That One Evening

“No, it’s not working,” I said to myself while looking at the mirror. From last few days, I was unable to create anything. It was like nothing was coming to my mind. For the last few days, there was a lack of something. I was not able to believe in my ideas. Maybe I was not able to concentrate enough. “You are not up to the mark,” my mind said to me. I tried almost everything, but it was in vain. “Let’s try again,” I said. But it was of no use. The same result again and again. Every single time I was unable to concentrate even for mere 5 minutes. It was like the musician inside me was lost somewhere.

Music has been an integral part of my life. Day after day, week after week, after several regular and rigorous attempts of creating good music, it appears to be back to basics. I was able to create something almost every time but the “connection” appeared to be missing.

Suddenly, my phone rang.

It was Anil. I picked up, “Hello”.

Anil answered, “how are you?”

I was lost for a moment but then I answered, “Fine. What about you?”

Anil said, “Same old story. Regular office work with small breaks.”

“How is Anjali?”, I asked.

“She is fine too”, he said.

Anil and Anjali are my best friends and they are married to each other. They were in Mumbai for quite some time. We used to meet on weekends.

Then Anil asked. “You sound a bit off. What happened? Is everything alright?”

Then I answered, “Yeah everything is fine. Just a bit of confusion. Actually, I was trying to create some music but there has been a loss of inspiration I suppose”.

To this Anil said, “Don’t worry. Just go for a walk and get some fresh air”. Then as nothing was working for me, so I decided to do as I was told.

It was 7.00 in the evening. The sky was dark. Everything appeared to be a bit easy and relaxed. As I was trying to make myself a little bit calm, I suddenly came across two kids. They were twins, brother and sister. They were accompanied by their parents. They suddenly stopped at an ice cream parlour. I also stopped to glance at them for a moment as they appeared to be very happy and enjoying the evening. Sometimes it is very comforting to see kids being able to enjoy the best part of their lives. I then tried to feel connected with their happiness. Their smile appeared to be so genuine. It felt like as if the whole world had just turned into a place as we dream of. A place full of snow similar to what we see sometimes on television in European countries. A small village, with few people in it but they all appear to be living a normal, comfortable and happy life. It all felt very mesmerizing and dreamy. It all culminated into reminding me of my childhood days. Days when I was able to enjoy everything, a time when everything appeared to be so easy. Just like all of us experience, it was the time when I was able to do whatever I wanted to and that too willingly. At that time everything appeared to be so simple and life was free of seriousness.

Astonishingly, a car passed by blowing the horn. It brought me back to consciousness and my present day. But what I experienced for a few moments was very soothing. It helped me quite a bit to be able to regain my creative self. It did feel like I was back to being who I was while I created music.

The musical instruments appear to be the best beings of my life when I am at work. It just pushes out the person within me who gets completely engaged with the present creative scene.

At last, it was a great feeling. I was feeling a lot more relaxed. It appeared as if I was back to being my true self. A bit of fresh air actually did wonders for me on that day. Of course, the part played by the kids cannot be ignored. But all thanks to my friend Anil, who actually gave me the idea of taking a brisk walk outside, in the open world. Sometimes we all appear to be a bit off when nothing starts to work well for us. It gives us a feeling that everything is against us. But no, in those few times, a small thing, like even a walk can do wonders for us.

As it was going really dark and even the temperature was starting to dip quite a bit, I decided to return back. My mind was feeling really great. I came back to my house. After that, while having my dinner I decided to thank Anil for his advice by paying him a visit on the weekend with a gift, as the new year was also coming. Then immediately after finishing my dinner, I started to work on my music.