Other Side Of The Road

In life, there are several occasions when everything seems perfect but not the timing. Sometimes there are two people, deeply in love with each other but not at the same time. This situation is much like finding yourself in traffic trying to reach the other side. A few lines to bring out the similarity metaphorically. Read on!

We met at the middle of the road; fresh from our tryst with the pavements;

The pavement that gave us something to hold on – a surety, a security.

Security that made us avoid the sunlight so bright

Surety that took us away from the moon so light!

But we decided to take a leap of faith and in the midst of the brewing crowd,

 One single entity we were – entwined and inseparable!

We stuck by each other; there were rains and storms and lulls and calms

We grew together; there were games and stories and events and glories

We prayed to be together, there were fierce quarrels and  tear-filled barrels

We were a world of our own, we were content with how much our little universe had grown!

Out of the blue came a huge red can – uprooting everything on its way – Trust and Faith alike

Panic-stricken, we took to our feet, from the road to the familiar pavement

I looked around and saw that you weren't there!

But I had the scarf which, in the chill you had made me wear.

I looked hard, I looked straight ahead.

There you were on the pavement – but on the opposite side!

I waited for the traffic to lessen, to give me a chance to cross

But one step forward and another can would whiz past me

Leaving me gasping and blinded – momentarily

I finally made up my mind, I looked around to find some help

None seemed interested so I looked towards you.

I saw your face and said “Come what may,

I will cross over from the side that has everything but you”

I dodged the traffic, kept my cool, ran with the last ounce of my strength!

When I finally reached, I was ecstatic, elated beyond measure

For I had made it to you amidst all craziness and drama

I opened my eyes to find you, and find you I did

But on the other side of the road!

“TRUTH BE TOLD”

Writing something and actually finishing it in one go after a looooong time! When I picture this is my head, it looks like this post is going to be quite small. It is not one of those fictional pieces. It is purely drawn out of my own life and hence has sufficient historical data to be 100% true. But also be warned that what I am going to pen down here might seem too preachy for your comfort. I can definitely understand why that would be so. It is quite hard to fathom if you have not experienced it. In that case you might just want to read this like a story and close the window!

Remember how your Moral Science teacher always told you to speak the truth and nothing but the truth? Years later, the Moral Science lessons turned into ‘Ethics and Values in Business’ with slight additions here and there and case studies about the biggest firms biting the dust, instead of the Jataka Tales. But most of us failed to see that in fact, these two courses (if you wish to take them on face value) emboldened the same thing – Stay On Truth’s Side!

Well, crazy things happen in life. Some situations make you feel like you are being pressed against the wall by a boulder, hit on the head by a hammer and punched in the heart by a sharp spear – all at once. I am sure at some point in time all of us have felt it! The easiest way out would be to make it all stop with one lie – the lie that would haunt us in the months and years to come but would liberate us momentarily from all the pain and suffering. But little do you realise that once freed from all of this, you step into a deep pit and there’s no climbing up again; the constant nagging that you would be subjected to post lying would definitely be unbearable (Courtesy: Personal Experience). It is good to sometimes let the ‘Gandhian’ side of you dominate, give you the courage to get the truth out in the open and make you see the difference. When the other person sees that you have said something that is unacceptable but is the truth, he might hate you, might not even want to see you but in the end when rage gives way to calmness, he would realise that it would have hurt more to get the truth from somewhere/ someone else. And when he realises that it took you a lot to tell him what you did, he would come back and tell you that he respects you more now! (Courtesy: Personal Experience)

So folks, I have been on either sides of the fence. Not ashamed to announce that I have been on the other end of truth. To save my skin I have lied at times. After all, ‘I’m only a human, I’m just a child’. But when I sit here as a spectator of my own life and compare the two scenes, it was easier to be on Truth’s Side like my moral science teacher told me! No matter how difficult it seems, somehow, just somehow, it makes more sense!