I stood still but the path did not. The path moved ahead through the thick fog further into the forest of tall silver oak trees. The trees were like thin shadows leaping towards the sky, their tops lost inside the chilly fog. The freezing breeze left me numb. Numb enough to feel lost and contemplate over the mockery called life.
People have called life funny. I think life makes fun of you. Every individual has just two important events in one's life- birth and death. And it isn't funny to know that no human being is in a position to remember either event. Life is like this particular foggy path. Equally lonely and equally hard to perceive the path ahead. Yet, there this unfathomable urge to move on. There is a desire for company. At every stage of life I have always wanted someone to share my knowledge and feelings with. I am aware of the futility of this need. But the need is mutual. Everyone lives a lonely life.
The silver strands of hair covering my temple are brushed aside by a mighty gust of chilly wind. It was reassuring. I have now decided to appreciate the beauty of everything that is good in life. Only then does life attain meaning. The fog was clearing and I could spot the full moon staring at me. That was reassuring too. My eyes twinkled with childlike joy at the sight. Some stars twinkled back with friendly winks. I resumed my walk down the path. Numbness was now a natural state. I could hear some rustling in the bushes lining the path. Twice I turned and glanced at the bushes and expected to spot a startled rabbit or a slithery snake. There was nothing in sight. Expectations? Ha! When I was younger, I had been told that life will make you cry before you understand what life is. Never in my life had that happened. That doesn't mean I had failed to understand. I believe a person has no reason to weep if he understands life. I ensured that everyone around me smiled and laughed and life laughed along; not with derision.
Life didn't make me cry. But now as I approach the end of this path, life will well up with tears. I will make life cry. My life will miss me.
People have called life funny. I think life makes fun of you. Every individual has just two important events in one's life- birth and death. And it isn't funny to know that no human being is in a position to remember either event. Life is like this particular foggy path. Equally lonely and equally hard to perceive the path ahead. Yet, there this unfathomable urge to move on. There is a desire for company. At every stage of life I have always wanted someone to share my knowledge and feelings with. I am aware of the futility of this need. But the need is mutual. Everyone lives a lonely life.
The silver strands of hair covering my temple are brushed aside by a mighty gust of chilly wind. It was reassuring. I have now decided to appreciate the beauty of everything that is good in life. Only then does life attain meaning. The fog was clearing and I could spot the full moon staring at me. That was reassuring too. My eyes twinkled with childlike joy at the sight. Some stars twinkled back with friendly winks. I resumed my walk down the path. Numbness was now a natural state. I could hear some rustling in the bushes lining the path. Twice I turned and glanced at the bushes and expected to spot a startled rabbit or a slithery snake. There was nothing in sight. Expectations? Ha! When I was younger, I had been told that life will make you cry before you understand what life is. Never in my life had that happened. That doesn't mean I had failed to understand. I believe a person has no reason to weep if he understands life. I ensured that everyone around me smiled and laughed and life laughed along; not with derision.
Life didn't make me cry. But now as I approach the end of this path, life will well up with tears. I will make life cry. My life will miss me.
3 comments:
Naice! :)
Mast likhta hai bhau!
What clinchers the first and last lines are! Hats off!
PS: You have grey hair too? ;)
@Saurabh...thanks man!
@Tanvi....thanks! i don't have grey hair but the narrator does...haha...the wonders of fiction...u can be an octogenarian!
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