The Voyage of Fantasy

With the triumph of the brightness over the gloom, a ray peeped through the grilled window and transfused into my eyelids, fondling right upon my retina. And a peculiar warmth touched me with a hand as bland as a dainty. And with the gradual narrowing of my pupil, I unsealed my eye cover.
 The first sight that I captured was probably a fatal strain to my eyes , for I spotted two lines embossed upon the board which read something that seemed to be an argot. So I rubbed my eyes in order to perceive a crystal clear vision of the impossibly interpretative script. At first, I blamed my drowsiness that shattered barricades to my reading skills, but anon with a shrill squeal "chai bolo bhai chai", my consciousness retrieved back into me. But still the script baffled me right from head to toe, until a savior alternative language kissed my sight. The script bore an interesting pronunciation that phonetics may evaluate it as 'pa~ than~ kot'.
My superficial knowledge of the Indian cities provided me the brush to paint upon my canvas a kind of a map of the distance that we had covered accompanied by the transverse shakings and minor jerks.
The painting drove me back home when I had started the previous night. The bitterness of Indian system that we tasted was still felt in my taste cells. The four hour train delay and hopeful announcements that aided to prove hope hopeless had set ablaze a quarter of my liveliness. And the adventurous train boarding that our tangled coil of crap railway functioning served us, still hadn't been stacked up in the memories, but was wandering in various nerve cells, clenching the nerve movement. Though the fatigue feeling had almost diffused with the previous evening's on wheel enjoyment and the sound sleep upon the wooden berth, yet a frail of weakness did saunter in me, colouring me with a shade of sloth.
But then keeping aside the sloth, I culminated as soon as the canvas yielded an imagined map. The inference read that we had covered 1500 kms and a sway through Eastern Gujarat, Rajasthan and almost entire of southern Punjab.
The station aroused in the train a considerable congestion. The unreserved passengers had already begun settling into the reserved seats by tagging the illicit acts as adjustment and brotherhood with the co- reserved passengers. But a real sense of compromise had ushered among the Indians. The inter- caste conversations had broken out and giggles and laughters were all heard aloud. And along with the boisterousness was heard a smash of middle berths, with the deluging of dreams. A bath excluding refurbishment was soon the most trending action in the compartment. Anon, a kind of young adult gossip had begun round the coaches. And the cards had become the most important comrade of the travelers fighting boredom.
And then a gaze at the passing by beauties of nature delighted the inner segment of my heart and the intrinsic lyricism felt at the moment stole all my descriptive words. The entire being of mine had begun wandering in the beautiful green grasslands and agricultural fields, as thought they were pouting at me.
Soon then spread a menacing darkness in the train resulting in a series of moans. At first I felt as if the Sun suddenly drowned in the horizon resulting in the darkness, but then a true rumor flew into the train. The occurrences of tunnels were enchanting the mood in the aura.
A true nature of humanity had ushered its existence. The wheel of time coiled the bonds of newly met mates. The rapidness of attachment left me awestruck. The attachments grouted and solidified like the fastest of gums. Brotherhood and friendliness lined the outline of every body. Within a wink had the strangers contributed to bring the strangest of emotions of liking.
While my notions strolled round the roots of the instantaneous cohesion, the express whistled with a rigorous intensity, striking every heart's chord of exuberance. Inertia then rendered its slight impact and a downtown terminal was sighted by us. A rather contrast to the filth laden stations, the Udhampur terminal explicated the rationality of  baptizing Jammu and Kashmir with the title- 'The Paradise on Earth'.
But we were yet to be welcomed by a  tedious hilly voyage. But once we boarded upon the bus the tediousness was plunged by the company of the newly attached co- campers. And the plain ethereal beauty that tug out of the windows gaped our eyelids.
The alluring destination soon baited our tempt to indulge into the lap of nature. The verdant valley mesmerized the senses into a deep bliss of gladness. The haste to gad in the meadow roused within our troop. But we were to attend a briefing pertaining to our seven day maneuvering. Soon the allotment of rooms and other formalities followed the proceedings.
