NOSTALGIA

Summer is the season of Dreams.

As the languid sun-studded afternoon sky shudders to a halt just before morphing into a solemn grey evening, time passes by in lumbering pace and one can not but dream with open eyes. Dreams that linger on the border between reality and illusion. Dreams that gleam in the distance like mirages and lure their unsuspecting victims into believing that even fantasies can be real. Dreams that seem to be the illegitimate offspring of nostalgia, depriving you of your peace of mind at the slightest hint of weakness.

Being too absorbed in the world around, I have often gazed idly at my diligent ceiling fan and walked through corridors of the past on such afternoons. But when we seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, at some point we start to think 'Yesterday was better than Today'.

So it began with this thought striking the head and came along hundreds of images flocking the mind. The happy faces, the fun-filled times spent, the moments that brought with them a positive sign, giving so much to look forward to.

With a smile on my face and seeming too lost in the reverie, I stilled and listened, enraptured, to the sounds of laughter. They were both engrossed in a conversation about how they had been betrayed in love and never managed to find that one right person. (Wonder most conversations begin with this subject matter.) They were just two broken people who tried to find solace in each other.

And so over time the bond had been built. They became good friends and things went on with a pace none could keep a track of. Yes, they were fond of one another and not a single day passed when they did not know each others' whereabouts. They seemed inseparable.

But as it’s rightly said, ‘All good things must come to an end’, the time had taken its toll on this friendship of theirs. May be He had something else in store. From being mere acquaintances to best-est of pals to now well-known strangers, things had drastically changed. They had screwed it all up. Maybe, things could have been way better if they met at a different time.

***

(The song What Used To Be by Mind.in.a.box playing in the background)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrzHk10fQ64&feature=related

What used to be, what used to be

What used to be, what used to be

What used to be, what used to be

Your dark eyes are staring wide

But they are unable to see

There used to be light inside

Now all lost in reverie

There used to be something else

But you already forgot

You used to buy all that sells

And go through with your own plot

Images are flashing by

And your eyes, they stare right through

No matter how hard you try

Look on, is all that you could do

You feel the need to lie down

To take a break from the break

You feel as though you would drown

At the bottom of the lake

You are dreaming of what used to be

And think you have taken the wrong turn

You have to get over your fallacy

And light the fire that made you burn

You are still holding on to the past

But you have to look up at the sky

You know that life is moving too fast

To have regrets before you die

You are dreaming of what used to be

But you have to start with a clean slate

You will snap out of your reverie

And you will know it is not too late

You are dreaming of what used to be

You have to get over your fallacy

You are dreaming of what used to be

You snap out of your reverie

You will

You will

You will

...

Pure reverie may take the form of a 'special' train of thought, leading the daydreamer away from being aware of their immediate surroundings. Only a sudden stimulus will startle the daydreamer out of their reverie and bring them back to the normal self.

The train of thought had finally seemed to have ceased and once out it took no time for me to realize that everything that happened, had happened for a reason. That sometimes people unnoticeably walk into your life, you communicate, you exchange thoughts & you right then realize that they were meant to be there….even though the cupid didn't put much effort, the magical spell is still felt. They teach you a lesson, or help you figure out who you are, your priorities in life & how you see yourself in future.

For me things might have slightly changed, but I'm still the princess of my fairytale. Happy to be in the midst of life's hustle-bustle. Life may not be a 'happily-ever-after' story for all, but its good to live it without having regrets and excuses.

And this just reminds me of one of the most amazing dialogues by Aamir Khan in RDB: "With one leg in the past and one in the future... it's no wonder we're pissing on the present."

So remember, the past is never there when you try to go back. It exists, but only in memory. To pretend otherwise is to invite a mess.

THE END