It was truly the most beautiful sunrise. And I know everybody likes to say that about any sunrise that they watch from the hills or a beach. But personally, even if the aesthetics of it were not good enough for a painting to an artist, it was for me. Then again, it probably had something to do with the where and why of things.
After a long bus ride with only music and Woody Allen for company (I'm not complaining), followed by a fairly long auto ride in pitch dark with no battery on my phone, I had made it to the homestay. It was the kind of place where crickets ruled the sound chain, where the silence was so pure that it was actually disturbing to anyone arriving from a city. Just the right dose of nature for anyone even remotely missing its presence. Much to my Rishi Valley self's surprise, it wasn't that comforting being in the lap of mother nature. There was a fear of what the dark contained, the faces behind the sounds, the movement of the trees.
The flickering light made for interesting train of thoughts, allowing the danger to sink in, making me want to embrace it. I was beyond the judgment and madness and smoke of urbanisation - safer in a place unknown. There was more clarity in everything that the 22 years of my living had amounted to and for the first time in a long time, there was a sense of peace. Of belonging somewhere so detached from the normalcy of daily existence.
Initially, there was the restless sleep - the candle was right next to me, preparing me for the darkest hours of the night. The monkeys jumping around on the roof and the curtains flying in the wind seemed to add to the occasional shivers down the spine. But what followed was the most simple and deep level of rest. And when I woke up, it felt like the world was done spinning on its axis for the day - the most normal thing for it, a new way to see it for me. The change was almost tangible in the way my body warmed up to the sun's rays on it or the sight of a dozen shades of green I could see in the forest below. Spread out vast into the distance, it helped the realization sink in. And there was nothing more beautiful than its simplicity.
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| The view from where I sat. |