And at the very end, we were sought with the liberty to gad in the bewitching valley. The first scene that caught my eye was of the green meadow that extended round the horizon. But for the very first time had interference proved worth existing. For the continuity of the green grass had been hampered by a lake that occupied the heart of the valley. A panoramic virtual view shall be eulogized by infinite pages . The point where the horizon of the valley concluded, a pine- filled green adamant mountain sprouted out from an unknown point on the ground. It seemed as though the ravishing peaks entirely besieged the place where we stood. The beauty left each one stunned to the fullest. As though the internal body system had paused for a while due to the flabbergast that shook the body. And an abrupt cogitation roused a tame suspicion in me. I doubted that a mass deluge had teleported each one of us to heaven. But soon had the suspicion been overthrown by a consecutive notion stating that the place surpassed even the heaven's wonderment and therefore the place couldn't be paradise. But the 'Beauty that Fantasies cannot fantasize" could be the only statement that could illustrate the descriptive visualization of the very destination. Each organ summoned  a euphoric feeling.
The skin felt a cool boon of breeze that palpated the physique. A sudden need to cover up the body grew in the ambience. It was a rage of cold that tugged down the mercury. And with the flight of mere cotton fluffs, unveiled the indescribable snow clad  peaks of the siblings of Everest. The ethereal beauty snatched my soul that began wandering in the newly sighted attraction.
The evening set with the admiring adjectives that swirled in each ones capillaries. But yet a pack of amazement awaited us. With the dusk, the salmon sky with the ethereal foreground garnished our mood. And the slow transformation of the orange into the black of witching hours was the very next phase of experiencing beauties even more beautiful than the word itself.
The change of the titian hue into the dark black night sky tugged with silver stars over it created a mere mumble of rabidity that bloomed a spirit of rhapsody. The day stroke out the authenticity that sky abounds in stars and the stroke was inked by the sight that stated that dazzling twinkles abound in dark patches of black. And the marvel heralded as though the entire sky shall glitter with silver. The stars patterned the imagined motifs. Somewhere twiddled the thumb of a comely tyke, and somewhere sailed the steamers of the Guinean battalion. A juvenile nature of each young adult was obscured in the yells of rapture that echoed round the valley. A single squeal replicated into a series of a verbalization. As though the boughs in the jungle bore human habitation and some inhabitants yelled back in the same intonation and accent with a rather dwindle in the intensity of the howl.
The entire empiricism was sober enjoyment and passion and affinity towards rejoicing. The inimical intention had no room in the valley, for we had chummed up with the tightest of threads. And the best feeling which surged through was the fact that we were to enchant the valley for a half of a fortnight. We had all resembled maniacs who ought to reside in the place that even the jargon would fail to describe for our entire life.
With the onset of dawn, neighed a socialite horse, that gadded round with its cronies. The sanguine sunrise was welcomed by the chirp of the Himalayan Quails. The urge for the glimpse of the verdant meadow forced me to saunter out of my cottage and walk a few meters to fetch a clear view. And the view satisfied my inner urge and my eye's restlessness.
The only grief that we all bore while we spent our time in the nature's custody was that the speeding wheel of time was passing out. The day was soon to prickle us and we all were to soon reach where we started. We would be dragged back home, back in the cozy warmth that contrasted the chilled pollution free aura of the valley.
The adventurous activities and the burdening tracks played an equal role in the gladdening of our hearts but the gist of all our fun lied in the beauty that we summoned in the Himalayas. The burdening and unbelievable trek to the snow cover strained the legs to the fullest, but yet, the touch of the enlivening frozen fluffy solid and its bright dazzle due to the reflection of the infra red rays, added up the beautifying ailment to the coarse peaks. And absorbed the entire tediousness that encompassed our joints due to the climb. Playful chuckles and a trek down to the base was accompanied by light drizzles and breezes. But on the whole the day was exhaust + enjoyment.
Our attitude of being a novice aided us to learn a lot of the pleasant culture of Kashmiris. The vernacular speech was another pleasant part to learn of J& K. The kind- hearted inhabitants and local "bokuts" and "koods" there were fun to be round. The housing and agricultural customs were quite a bit similar to the entire Indian pattern. The minute mud thatched houses were something to look at. The dressing style of the people suited the environmental features. But the salience of this state was the temperate erratic weather and the beautiful buds that bloomed in spring. The apple and peach trees were another astonishing existence.

