Its a crazy, mad, fast world out there...time flies.. it always does. Everything is there one second and gone in a flash. A week, a month, a year..race past. Zooms ahead full throttle. Life it seems paints a hazy picture where nothing is discernible except for the desires. The wants. The needs.It seems like a trap where we want everything but get nothing.
But then, there are things like Bilaskhani Todi, which slow everything down. Time simmers away slowly, gently...like a waft of the early morning breeze caressing your face..Like the lingering scent of petrichor emanating after the first rains which refuses to wane. The senses numbed and dead from the daily struggle awaken- refreshed and receptive. Imperceptible nuances suddenly feel enlarged, expand and become distinct. A sense of relief spreads all over. Hope. Joy. Happiness from within...as a tear rolls down the cheek. Muddled thoughts suddenly seem to clear up, throwing off the layers and layers of muck its enveloped in accumulated since time immemorial. It feels that there is just that much more time to do everything- it is as if time itself has slowed down almost to the point of a standstill...or does it?
But then, there are things like Bilaskhani Todi, which slow everything down. Time simmers away slowly, gently...like a waft of the early morning breeze caressing your face..Like the lingering scent of petrichor emanating after the first rains which refuses to wane. The senses numbed and dead from the daily struggle awaken- refreshed and receptive. Imperceptible nuances suddenly feel enlarged, expand and become distinct. A sense of relief spreads all over. Hope. Joy. Happiness from within...as a tear rolls down the cheek. Muddled thoughts suddenly seem to clear up, throwing off the layers and layers of muck its enveloped in accumulated since time immemorial. It feels that there is just that much more time to do everything- it is as if time itself has slowed down almost to the point of a standstill...or does it?
It may seem too far fetched to say this, but the feeling of things slowing down seems relativistic.Time seems frozen because the barriers between yourself and time are broken. You are time and time is you. Indeed an incredibly fast journey which slows everything down. Reality melts into vacuum and Everything into nothing. Perceptible slowly turns intangible as the attachment cord itself starts to disappear. The sense of identity seems unwanted. Who? Where? Why? and all other questions seem already answered.
The strings of the sitar of Panditji slowly build up the tempo.
A state of nothingness yet completeness is reached. Its a good riddance to any want. All desires seem fulfilled. Oneness, wholeness engulfs.
Life is not ushered in a newborn unless its umbilical cord is cut. Rejuvenation it feels is not ushered into a reborn unless the mental chords are cut. But this rebirth seems so far away from being a being in conventional sense. The strings holding back our mind are definitely broken by now. There is nothing stopping you from becoming one with the One.
In the background, Panditji increases the tempo even more, urging you forward- almost coaxing. The end is near. Its now perceptible. You stretch out your arm to grab hold of it. A flash of light. A radiating brilliance shimmering away whose warm glow now engulfs you. You try to find its source- but you find nothing. Is it this nothing that I seek? Yet this nothing seems to offer everything. Within. At last, fulfillment.
Panditji has stopped strumming now. The audience stays quite for a second then raises and proceeds to give him a standing ovation. The claps suddenly bring you back to your senses. But you simply cannot react. The emotions have dissolved by now. Your eyes feel wet with tears- but your smile knows no bounds.
Bilaskhani Todi, how can we ever thank you for transporting us to this nothingness and back?
The strings of the sitar of Panditji slowly build up the tempo.
A state of nothingness yet completeness is reached. Its a good riddance to any want. All desires seem fulfilled. Oneness, wholeness engulfs.
Life is not ushered in a newborn unless its umbilical cord is cut. Rejuvenation it feels is not ushered into a reborn unless the mental chords are cut. But this rebirth seems so far away from being a being in conventional sense. The strings holding back our mind are definitely broken by now. There is nothing stopping you from becoming one with the One.
In the background, Panditji increases the tempo even more, urging you forward- almost coaxing. The end is near. Its now perceptible. You stretch out your arm to grab hold of it. A flash of light. A radiating brilliance shimmering away whose warm glow now engulfs you. You try to find its source- but you find nothing. Is it this nothing that I seek? Yet this nothing seems to offer everything. Within. At last, fulfillment.
Panditji has stopped strumming now. The audience stays quite for a second then raises and proceeds to give him a standing ovation. The claps suddenly bring you back to your senses. But you simply cannot react. The emotions have dissolved by now. Your eyes feel wet with tears- but your smile knows no bounds.
Bilaskhani Todi, how can we ever thank you for transporting us to this nothingness and back?
No comments:
Post a Comment