From Now Until the Unexpected

Humanity at its worst, she thought. Each day, same time, same place, same people and sadly the same attitude. No one ever made eye contact. No one ever offered more than a slight, stifled smile. No one ever spoke a word beyond “Hi”. No one ever broke through that solid, harsh exterior to undress of all inhibitions. Even she, herself was becoming one of them.

She rhythmically jogged along the track as the skies trickled down in tiny droplets. The music in her earphones paved a tempo as did her breathing. The gardens that were her setting for this strenuous workout emitted a prism of brilliant shades of green. Now, if only the humans would radiate some warmth.

Her longs, shapely legs were accentuated with a sheen from the perspiration. Her inky sheath of hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. She showed off a toned body and had a pleasant air about her. A flurry of thoughts assaulted her mind as she worked up a sweat and involuntarily clutched harder at her I – Pod each time a passer by stoically stared her down.

She craved the unexpected, the amusing, the heartfelt, the uninhibited voluntary. She craved passion in speech and action. She wanted the bespectacled boy jogging a few yards ahead to turn around, jog towards her and kiss her smack on her lips. She was glad for her thoughts and imagination; her head was the only journey where she could play incidents and characters as she wanted.

The music swirled in her ears and head. She felt powered with the beats. Every individual was emitting an aura, vivid and bright – there was so much potential. As she flew past other joggers, she glanced into some of the dull eyes and wondered where they were that very moment. What were they thinking of? Did they feel as good as her? Did they pity the human race as well? Did they crave for some change in this routine? Did they feel the need for closeness? Did they want to rise higher?

She wanted to evoke some emotion. She wanted people around to be pleasantly surprised, to show a joy that knows no boundaries. She wanted to do the unexpected. So she did.

Her jog amazingly, unexpectedly altered to a dance. She started unsure but the music boosted her confidence. She felt electricity run through her sensitized body. Electrifying! She gyrated with her eyes closed. Her arms reached for the sky and her hips swung like a hoopla dancer’s. She pulsated with vibrant energy. Her feet stirred in ways she didn’t know she was capable of. Her forefingers pointed to the sky and made tiny circles in the air. Her hair swung to and fro as a few strands strayed from her pony and made curly wisps along her forehead. She danced like no one was watching.

Even with the darkness of shut eyes, she could feel the piercing stares of the people around. Someone shouted in surprise and giggled openly. Another stated a question with only one simple answer, “What is she doing?”

She snapped her eyes open and saw the gathering audience. Breathless, she smiled meekly, hoping for an applause, after all she did experience a tremendous feeling; that overwhelming emotion you go through after a performance on stage. But this routine was impromptu, straight from the heart, satisfying. A bunch of youngsters sitting on the grass, grinning openly let out a whoop as she caught their eyes. She didn’t bother to regard the astonished, confused people some of whom took a step backwards as she opened her eyes.

She smiled magnanimously, red in the face with the exertion and jogged on with a new life in her step. She felt good.

Dementia

It was 8:00 am and she crooned along with the radio, while passing through this grid-like metropolis. The road thus far had been a joy, now it was getting unnerving. Vehicles assaulted the tarmac with fumes, honking, irritation. The tepid sun was gathering its heat, shining brilliantly after every passing minute. This typical weekday saw its commuters leave ‘heaven’ for ‘hell’. Concepts of time and space made immense sense to her right now as she waited patiently amidst a flurry of vehicle horns. Pedestrians mingled with vehicles that mingled with cyclists. She heaved a sigh and thought of humanity to be a growing mould of fungus as a silent retort to the incessant honking outside.

Within the comfort of her air conditioned car, it wasn’t the heat that angered her. The horns, they were driving her crazy. If she really paid attention she could single out 10 different horns in one moment. As she massaged her temples with petite fingers, she wondered what all the fuss was about. Honking wouldn’t get these people to their destination any sooner. It wouldn’t cause a miracle, making the traffic vanish. It wouldn’t help their cars fly. It would just bother her. She detested horns. Too much noise, unnecessary noise, continuous noise.

The traffic had been snaking along, inching along. She’d wait till the car ahead would move at least five paces, but realised it would invite more horns from behind. Nothing made sense. With her eyes closed, her sense of sound would heighten. The sound waves from the horns would create psychedelic visions on a canvas of black, like an acid trip gone paranoid. So she snapped her eyes open. The three wheeler beside had to bear the monstrosity of an obnoxious man driving it. At that moment, inanimate objects seemed to have more life and compassion to them. The obnoxious man would spit out blood every now and then. It really was a paranoid acid trip. To add to the insanity, his hand was stuck to the blue rubber air horn. She wished to yank it away from him and blow it continuously in his ear. Childish she thought but possibly effective. Her silent monologue chanted - stop it, stop it, stop it, stop the bloody honking people.

She turned up the volume on her radio, solely to drown out the sounds of the exterior. But she wasn’t in the mood for extravagance; something mellow would do the trick. The mood colours the world accordingly, it colours life. Then came the unexpected. An advertisement on the radio with horns stung in a symphony. Incredulous, she thought. Why was this happening? Was it karma? Was it punishment for wanting something else, for desire of simplicity? Was it a conspiracy? The horns all merged and became louder and louder and louder. She aggressively switched off the radio. How could horns, HORNS – she thought, be a symphony? It was cacophony. Pure cacophony. Advertising sold so blatantly, she thought. Selling to anybody and everybody, those who didn’t even ask for it. Intrusion of space and time, intrusions. She tried to get her mind off reality and the vehicle instruments, lest it blew her mind.

But it wouldn’t go. The horns morphed into anger, despair, hate, hunger – everything negative flew in front of her eyes. Nothing made sense. Why wouldn’t they stop? It got louder, more frequent, piercing. Humans at every angle were pulsating with anger as they violently hit their palms against the horns. Their actions became more deliberate, lasting longer, making the sound louder. It was all in slow motion eventually. The sounds pierced her like arrows to her ears, to her brain. Her sweat felt like blood dripping from her ears. Her hands went numb. The sound was deafening, like after a nuclear bomb unleashed its fury. A mushroom cloud formed around her.

And then she couldn’t take it any more. She succumbed. She slumped over the steering wheel. And everything was silent. Everything was serene. It was peaceful. It was what she had wanted her entire life. At last, she was at peace.

Psychedelic Word Play

"Birds were swimming in the skies
And fish were flying in the seas"

While sitting on a golden beach in Pondicherry, as the breeze played with nature and birds played with the breeze, the above came to me.