Serenity is a state of mind, just like happiness. It has to be nurtured just like positivity. It is a learned emotion – if I may call it.
There is no need to search it, as it lies within us. It wears transient robes. It makes us smile when we look at a calm lake or a beautiful waterfall.
We may forget it when we get back into the competitive race of life. It recedes into the forgotten realms of mind, as it can be easily vanquished by the demands of time.
It doesn’t believe in competition yet it is a pearl that is most precious.
I got this pearl just by luck. Impulsive by nature, I could be easily provoked when I was young. I happened to marry a man whom I named Mr. Serene. I didn’t know him before marriage and had met him just once and that too after insisting upon the fact that I need to see the man I was expected to marry! I don’t belong to medieval times but my cultural background encouraged arranged marriage and I was too young and naïve to protest.
I discovered that my husband had been gilded in serenity. He reminded me of King Midas! Come what may, he would remain calm. My outbursts wouldn’t affect him; his smiling response could put a wall to shame. I may break his favorite vase, I may lose gold, I may spend whatever amount of money…he would never express any dissent. My mom calls him as gentle as a cow but I also discovered the ways to escape his horns.
Slowly I adapted to the colors around me. I too draped serenity. Though I love to spend time in the company of Nature, I’ve found calmness within my thoughts. I know how to evoke positivity, how to accept life as it comes and believe that all situations of life are transitory. Love life and be calm.
At last I am here. Eyes brimming, I look at the stairs, worn by the vagaries of time but flanked with love by Mother Nature. Do you think you could guess my ecstasy? Never. Not even my soul mate could feel the flutter of my heart. Holding hands we look at the steps as I hurtle back in time and he gently embraces me.
“Thank you,” the words are muffled in my throat. I had yearned for this day. Recurring dreams evoked me to come here. We had planned this visit for ages. A visit I would cherish for the rest of my life. A visit that brought me back to my childhood. I am thrilled that the stairs have not been altered, each one holds my steps – tells a story of those carefree days, each one reverberating the games we played – running up and down, skipping two or four – the center of competition for the children of the house, each one a promise to self.
Time flew and exhilarating on the wings of youth, I went up to university and lost touch with those little moments of sitting on the stairs to share stories of the day, to watch stars and sing songs, oblivious of the world.
Grandpa was a youngster when he admired the construction workers while his dad was away at work. He would rush home after school to see how each brick was laid. He had told us all the stories of getting inspired from the workers he observed. He aspired to be like them. The charm of his stories and his loving face was associated with these stairs. A heart-warming memory.
Emotions overwhelm me as I step on the stairs that nurtured me; that gave a spring to my steps and taught me to climb higher. I did but I left them behind. Almost forgot about them. I sit and share many stories that I had buried into the fissures of my heart and realize how tiny moments are more precious than achievements of life – in fact they mold us. A cheerful and free childhood is a blessing.
The blue door opens and children rush out to play games on the stairs. They look at us curiously as if we were blocking their playground. We stand aside and watch – games never change.
Emotional Shadows 