First Act:
Some nights are cold for everyone and some nights are cold
just for you..
Sometimes the reason is simple, it’s the blanket or the
heating in the apartment to blame and you know you can fix it the next day. Sometimes
you are left cold and awake all by yourself because you have traded away the known
comfort of your life ‘here’ for the unknown adventure of a new life ‘there’. It’s the fear of losing the comfortable
blanket of friends, family, festivities and food behind that makes you break
into a cold sweat. Fortunately the pragmatic mind can explain the cold shiver
and point out that it is simply because you have packed and shipped away your warm
blanket.
Second Act:
The cold night wakes into a slightly numb morning at the
sound of the anxious alarm by the bedside. In its numbness the following lines ring true
“There is a
line from Verlaine I’ll never now recall..
There is a
street nearby from which my foot steps are barred..
There is a
mirror that has looked its last on my face..
There is a
door I have closed for the final time..
Among the
books in my library (I can see them now- Managerial Economics, Marketing
principles-Kotler)
There are
some I will never open again..” -Jorge Luis Borges
Third Act:
With a gentle lurch the plane wheels begin to glide on the
runway. The pilot maneuvers a gentle turn towards the blinking lights of the runway
and the plane passes by the signal man in his fluorescent vest. The flight
attendants repeat the usual safety instructions. To an outside eye, it is the
perfect slow lingering frame with the pacing hum of the engine slowly building
up; the prelude before the bellowing engine hits full throttle and the flat
expanse of the ground begins to race by. Then in one pregnant moment the wheels
lose contact with the tarmac, fold back in and the plane becomes air bound. I believe this is one
moment that defines ‘losing touch’ and ‘leaving behind’ physically. From this vantage point my mind was looking inwardly at all the ‘leaving behinds’-the glances, the words and the warmth of the last hug. This recollection was vividly overpowering and I knew not when it lulled me back into a peaceful sleep..
Fourth Act:
I am in a new place, among new people but I am not alone. An
old familiar face from a time I thought I had left behind surfaced back again. So I am sitting in my new apartment, looking at the rain
fall against the windows sipping my cup of green tea and hoping that life may
keep taking me to places as long as it gives me a chance to reconnect with
people I once left behind..