Minute in and minute out our gracious memory archives stacked up more and more of unforgettable incidents. I pondered how I would manage to survive the after effects of this stacking up. I feared every moment that these moments would lose up the second I step back home. Being an optimistic, yet my thoughts scrolled out to be pessimistic in this case. I prognosticated how monotonous the days back home would be. The most difficult would be the indulgence into nostalgia. But the nightmare of going was soon to transition into reality. 

With rappels and river crossings and with shattering of twigs of time, the gala juncture was to end up. The day rose a gloom in the environment. Tears were just wiggling in the pupil. The separation from the nature was the first grievance. For the filaments with pals had yet time to loosen up. The very day before boarding the bus, I turned back and scanned the entire valley for the very last time. The way we scan our rooms before checking out of motels. But there I found something of mine was left in the valley. Yes, it was my memories. My attachment. My love. My bonding. My glee. My heart and my soul. 

As though it was only my muscular and skeletal systems that were crawling back home. My entire self still roamed in the meadows. I was in complete mourn. As though I was forced to get back home. But gallantly did I face the situation. And once again I clicked the picture of the entire scenario and boarded on the bus to Katra. 

Yet there were some moments that awaited my presence. There were upcoming defiance that were to knock my door. The challenge was the scaling of the Vaishno devi mountain. We took a night start estimating to reach the top two hours after midnight. The hours long trek was tiring, but we were accompanied by the thrills of the night. The best part of the scaling was the view of the city lights from the higher points. It was a kind of a colorful dazzle painted upon a rough terrain. It was entirely a breathtaking, marrow freezing and a nerve clenching sight. The interrogative me asked if I was really seeing what I saw. The way each light of Katra contributed to form the wonderful scene was something to think upon. The discovery of electricity as though gained another significance in my life. Being time bound, we didn't pause much, but proceeded on way to the top. After struggling throughout the way, to the sigh of relief we scaled our destination. 

The caves of the place were good to look at. And then the most blissful sight, was the sight of the deity. "Three crowns and three faces." As though the scene glorified our pilgrimage. I realized why the passers by yelled and danced while scaling the peak. There was a ray of hope and satisfaction that was flowing round the hilltop, that attracted pilgrims. 

The walk down the hill was as though the walk to our beingness. Yes, we all knew that once we reach Katra, we would be off to Jammu from where we were to depart for Gujarat. Drenched in agony, affliction, somber and woe, we reached Katra, and in accordance to our schedule, boarded the train. 

The boarding felt as though we had boarded the chariot that was to carry us from heaven to the Earth. The separation was just more than painful. But the life is all about reality. Though we deny to accept it, the road to life leads us to our actual being. Our home was where we lived. The way after death we have to blend with the soil our creator, though our soul is in heaven, even we were all to get back to our origin, though our soul yet wandered in Sanasar. 

The step onto my hometown was a doleful situation. The bids of farewell to the friends who were with for almost a fortnight for every second, might now disappear right in the sky. Though we promised to stay in touch, but yet the reality of life was that we were no more to be as close.

But we have to accept the revolutionizing phases of life. If life itself is temporary, how can we expect moments to be permanent. Life is like a journey. We meet people, we explore places, we enjoy, we face exigencies, we cry, we laugh, we live, but at the very end, the death swirls upon the head. So as somebody said, " Live before you die." And,  "Don't die before you are dead.", I had enjoyed to my fullest in those days. Though my soul art in heaven (Sanasar), but I compulsorily head to blend with the Earthen soil my origin(my home). So life is all about temporariness. But its quite tough to accept the fact. But at the same time we have to accept it. 

So though have I accepted my presence in my origin today, but I still dream of the bewitching meadow and my soul still resides in Sanasar.

Miss you J&K ....Miss you friends... 

Innocence

 There was a time when I used to wonder what exactly innocence was. Was it just being kind and honest? Or was it being true to ourselves and people? But soon with the spark of time, I comprehended the true meaning of innocence. I apprehended the meaning by the aid of a five- year old infant cousin of mine that I visited last week.  The girl depicted the extent to which true innocence can stack a person into. The minor conducts of the girl released a scent of purity in the surroundings.

  Upon my first sight for the very first time, she cried and deceived my approach. But her cry shadowed the inner liking for me. That was just her innocence that shadowed it. She was menaced by my sudden arrival and so was she procrastinating my gaze at her.

  But soon with the passage of time, her innocent self submitted her to me. She raged and sat upon my lap and embraced me to the fullest. She fidgeted a bit upon me and then gagged for a while and stared at me with the largest of eyeballs. Her stare at me wasn't sly or malignant, but her impeccable sight was overflown with affection. Her squealing at times was seldom heard by then. She had adapted herself to me. Her visage which was tangled with innocence strengthened my belief of the very fact that Gods habitat in tykes.

  Every single act of the girl mated upon my mind and forced me to indulge into her innocent acts of joy. Her calm and enlivening touch had later roused in me an unknown attachment and my inner heart bloomed up with rhapsody.

   A rationalizing thought was just knocking at my mind, but the door wasn't yet ajar, to allow the true meaning of innocence to flow into my ocean of notions. The dawn of cognition of the literal meaning of being naive had broke out, but the foggy and pale weather was obstructing the explication of the correct sense of the word.

