My Breathing Space.

Where we have shifted in Pune, we are very close to a river called Mutha. It runs parallel to a Temple called ‘Kaalbhairav’. It is my covert hangout these days. This rivulet being located near the temple, very few people see what I get to see. Their spirituality confines them to the holiness inside the temple, but the same belief fails to push them to make a effort to go down the stairs to feel the divinity, which can really soothe ones soul.

Being a mother of an 18 month old daughter sometimes makes me a little berserk as I sometimes try to be a Super Mom and a Wife and a Daughter and a Friend. It is not the responsibility that deters me, but the fact that I sometimes forget who I really am and what I really like.  
 
When I first camped to this riverside I was actually amazed to see such a tranquil location so close to a busy township with a cluster of call centers around it. It is a picture perfect place, more like a Windows Wallpaper types. The periphery of the temple merges with the riverbank with enormous steps going downwards towards the river. And as you climb down the stairs your eyes witness the bliss that makes you question your inner self, “Why can’t I live here forever?” And then you think “Don’t be naïve!” There are piece gardens wherein there are small benches facing the emerald shadows of greenery in the still but mutely moving water.


Feeling the fresh breeze against your skin at early daybreak or witnessing the evening sun take you into a fantasy land where you think that time would hold still and nothing will change and you don’t have to go back and face the reality of life.

Trudging to this heavenly abode has become a habit for me. Between the tweeting of the nature and the scent of tropical flora around… it’s me and only me to take pleasure. As if I am nature’s sole client and the innate subjects of the ‘Green’ are staging a beautiful monologue for me. There is a small bridge that connects the riverside area to the main city. Every time I see this bridge it speaks to me that you’ve to find your bridge, which will connect your peaceful inner self to the outer urban existence who has to go do every day chores, face the other not-so-kind society, and come back here to recognize the composure that remains here while you are gone.

Imagine an empty cinema hall and its screen lit up with shades of yellow, orange and red mixed in a bowl and painted against a golden canvas. In addition to it the returning of the birds to their nests with their best vocal background scores introduces a harmonious chord to my well being. I do not want to close my eyes because if I do so I go back to normal tasks that might wear me down sometime. This captivating panorama showing the fire blazing over the horizon tells me it’s time for night fall, the dynamic blue is stealing the yellow, but it won’t be long that the enchanted ambiance will rest  for a while and next day the brightest star will shine again singing “A new day has come!”

The irony of life is that even though such a splendid place exists that too just around the corner, we still keep looking for exotic and adventurous spots for vacations. Such vacations are often planned keeping in mind that one needs to go to such retreats just with the sole purpose of posting the pictures on Facebook and receiving half a dozen comments and likes. In the middle of our mundane and conditional activities can we make an effort to find peace and solitary happiness at an approachable distance? Well that was a positive for me; I hope the same for you.


Acknowledgements: Special Thanks to Manish Agarwal for the heavenly pictures & Manish Mishra for his insightful inputs.

Ananya gazing into sunset@ Kaalbhairav

Ananya enjoying.