Ducks

That was what it was all supposed to be about. Ducks. And it turned to be more (obviously), much more than that. It was about the finality with which time is passing by. The shadows of time, how they grow longer and then just denser, culminating back into the source at the end of the day. The source and the shadow lie enveloped in sleep, as one..never to be disassociated again. On one end lay closure, and then it was also about new beginnings. New lives infused with curiosity and energy,  bubbling musings, the looking forward to all coming moments, even the very next one, with the excitement of two and four year olds, making us come alive with the resonance of all that is yet to come, including the next floor of the elevator. The pristine white tea pot brewing surprises the new generation samples and also, some nurtured and acquired wisdoms of the one in passage…blending it into a magical concoction simply called chai..and relished by the toddlers of tomorrow.  The generation gaps squeeze into each other within the tea pot and out comes the whiff of a rarely blended aroma, it tastes like Darjeeling tea and soothes like an elixir. The handful saunf are fortified promises, needed to be delivered not only in the right hands (yeah, the smallest palm of them all) but also, to be handed over by the right authority. There is sanctity in the ritual, there are un-breach-able protocols enmeshed in the code of conduct and high stone walls forbidding entry to any but the blue blood of authority. It is a ritual done with highest regard and belies its nature of operation by its seemingly simple exterior. You can watch all you want from the outside, but you don’t charm your way into this one, no siree!

Yeah, and the ducks, they too need a mention. Our proximity to them and then our proximity to each other might be related in some way. Or maybe not. The ducks, they were our excuse to bundle up into one car, all of us and ride down tree-covered pathways, pass mini buses on the way, catch sight of bicycle laden grey matter, glimpse olympic sized swimming pools, feel a heartbeat and rhythm different from the one we inhabit, a world away from the glare of sun, nestled in its dreams and ambitions, fueled by it..and admist this mythical world, we reach out to each other, feel the closeness and pinch, ‘yes, this IS for real!’.