Part 4
To just be
The dance of China goes on. Through the night. Standing
on the terrace. Gazing away into tomorrow's dawn. Until
someone comes along. A friend in the office. Stands behind
and points to the lights that glimmer in the distance. "See
there? The lights of Hong Kong," he says.
Hong Kong.
So near. Yet I can't step there. The rules say no. The visa
laws say no. But the rules don't take into account this
- the view from a terrace. I can still see Hong Kong. Step
into it. Glimmering away. Play with the lights. Just for
a while. And then. The stars whisper good-bye. And the biggest
star of them all makes his appearance. A description defying
moment. I leave the moment untouched. Beyond words, beyond
pictures, and store it away. Perfection frozen in time.
All around, frenzied plans are still being made. Talk of
hometowns. Going back home. Such a universal feeling. Emotions
that move across nationalities. The fever finally suffuses
me. Filling me with the longing of being there. 'There'
being only a word which others would call India. There means
so much. The fever makes me long to be there. But India
has to wait. Across eight more months and millions of memories.
Many an experience has to gathered before being there. For
now. Its here. I have to be here. In the moment of now.
The only place to be. Just be.
And Lesson
Seven gently flits across and moves across through the rain
that drizzles on the windowpane. To just be. So simple.
Yet so difficult. And I look at the rain move down in little
streams, and wonder if the rain knows how to just be.
The rain doesn't
answer my question. It disappears for a while. Enough to
step into one of China's markets. Where anything can be
bought either at the most ridiculous price or the most earthly
prices. All depends on your skills of bargaining. Shopping
for little things to take back to the people back there.
And realizing with pain that which makes me lucky enough
to afford these, even as my Chinese friend can only look
on. Such a divide. Where is the bridge?
Part 5: A
journey back to winter
