It was very late on that warm night.
I wanted to take a shower before I went to bed, but could not. My 85 year old aunt who was staying with us had waddled in and occupied our bathroom for what seemed like for ever.
Mopping my face, I waited a while and then some more. I went out and began to pace the small terrace trying to catch a bit of fresh air. The apartments and terraces of my neighbours overlooking my terrace were still and dark.
The benevolent full moon watching me looked amused.
As I heard the cry of the Koel bird, pining for the rain, I too wanted to feel free. On an impulse I shed my clothes and stood there on the terrace amongst the plants completely naked. It was my turn to crook a snook at the moon. I felt a strange sense of freedom, stimulating and naughty. My entire body was breathing.
I decided to have a bath in the open on the terrace. I filled the bucket lying there with water, and then poured the cool water on my body.
Baths are usually refreshing, but this was exhilarating. It was past midnight and I was enjoying myself too much to care about anything.
A bit later, I lay on my bed and contemplated. If just being natural, airing my body and a bucket of water could make my body feel so good. What if my mind too was also able to breathe and expand? What if my spirit was unshackled from all these constraints I place on it, what a great experience that would be?
I realised, several dimensions of the same issue,
How trapped I was seeking to hide and camouflage my nature, and who I really am.
Failing to realise that I an ordinary mortal, who has the potential to be extraordinary, and immortal if even for a while
Everyday life continuously hands out gifts to me in the form of thoughts, feelings and experiences. Why do I fail to grasp these precious moments?
How much I have to be grateful for, to be able to live when I let the child within me come out and playfully interact with existence.
Its been a while now, the innocent child within me is constantly surprised by what I experience, discover and learn, on an evolving path to make me a truer me.