The afterglow and the kite trail

As a kid, running behind butterflies and following the dragonflies was an indulgence none of us can deny of. But my favorite activity was to watch fireflies, hidden in the bushes.. My dad used to take us to the airport to see the planes taking off and landing on those glittering long roads, sparkling on both the sides. What I used to watch were the streaks of light these little insects made. How all these memories came rushing back while returning from Jim Corbett National Park a few weeks back. And how I realized that the fireflies and their lighted backs still amaze me. Watching the dark fields with sparkling little insects glowing all along the way took me to another state altogether, a state called "being happy". I always wanted to hold one but never had the courage enough to catch it for the fear of hurting it. Watching them from the window of that fast moving bus on a long highway took me back to my childhood.

The rainy season brings along a lot of pleasures, the pleasure of drizzles, rainbows and pakoras! But the one I like the most is-KITES. I have always had this habit of watching people flying kites. I have been a good assistant to many of them too! The way this piece of paper makes way through the air and is being handled just by a thin thread is so fascinating that one loses himself watching it.. As it treads its path so free-spirited, undecided yet in a controlled motion, the direction and the flow, we observe the biggest paradox! Another oxymoron in life, and so real.
Even today I go to my terrace to watch kids on the top distant buildings, flying kites, shouting, running and enjoying the spirit, the spirit of being free..

These little things had fantasized me when I was a kid. Dumped in some corner of my mind, I forgot about their existence. This season when they returned to my conscience, I realized how I was leaving behind my childhood. But I guess i have managed to hold on to them because they still bring joy to me and like everyone, I am still a child inside.

Living with illusions

A girl younger to me, who even happens to be my sister messaged a few lines to me. She said, "Reality is just a shared illusion, what say you?" And by chance I had been thinking of this word for quite some days now. It is a strange word but sounds so sweet - IILUSION!

Our existence in the world is mere illusion, for our souls have been breathing in this worldly plane and are born again and again. Heavy philosophy! I know.. But the truth is that we are all a part of a cosmic conspiracy whose roots lie in just one source of energy. The energy keeps changing forms and is transformed from one being to another. Like cells we keep dividing. Yet we are so scared of death for it involves losing our identity and our existence. Just dare to think once, its actually not that difficult. A woman goes through the cycle of birth and death in her body every month, and she understands it deeply. A man does it by being a witness to it.

We all live under the impression of loving or being loved by someone. We get attached to people around and start caring for them, its all a part of the 'palace of illusions' we build around ourselves. But there is nothing to complain about it. We are happy being a part of such an arrangement.

But.. the question remains unanswered for me, what she asked me that day, Is reality too a shared illusion??