Walking past that bench again…

Sit with me here, next to me on top of this water tank on the terrace of a tall building tucked in an urban landscape. It could be any building, this could be any city.

It’s about 6:45 pm and it’s still hot for an evening in May in this part of the country. The sun is about to set and the sky is a strange dust laden tinge of orange. Out there on the roads, people are going crazy, rushing out of offices and clogging the roads, blaring horns and absorbed in their mad daily routine. The scene is far from pleasant or serene but this is the world we dwell in.

Take a deep breath and try and shut the noise out. Feel the wind, strain out the dust it carries from the nearby construction site. Let me hand you the flask I carry on all such evenings when I come out to this terrace. Take a big sip and let the heady concoction settle down. Let the sky dim its lights a little more and a faint moon reveal itself on the violet sky.

Here, let me give you that small string of jasmine I bought on the way up here. Smell it. Its calming effect acts almost immediately. I can see it in your smile. I will hold your hand now and pretend that I am sitting on that bench by the lake. You remember the bench, don’t you? It’s the one etched in our memories forever, despite having visited it together, just once in this lifetime.

By the way, I went past it last week and clicked a few pictures for you, hoping that someday maybe we could again find a spot here. Till then, let’s just inhale the smoke of our lives and live by the fire we heal ourselves with, every now and then and think about another evening, another life.