The Two Rivers

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

She recognized a force in me when I scored good marks in my first monthly tests in class XI and called me a ‘Chupa Rustam’. My insensitive teasing of a class-mate for her song ‘tera mera pyaar amar, phir kyon mujhko lagta hai dar’ irritated her, and she chided me for it. My immaturity took offence and I stopped talking with her. Her maturity, in turn, made her break the ice between us and apologize to me. Our relationship emerged stronger after weathering that minor storm.

Her observant eyes and alert ears were the first to detect the nuances of adolescent attraction that a class-mate had started feeling towards me. She warned me about it; and interestingly, a couple of years later, she was the happiest person to whom I first broke the news of my emotional attachment to the same person. I, in turn, enjoyed listening to her accounts of some of the ‘dreamers’ in her vicinity.

We both went our ways – she married and went to the USA, and I found my job and my husband in Mumbai. Life moved on, but she very much remained a part of my psyche. I continued to meet her and have long winding conversations with her in my dreams. I went to the USA with my husband and googled her name there. She, then a young and dynamic doctor from the top medical school in the USA, was easily found. Real-life conversations started between us on phone again. We talked mostly about our husbands, kids and careers; and then, I returned to India with my family.

After about a year of silence between us, she once again called me on phone. Our conversation this time touched upon our spiritual lives. She had read some of my blogs on my website, and was happy to know that I had finally discovered my true calling. She shared with me her deep spiritual explorations, and I was thrilled to hear from her the very same thoughts and feelings that comprised my understanding of life.

The two of us have been on the move ever since we got to know each other. We started out as the feisty brooks touching upon the fantastical shores of adolescent romance; lost much of our bounce, but gained depth in the responsible adulthood of a wife, a mother, and a professional; and have started sorting our souls for meeting the eternal ocean in the state of complete preparedness and absolute bliss.