bitten by some bug, we didn't know existed.

It was a tale of two cities, not too far by distance or cultural difference, but far apart for the urge to meet, sit face-to-face and talk. Talk until the dates on the calendar change...we actually can talk to each other that much. "We are heading for trouble", I said and he laughed out loud again. A man known for smiling rarely was suddenly having bouts of a wholesome laughter that surprised everyone else around him. And a woman, an advocate of bachelorhood was suddenly appreciative of companionship..."you never know".

As the saying goes, "When you desire something from the bottom of your heart and soul; the whole universe conspires to get you that". A bit filmy but that's how it was and he happened to come over to my city for a meeting, we decide to catch up in the evening and we did. We had fallen for each other, not surely aware of it though. In what could be called the fastest proposal...he replied "We are into TROUBLE". We knew what it meant and we met the next day to talk further about random things in and around our individual lives...just to meet up again late evening. The fifth day of us meeting had changed the way we looked at the world, entirely.

Me - the nomad

I’m a nomad;
don’t mistake me for being civilized,
For this whole concept of civilization has gone haywire causing immense loss of humanity, faith and love.

I’m a nomad;
don’t expect to see me around the same place,
For this world is vast and worth exploring beyond the limits of your earthly beliefs.

I’m a nomad;
don’t think I will be enveloped in the vicious circles of greed, envy and lust,
For when I love I allow no hindrances and when I hate I see no reasons to hold back.

I’m a nomad;
but with a small tribe of like-minded humans who haven’t gotten lost in this world, who haven’t forgotten how to live and those who really value one another.

Me - A Life Within You!

Who am I?
If not the spark in those innocent eyes, that know nothing but love.

Who am I?
If not the sense of a free mind, that wishes to fly high each dawn.

Who am I?
If not the sound of the river that flows perennially, raging through the heart...deep down the soul.

Who am I?
If not the warmth in the hug, which envelopes one in times of cold.

Who am I?
If not a hand that holds, when you draw the courage to take a new step.

Who am I?
If not you, in your heart and soul.
Your inner voice, your matter that fills the void.
Your warmth in the frost and breeze in the heat.
The other half of you...the me within you and the you within me.

Who am I?
If not Vrinda, a life within YOU.

The Hypnotist

There are for sure, several non-conventional ways, in which one would hold control of and influence one's mind and heart. But the most charismatic of all kinds couldn't be any other than that in which the Hypnotist was left unaware of his act. A magician – unaware of the way he fascinates one’s imagination and puts them in awe; An Illusionist – unaware of the way he creates a new world altogether and weaves it into someone’s mind; A Hypnotist – unaware of how close he comes to you and gets into your mind, sees nothing but shows you what he desires, he holds your hand and leads you to the dance floor and makes it the time of your life…and then as innocently asks, “who are you?” And you actually, forget what the correct answer was…rather you intentionally ignore reality for want of that Hypnotist!

Now, have you ever had an acquaintance with one? Well here I have to make a few things clear; I certainly do not refer to a professional Hypnotist. Here, he is the one person who ventured in to your mind’s private territory without any permission and you not just feel belonged to him, but also welcomed him with all his splendour. He comes to you with a massive wealth of happiness and zest for living your life to the fullest. He makes you smile when you really want to cry, makes you laugh when you are tired and low, and holds you tight in his arms just to tell you…I’m right here. He creates a world so warm and cosy that you never want to venture out of it.

