The Walk

The Walk

7 mins
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The Walk

As I walked on that road that night, wrapping my hands tightly around my chest and the cap tipped slightly forward to chug out the rain. I wondered as I usually did. I looked up at the sky and saw the vast expanse somebody had created for the entire world to admire. “Is there is a being out there, some God who created everybody and everything?, how come he had so much time on his hands? I can barely manage with my twenty four hours I get in a day.” I paused to take a look at my shoes. They were dirty, I had stepped in a pool of mud a while back.

 

“Or maybe, the concept of time doesn’t work for him like it does for us. Or maybe, there is a separate department of a multi-planetary space agency which handles growing and stubbing lives on potentially habitable planets, and which does all this work.”

 

A man overtook me from the right, then suddenly stopped. Slowly turning backward, his eye lit up when they met mine.

“Or maybe” He spoke as he galloped towards me. “God just levelled a land for playing, and let loose in it a few fundamental forces and particles he had created.”

And then the man was gone behind me, disappearing into the crowd.

 “That is also true.” I thought in my head. “That explains why God did not have to dedicate a lot of time to this activity. He just decided the inputs and left the outputs to chance. Brilliant.”

 

I walked past an electronic store. It had a television on display for the outsiders to see. On the screen was a man in a pitch black suit, his tie swinging in the morning breeze. He was standing in a field, with the green of nature plastering everything thick.

He looked at me in the eyes, and opened half a mouth to smile. “You may have never thought about one possibility, my friend.” He said. “Maybe there is no God, maybe it’s all a chance, a gamble that for life paid off.” Then the television screen went blank.

 

“So many possibilities, so many things that could have happened.” I thought as I left the electronics store behind. “Can there really be an initiation point for all of this?”

Just then, the rain worsened. I ran for shelter under a nearby tree.

 The tree was strong and thick, and its leaves rustled under the weight of the raindrops. Also, there was a cavity the size of a coconut in its trunk.

Before I knew it, there was a face in that void. With its thick eyebrows and thrifty eyes, the face seemed like something straight out from the great depths of hell.

 

“You fool.” The face barked. “How dare you debate the existence of your own origin.”

“Why not?” I asked. “Your own so called God allowed one of his creations to have these disturbing thoughts.”

“He allows us to do a lot of things. Doesn’t necessarily mean we can do all that without severe consequences.”

“I am not afraid of the consequences.” I said, looking into the burning eyes. “I am willing to sacrifice anything for the truth.”

“However strong the will of a man is, he can never know what he should never know.”

“I am afraid I can’t live in ignorance.” I said, and continued my journey despite the deluge as I wanted the conversation to end. As I moved away from the tree, the face disappeared back into the hole.

 

All my clothes were soaking wet by now, and the constant wind had made the matter worse. But I kept walking as I couldn’t let the train of thoughts halt. “Stopping now would be akin to infanticide.” I thought. “I must continue.”

 I remembered the time when, as a kid, I had slipped badly on a rainy day and broken something brittle inside my body. A pain had followed, and only grown with time to such a level that I had trouble keeping my eyes open. So I had shut them tight, and allowed myself to be picked up, taken to a hospital and receive medical attention. It’s a pity how easy it is to recall times of great sufferings.

 “Or are there multiple beginnings, multiple universes?” I asked myself. “Is there a universe where I am a ferocious dictator of large land mass? Is there a world where I die at the age of sixteen? Is there a universe where I never endure that pain? If there is, how can I travel to these universes and tell myself stories that happened with some and not with others?”

 I felt the softness of grass underneath my shoes, and looked down for confirmation. Then, in a fit of madness, I flung both my shoes away. They landed heavily after a rough flight. “Were they expensive?” I did not think.

And before I knew it, I was running; running, like I had never ran before; running, like I knew no barriers.

 “Is there a tree that is pink, somewhere?

Is there a horse that is yellow?  

Is there a sun that is ghastly blue, is there an ocean shallow?”

 If you really concentrate, you can hear the music rain makes. The highs and the lows, the ebbs and the flows, the pitter patter noise brought to life by the forces of nature. On that night though, it went a step ahead. That night, I heard the rain whisper to me.

 “Curious human.” Said a sweet feminine voice. “You ask questions you are not capable of finding answers to, and so they elude you like sorrow in a stoic’s eyes.”

I slowed down to hear her well, and also as I saw a river’s bank approaching fast. I had never learnt how to swim, and hence had developed a mortal fear of water.

“What...?” I asked, now at rest. “What do you mean?”

“The strength to absorb the answers is the one you lack.” She explained. “And don't be sad since it’s not your fault, it is a deficiency intentionally programmed into you.”

The wind quickened, carried me closer to the riverside.

 I looked at the flowing river, its current too great for anything to bear. It had cut and shaped stones over the years, felled deep rooted trees and fought with earth to peel away its skin. It had generously given life and menacingly taken some. It was both good and bad, heaven and hell, initiation as well as conclusion.

I waited for it to begin.

 “I see bones, and muscles and a rush of blood inside you.” The river finally said. “And so I believe you are a man. But you have something inside that escapes your grasp, something that is far wiser than you can ever be, yet trapped inside your body like a helpless, caged bird. Oh, what a shame.”

“He wishes to know the secrets of the universe, and is prepared to do anything for it. Are you not?” The rain first addressed the river, then me.

“Yes, I am.” Came my firm reply.

“Oh, I see. You have talked to him and brought him here.” The river said to the rain. “A fine choice.”

 I was merely a bystander to a conversation that was to decide my fate.

“He should know his incapability.” The river said to the rain.

“But like all, his inner self is adept enough. If only he knew how to harness that potential.” The rain responded.

“But that would mean leaving the mortal world behind”. The river sounded worried. “Are you sure?”

“I am not, but I believe he is.”

“Aha, he is. Human!” The river called for me.

I looked at the river, whose current had grown stronger. Now, instead of going around the scattered stones, the flow was rushing over it.

“What is the most powerful thing in the entire universe?”

“The God.” I replied.

“And you know a part of him stays in you?”

“Yes, my soul - the inner self.”

“Yes. And do you know your soul is as powerful as God himself?”

“Yes.”

“You need your soul to be the link between you and the knowledge you seek. You mortal body stands as an insurmountable barrier, something that you’d have to get rid of.”

I stood there dazed, merely nodding and accepting. The logic in the conversation was bounding, making it impossible for me to do anything else. “What do you propose?” I asked.

“I propose you join me, so that I may free you.” The river replied.

“Isn’t there anything else we can do?” I asked.

“You only said you would do anything for the truth. The truth tests you now.” The rain intervened.

Far away in the distance, someone called my name. “Mother!” I instantly knew.

“There is not much time to waste.” I could feel a hint of impatience in the mighty river’s voice. “Come join me, let us speak in strange languages unknown to the others.”

 I began walking.

I could still hear my mother repeatedly calling out for me as the river began to wash over my eyes.














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