SOLACE

Things were out of place, it seemed like everything went out of control. Finished final review of third semester bid adieu to all my friends and classmates. I could fathom restlessness among my classmates who selected me as their REP. Some even threw a look as if I ruined their future. They expected legerdemain, and they still do. But the flow of things was sluggish.

Nothing around could grab my attention, I felt like l was suffering from ADD. Time was around ten at night and I decided to go for a stroll inside the campus. The atmosphere was very tranquil out there. I felt inexplicably composed. Trees were on either side of the road, which formed a canopy. The mist formed an aura around the trees.it was beauty all around .I walked alone. There wasn’t even slightest perturbation in the soothingly cold surroundings. I felt the still air; I felt the cold--the state of blissfulness.

Walking, I was totally lost in the nature. Suddenly, a feeble music seized my attention. The sound emanated from the ground premise which was at the end of the road. It was my favorite song. I increased the pace of walking, to catch the song. Now I could hear the song “BLAME IT ON MY ADD”.

I was surprised to see my friend, AB, sitting there on the bench holding his phone and contemplative or rather introspective. Usually a jovial soul, who never holds his tongue, was now tacit. I was really surprised to see him there. I sat beside him.

“I am totally disturbed dude. I can’t get those faces out of my mind. They are haunting me like anything”. After a pause he continued. “My friend dropped in today. She is working with an NGO.Along with her I chanced to visit an old age home. An old age home, where all the occupants were treated well. They got food, medicine and all the care at right time. They had all the luxuries, but no one seemed happy, in fact they wasn’t. Every face beard same look. A few inmates were exchanging some words. I went to one of them, I talked to her but she didn’t reply..she gazed at me for a long time.i could see tears coming out of her eyes..she then uttered “my grandchild will be of your age now”……I wiped her tear ..we talked ..talked a lot..though initially hesitant,she talked a lot..i saw smile on her face,sparkling in her eyes..most of the time she talked about her family”..

He continued…”I don’t know how do you feel..This might seem something clichéd to you..what you see in TV ,what you read in paper…its commonplace now..but when I experienced that I was really…really moved..”.“you know what her problem really was???she did not have any one to share with…probably you might know what you feel as a kid if u don’t see your mother for a long time…same feeling I perceived in mother today who is away from her kids….its strange….”

We sat there …..it was silence all around now.