Just imagine yourself standing on a lonely beach at 12.00 noon, the sun right above your head and the wind – mild and warm (feels very warm due to the high levels of humidity in the air). The waves of the sea are relatively cold but don’t give you any comfort. And you get tired, despite standing at one of the most beautiful beaches. You hardly hear any sounds there, actually, nothing other than that of the waves coming and going off the shore in a lame and lazy pace.  There comes the Hypnotist! You initially don't see him very well, your eyes are almost blinded by the harsh sunlight. And all you feel is a stranger walking up to you from a distance. He holds your hand and takes you closer to the densely grown coconut trees. He makes you sit down on the sand (initially it feels warm and you are not sure if you were happy to be sitting down there). But, you sit down quietly looking at him; into his eyes. He has a very calm expression on his face and appears familiar to you. He offers you a glass of water…not directly though. He holds it in his left hand and looks at the beautiful beach. He then points his index finger of the right hand to the Sun and slowly directs the sunlight to creep into that glass of water. There…you suddenly see the water sparkling as if there were floating diamonds added to it. It thrills you and brings this warm smile on your face. He warmly smiles back to you. He then points his finger to the clouds in the bright blue sky and directs them into the glass as well. This just looks so damn beautiful that you are in an awe of its beauty. The water in the glass is sparkling blue and looks calm and energised, equally. And at the end, he closes his eyes and points his fingers at his temples and directs that also to the glass. He opens his eyes and looks deep into your eyes, making sure none of you witness anything around. Before you may realise, the entire universe has changed, at that moment you only see his eyes deeply drowned in yours and you keep getting increasingly deeper into his. You have completely lost control of yourself and have willingly placed your fate in his hands. Somewhere in his eyes, you start noticing your image and smile. It's you inside him and then you allow the expanse of your aura to absorb him, your own Hypnotist. He offers you the glass of water and you have it. |------| Silence…..You don’t hear absolutely anything around you, its absolute silence. The only sense that works is your sense of taste. You have never had that taste before, its just as sweet as you would have always loved, just as warm or cool as you would have always found apt and just so calming as you may always have desired. You are floored by his art of making just the right elixir for you and you offer a portion of it to him as well. And he happily shares it. Its then, that you are a “united one” in a universe containing singularity.

It is this moment in life that changes your world forever. There after you do not feel the heat on the beach, you rather enjoy the sun. You do not feel strange about the sand slipping under your feet, you rather play with it. You do not find it a lonely dull place to live, rather it has transformed in to you very own private heaven. The Hypnotist of your life, changes the world for you.

I had read somewhere long back, that God created gaps between our fingers so that one day someone comes, holds your hand forever, fills up the gaps and makes us complete. Little, do we really think, this way. But, there is always this one magician who creates magic in your life, the one illusionist who creates a world so beautiful that you can witness it with joy until your last breath, and the one dreamer who teaches you how to dream. The One Hypnotist who pulls you close and makes you thrive in a world of your own dreams that he has created just for you.

In such a night as this !

In such a night as this,

Did I walk barefoot on the moist sand;

And felt the sea washing it away.

With tides in front of my eyes and an ocean in my mind,

I had walked the walk of time.

In such a night as this,

Singing to myself, a hymn.

Amongst illusions I walk and shattered I fall;

In such a night as this;

So close, I feel, to God!

-Copyright @ Pie

तुझा चेहरा

डोले मिटूनी बघितले मानत,

दिसला तुझा चेहरा.

रात्रीच्या आकाशात, 

चन्द्र तुझा चेहरा.

सृष्टीच्या आवार्नातिल,

 गुलाब तुझ्या चेहरा,

मावे न हृदयत ही 

असा विशाल तुझा चेहरा.

 - Copyright 2011 @ Pie

Life like The Orange Lanterns

Have you ever observed the orange lanterns on a dark festive night, swinging in the winds? Amidst utmost silence, the wind teases its streamers and there goes the lantern flying high. Its as if the dark night romances the bright orange lantern, trying to make it dance with all the heart and soul. And the lantern - on a high, so much in love with the night that it leaves the night powerless, losing its darkness and shine up to embrace the air within itself and fill it up with immense warmth. Looking at it, I can't escape my desire to fly up in the sky, over the mountain tops. I nearly feel the chills within me, with the winds penetrating through each of my senses. They look mesmerizing - beauty at its best. But, to me they are like messengers from the heaven. They always make it a point to teach me something, every time I look at them. I'm in an awe of their beauty and their companionship.

