RENDEZVOUS

‘If there’s an answer, he’d find it there’ was all that Praniel kept murmuring when he got up, after having a dream.

“What is it? Did you have a bad dream?” his wife asked before she saw his face, all sweaty and amazed. He had that unique smile on his face and seemed to be lost in his own thoughts.

“What is it?” she kept asking him again and again, and it took him a while to come back to the reality, out of his mental trance. “What has occupied you? And what is with this smile? It’s half past four in the morning Neil, what’s wrong? Tell me!” she asked, after all what do you expect from a wife, who has woken up in the early morning from her deep sleep because of her husband’s dream, to find him lost in his own world.

“I saw someone. Someone all glowy and had a certain persona, a unique charm about himself.”

“Okay. What did that someone do?” she asked further.

“He talked to me. He opened the door of my mind, and just like that, all my faith, believes, dreams, and hopes came rushing back in.”

“Okay. That’s nice, I guess” she replied perplexed.

“You do not understand Myra, he talked about all the complaints that I ever had, all the difficulties I ever faced, everything. He just knew every damn thing!!”

“Okay, I am intrigued now. Tell me more, could you?”

“You know how the past years had been. I had many questions that I used to ask from the almighty and would always wait for his one response, for if only once he could answer my questions, solve my problems, clear out all my doubts. I had this deep faith in him, that he’ll answer all my questions for if he has blessed me with this life, he would also help me to make it a heaven to live and enjoy.”

“Go on, keep telling. I am all ears for it” she said. This had really fascinated her, she was a believer herself, that the almighty will answer all those silent prayers they ever did, all the questions- the answers to whom they were searching, one day, maybe, someday.

Getting his hint, Praneil continued with his dream or for that matter his confrontation.

“Last night when I slept, I had a week moment, moment when all I could focus on were the answers to my questions, I had been engaged with my silent talks with him.. All I thought about were the times, times when I had tried to be happy again, times when I thought to let everything go by, the time that slipped right from my hands and I could do nothing, absolutely nothing to make my way back up, again!! All I sought was, if for once he could either take all the pain away or give me the strength and the power to deal with them and some answers along with it.”

“In my dream, I found myself in this place, it was illuminated and pleasant. I heard someone calling my name, and felt myself attracted towards that voice and kept moving in its direction. It was enthralling.”

“It lead me to a place, place where there was silence, deafening silence, yet it soothed me and calmed my soul. And there it was, a figure of a man, standing by a huge waterfall. He welcomed me with both his arms open and his voice seemed delighted. He had his back towards me, I was afraid, as you are always afraid of the unknown.”

“What happened after that? Did you see his face or anything?”

“I asked him, who he was and where I was. He turned around and I saw him. He looked just like me, exactly same, just like a shadow self. So I asked him how that was possible, to which he was replied that he was me, a part of me and I was a part of him. He said he was part of everyone around here, in this planet, and everyone is a part of him. He said he’s the creator, the survivor and the destroyer, THE ALMIGHTY!”

“I was confused earlier, for a minute, but after that, I was astonished. I was believed the teachings of my religion, that god is in everyone, even in me; but when I saw him, for myself, out there in front of me, I was pretty happy, who won’t be? It’s not every day that you meet the god, is it? But more than happy, I was mesmerized by the aura he had around him. Each and every inch of my body was at peace in his aura, he radiated happiness, peace, love and care. I felt like a kid again, who returns to his mother after fights, or in search of serenity. Just like a child, I ran, ran towards him, covering the distance among us, and fell into his arms, and he, he just stood there embracing me, allowing me to let go of everything that has ever bothered me. Like a mother he swayed my hair, kept his hand on my head and filled me with rejoice. When I looked at him, I found my entire world in him.”

“Being in his arms, at peace, felt like an eternity, an eternity of vivid peace. When all my inhibitions died, I decided to ask him the answers, answers to all my unsaid questions, to all my unheard poems. He sure did mention that when nobody could hear, nobody could see me, he was there. He was there with me through everything, he heard all my prayers, he felt all my tears and wept with me, that in this journey of life, I had been never been alone. It does not matter that I was not able to see him, but he was there, in my faith, my beliefs, and in my hopes.”

“Being the god, he definitely knew how to play with the words, yet give you all that you ever wish for, but only if you could understand that.”

“You know, he answered my question in such a simple yet an elegant way, he said, ‘I am a part of you, a part that resides inside you. I had always shown you the two ways: one that is right but difficult to follow, and one that is wrong but is luring and easy to go on, when you came across the problems. It was entirely on you to decide, for what path you were gonna take. You would have run from all your troubles had you chosen the easiest path, but you choose the difficult yet the correct one, it had been full of ups and downs, I know that, but at the end, you passed through. Consider it as a test that life put you in, and you excelled in that, you didn’t cheat to avoid sufferings or the pain that followed. Rather you faced it, straight in the eye. You are brave my child.’ ”

“I asked him that if he wanted me to choose the right path, why didn’t he just show me the right path that I need to follow? Why create two paths and put a person in dilemma, for that would have always led to pain, pain of failure if the wrong path was chosen, and as for the right path, they had to walk on thorns. Does he love me less than the others? But then he replied, ‘ I love each one of you equally. Life is not a bed of roses, is it? There had been a reason, for every thorn that prickled your foot; it had a lesson to teach. Moreover, I am inside you and I would have never let you gone onto the wrong path. So, whenever you face any problem in life again, always remember, ‘I right inside you. So, if there’s an answer, you’d find it in there’ ”