But the vehement rise of the meaning itself, threw off all the filth and smog particles aside and gave a crystal clear view of the entire purity revolving round the very being - innocence. But the rise had been preceded by a normal event for some and a quite complicated incident for intellectuals.
The tale followed a landmark achievement. It had been almost one- fourth of a dozen years since I had visited a kids enjoyment zone. The area bore just absurd rides, monotonous games and a scattered rabble. The place seemed utterly uninteresting to me. But for my tiny cousin, it was a kind of a heavenly ravine, where she had perpetually sojourned in her dreams. Her eyes lit up like the brightest of wicks and she hasted into the grand zone. Readily, soon after the payment the girl scampered into each and every whirling ride of the zone. The very time yielded a true sense of boredom in me.
And so I stood immobilized for a considerable span of time thinking for the reason of the volatility of interests in life. I wondered why used to feel euphoric when I used to sit on those chaffing rides. I procured the huge shift of my interest and likings along with my growing age. A still deeper dive into the archived memories revealed that I was nearly the age of my cousin while I used to find those unreal rides infatuating. Yet I wrapped my hypothesis into the folds of epidermis of doubts that I bore in my brain.
The next very day again, the accompaniment of the girl provoked the pensiveness lying intrinsic in me. The sight of the girl elating to the fullest, while driving a hand- driven toy car stunned me up. The aforesaid condition once again evolved the baffling thoughts in me. And the most puzzling wrangle was the reason for the jolly that the girl gained by riding the unrealistic four wheel drive.
The next moment she indulged into some other thought attracting action, she tried to scare me with a mumble in the daylight. It really felt silly, but even I pretended to be scared. And after I acted as if fright really struck me, she burst into an uncontrollable laughter.
The demeanor of the girl choked my coherence. I felt as if certain actions are beyond the clear sense of reasoning. And a mere truth approached me, and whispered that happiness and enjoyment need not have a reason every time. But still my quest for comprehending the secret hidden in the silly rapture continued until I summoned an abrupt rage of thoughts.
The rage pointed towards the true sense lying into the embossed letters of the word 'innocence'. And the next wink of my eyelids aided me to define the word innocence in my inner diction. I evaluated each step and move of the girl to its fullest. And then apprehended the true meaning of innocence.
What struck me at first was that in accordance with me, I myself had lost my innocence. Because innocence was purity of being, but this was a very theoretical definition according to me. But in the practical and actual world a person's innocence is judged by his deeds. Taking into consideration the tyke cousin of mine, an innocent person is someone who can enjoy the tiniest of happening without trying to find a reason.
The girl never thought why she enjoyed sitting on the rides in the kids zone. She just summoned elation in doing so and so she loved doing so. Alacrity had no reason in her life. She never thought of what caused the inner alacrity. She never tried to think for reasons, or she never lamented that why she wasn't able to drive a real car rather than a toy car. The materialistic world was just nothing for her. Woe and melancholy had no room in her life. She was stress resistant and free of worries. She wasn't introduced to misery and meanness. Dishonesty, disgrace and resentment didn't fondle her existence. Her heart was pure and good- willing. This was her true innocence and this is what I feel innocence is.
So the dark part of the quest for innocence revealed that innocence is inversely proportional to age and empiricism. the moment the rancorous thoughts approach the mind, the volatile innocence gradually vaporizes away. And the moment we hunt for reasons to enjoy life, the total innocence disappear in the air.
The way the bubbles used to gladden us, the way the balloons used to attract our attention and the way dressing barbies and dolls seemed to be a life long errand were all due to the innocence that rested in our soul.
With Renaissance started the era of rational thinking. But soon the rationality of thoughts took a deep dive. People started finding reasons for almost everything. And the day people apprehended the miseries and dark patches of living, the innocence started fading into the aura.
So if still at times, if you feel that you are happy and you don't know why? Then it indicates that there are traces of innocence hidden beneath your heart. The rhyme "If you re' happy and you know" has a deep evaluation of happiness in it. It just states that if you are happy, and if you know, then just forget everything and enjoy the enjoyment of enjoying.
At times reasoning is vital in life, so even innocence in excess isn't good. Innocence at certain junctures of life is advantageous. So a pledge from this moment to add up a topping of innocence on our cakes of life could help garnish our cake and make our living a better living. So remember to welcome happiness without trying to find a reason for it, and you will find that life takes you to a peak of merriment. And after all, bliss is the reason for living. And finding reason in the reason for living is just ridiculous. So let euphoria spread in your lives, love enjoyment, love your living and let a frail of innocence besiege your existence.