That evening...

“…and the call concludes with action item on the design team with a deadline of next week”…I completed my summary email taking my own sweet time and picked my stuff…all in hand and began waddling towards my cab. It takes a long almost a kilometer walk to reach from my building to the main gate. It being Sunday evening, practically nobody was there in/outside office. 6:6-30 was the time and the tired me was walking rather sluggishly. It was a beautiful evening. Twilight illuminating freshly manicured lawns… faraway hillocks resting peacefully…cool breeze driving waves in the artificial pond next to my glass building…scent of carefully tamed flowers filled the air…clean blue sky with occasional cotton clouds swimming in…without even realizing I was observing the campus like I had never seen it before. In the daily hustle bustle I never really had the time to feel landscaping at my workplace completely. Having been brought up in the chaos of the fastest city; I always craved for peace…serenity. I was crazy about mountain view, flowing waters, green lawns, flowery gardens and pure air…and there it was. All of it. Very much at my disposal awaiting my attention. I recollected a dialogue from one of my favorite movies Parineeta …” Tumhare paas kya kya hai tumhe pata bhi nahi hai”. This sudden realization dawned in me pushed me on the contemplative track.

I decided to enjoy the ambience for a little more while and parked myself on the edge of the fountain where water was purling by. I relaxed almost immediately. The peace filled in the air was dissolving the noise in my mind. In my leisure time I am usually never without music…in either listening mode or singing mode. But yesterday I didn’t feel the void for music. Maybe the hymns of silence were musical enough that my ears couldn’t hear but something in me could listen. The whole setup was complete. Just complete. And I didn’t want to move an inch…say a word…need a thing…

Who says meditation is tough?

-- Pradnya Joshi
25 August 2008