I never thought of really compromising in my life because I grew up with an idea that I shall get all that I deserve and that I shall always get what I want, without realizing the fact that these two situations weren't actually possible in real life. Dreaming was my favourite hobby and to be honest, it still is. Taking life so lightly at every given point of time, has made me learn a lot, that apparently no person would have been able to teach. But, every time I thought I was winning, I had actually lost; so badly that, it took ages for me to recover my losses. Despite that, the one thing that kept me going was a voice that said, “C’mon you are my best kid and I’m sure you can do better”. And then, I actually did.

As years passed by and I grew by one stage in life after another, I constantly got stronger enough than before; more powerful, confident, helpful, understanding and a little more arrogant as well. As I came across different kinds of people on my way, I learnt new things from them. But, each unhappy episode in my life made me more and more reluctant towards human feelings, affection, relations and above all humanity. I slowly started becoming ruthless.

While running a 100 meter race, we begin very enthusiastically, looking around us to see how others started and who among our known people have turned up to cheer us. After the first 20 meters, we realize that the people who came with us were actually looking at other runners and not us. At this stage, we deny to agree that they aren't looking at us out of lack of interest and comfortably believe that they are observing the others out of sheer competition, just to find out how well we will be able to manage to win over them. In the other 20 meters, we experience the actualization of the fact that they were not looking at us for even a while and had ended up cheering the other runners. That's when our heart sinks and we can't figure out the reason behind it. "Had they not come with us? Aren't they supposed to cheer us?". Very unknowingly, by this time, we have covered 40 meters of the race and there are only 60 more to go. The race at this time is at its peak and all the runners are totally charged up (though they also must have gone through the same kind of emotions that we did). From here on we begin to get emotionally stronger and try our best to focus on the target that is set, "our ultimate goal - the finish line". It takes a lot of effort, initially, but we successfully manage to avoid all the sounds that exist in the background and attain silence in the mind. Our mind is then set to focus completely on the "finish line". This struggle to attain focus in the race helps us cover the distance of next 20 meters, taking us to 60 meters. This is then followed by the real successful run, the run for life. Those 20 meters take us to a mark of 80 and we realize that we are then leading the race. We are now so damn close to winning the race. And you actually do. But, you know what, the last 20 meters run takes you back to the square one, which is a serious emotional state of mind. 


In the last bit, you run at a speed your mind cannot measure. Its just the momentum that has been generated in your body and your mind holds no record of it, at all. For you, that time runs in a slow motion when your soul is right outside your actual self looking at you winning the race. But, that's not all. You also see your self alone in the front, followed by only those who want you to lose so that they can win. Thanks to your "trained mind", you have by now detached yourself from the rest of the world and do not hear anyone cheer you or call you by your name. You take no notice of who are with you ready to clap as you run through the ribbon on the finish line. Here, your heart doesn't sink or feel heavy. It just ruins you from within. You realize that all that you did to win the race was in wain because you let go off the people you loved and got so busy in winning that you did not see when they actually turned to you with a magnanimously happy heart to give you a warm hug on your victory and tell you that, "I'm proud of you". 


Such is life.


Even I ran the race and experienced the same things. But, right before the finish life I looked back and saw all that I had given up in the process and wanted it back. I couldn't manage to let the most important people and possessions of my life go away in a wink, just for the sake of winning a race. At that point of time, all I needed was a warm hug, a kiss on my forehead and eyes that told me, "Well done. Are you alright?". 


I won, I got my hug and swore that I shall never let it go away from me, no matter what.


Honestly, I still don't compromise in life. But, I have learnt to value the people who have made me what I am, people who held my hand every time I needed to walk, who ran themselves to teach me how to run, who laughed in their pain if I got scared and above all, who spent their selfless life just to see me smile.


They are so like the orange lanterns lit in a dark festive night, fluttering in the wind. Bright, beautiful, calm and so full of love. Yet, powerful enough to take you through the toughest times in your life, giving you a brilliance of festivity in the darkest of nights. They make me gaze at them for hours, singing, "these are the few of my favourite things".


- Copyright @ Pie