a summer dream

It’s decided: one warm summer morning, we will go down to the beach and say hello to the waves. It’s going to be nice and warm. The sun will have just come up and we will stand by the sea-shore, the waves gently encircling our feet, comforting our tired heels. The rising sun will make for the perfect background; the reality of its size humbled against the pretty sea-shells on the soft sea-shore. And we would want to do it all – fly with the birds, swim with the fishes, dance with the wind, sing with our hearts. And then we will sit on the flowery picnic sheet sprawled across the sea-sand and read our books, our summer hats happily perched on our heads. Each turn of the page will come with a sip of our cool orange juice; and occasionally, we’ll look up to see the twinkling water crashing and hugging the shore before we look away – we will look away only to glance at each other with a pride that only two young women who have together waltzed through the ups and downs of this thing called life, know of; two happy friends enjoying the warmth of life, loving their summer dream.

Happy birthday, Saba!

Credits: Azib Manzoor, Exposure Photography

Philotes

SS : My ear hurts so bad.

AM : My voice is so bad.

SS: Guess each of us have lost at least one of our senses.

AM : Make that two. Doubt the common sense will work tomorrow during the exam. 

SS : I was assuming we were born without it.

AM : You’ve always underestimated us all. Including your silly self.

SS : Sorry.

AM : When will we reach the stage of companionable silence?

SS : When we are ready to. Would you not say we are ready?

AM : I think we are. We’re just scared of trying. Both of us. I would like to, though.

SS : So would I. When you say that I realise we, at least I, actually am a bit scared of trying.

AM : You’re scared of a lot of things?

SS: I am. Too precautionary. It dulls me. Wears me down too. It’s become second nature. Which is why I freak out when something out of the ordinary happens.

AM : Aren’t we ‘out of the ordinary’?

SS : You are. Which is why I freaked out when I met you. I don’t go around screaming people’s names in tuition. Well, not usually.

AM : Why am I out of the ordinary, S?

SS : Let’s just let the companiable silence answer that question.

AM : Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror properly?

SS: Is there something particularly on it you think I’ve missed seeing?

AM : Yes. Yes, I think you have.

SS: Be my mirror then. Tell me what I’ve failed to see.

AM : Look closely. You’ll see a pair of compassionate eyes and a kind mouth and a determined nose. You’ll see a pair of strong hands –  hands that are always ready to help the helpless. You’ll see a face with the shadows of kindness and love, mirroring a secret war seeking tranquility and self-acceptance. Hush, girl! Look closely. Feel softly. You’ll catch a diamond that is bestowed on the lucky few.

SS : AM. Maybe you need to look a little closer.

AM : SS. YOU definitely need to look a little closer.

SS : “All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a dream.”

AM : Dreams are the real maps. 

SS : If only making them come to life was easier.

AM : “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars / but in ourselves that we are underlings.”

SS : Maybe it’s not our fault, but our reality.

AM : YOU are THE reality. God made you a human – the BEST of His creations. Why do you want to let Him down?

SS : Do you think I want to be this way?

AM : What I think doesn’t matter. What YOU think, what YOU do, does.

SS : I think, I want to be much more. I don’t do much about it.

AM : I KNOW you want to be much more. You were born for much more. And I’ll be applauding with possessive pride when you ARE much more because I know you WILL become much more.

SS : I’d like to make you proud.

AM : I’d like to make you proud too, you know. It’ll be..an honor.

SS : I look forward to that day.

AM : I do too. You won’t leave, will you?

SS : As long as you like having me around.

AM : I do like having you around. More than I would like to.

SS : That’s good then. I like that it gets under your skin.

AM : Why do I annoy you?

SS : It’s beyond me.

AM : Thank you, you know?

SS : For being annoyed at you?

AM : For giving me memories that will be there when no one else will.

SS : Well..I’ll be there.

AM : Liar.

SS : So you’ve really got not much to worry about.

SS : Well let’s be honest. I can’t promise I’ll always be there. But for as along as I can, as long as there’s a ‘we’, I’ll be there.

AM : There’s going to be a ‘we’ for as long as the word ‘existence’ exists.

SS: Then there’s not much to worry about. Is there?

AM : Not at all. And we’ll go on celestial terrains together. 

SS : Maybe I don’t long for celestial terrains. Maybe just a walk in an open empty field. Somewhere where the wind blows and there is no this or that. Somewhere only we know. 

AM : Don’t you think that ‘a walk in an open empty field. Somewhere where the wind blows and there is no this or that. Somewhere only we know’  IS celestial? God created all of this – in what, seven days? 

SS : Well. If you think about it, I guess one of the definitions of celestial is heavenly. So. 

AM : He created the vendor you see everyday while coming to school. He created the guy in the big Mercedes, the one who buys the packet of tissue papers from that vendor, everyday,  just to encourage the man to work and not beg. See. God is everywhere. His Heaven is everywhere. We just need to look closely. 

SS : Every bit of dust and gust of wind and every bit of sunshine that falls on your face.

AM : Every joy that shines on your face and every ounce of kindness in your blood.

SS : You’re right. It is. I didn’t think of it that way.

AM : I just realised that we’re getting too deep.

SS : Nah. We’ve just started to brush the surface.

AM : I guess we should get back to ‘Robbins’.. 

SS : Thanks for the reminder..?

AM : To you too.. 

And the two friends had gulped down the elixir of friendship long, long ago. 

Infinities.

“Why can’t this be our forever?” she whispered.

“This is our forever. We’re growing old together, remember?” she whispered back.

“But you get tired of me.”

“I always come back, don’t I?”

“Can’t stay away for long, hun?”

“Shut up, will you?” That smirk was the best.

“I was wondering…”

“Shoot”.

“We utter eccentricities together. Our volatility is dangerous. We’re the same species”.

“I’m glad to have you around.”

“Listen”.

“Doing that always”.

“We’ll make it to the stars”.

“At this rate? Pfftt. We need to pass the next exam first. Decently”.

“We’ll do it”.

“I see all these great people doing all these great things and I wonder if even my dust will get closer to achieving all of that”.

“We worry too much. That’s the problem. We fret over the possibilities of the seemingly impossible, and we are so devoid of faith and self-confidence that it makes me want to smack your face”.

“You’re insane”.

“We’re insane”.

“That’s why we’re here – gazing at the stars dusted across the black canvas, trying to read our destiny, crafting our future selves.”

“Such profundity!”

“How’s the heart?”

“How do you think it is?”

“I think it’s hale and hearty like nothing ever happened.”

“Awww. Why did you ask if you already knew?”

“I wanted you to hear yourself saying it.”

She laughed with twinkling eyes. “I’m happy. God’s with me. He has led me to you through a miracle, and you know that. I’ve told you that story so many times – during Dr. T’s class, our chai sessions, our Samsung-struck conversations. It was meant to be, we were meant to be. I just wish it hadn’t happened this way – not for my sake, but for those who love me. And how would have I stumbled across you and the others if it hadn’t been for Divine intervention?”

“Yes. We’ve been through the difficult terrains that guide friendships towards eternity and infinity. Fights, and laughter, and trust, and love have shaped us comfortably, and no autumn can deter our spring.”

“You speak what I think. And no one can understand our language”.

” That’s why we’re growing old together”.

“To infinities and beyond?”

“Beyond the magic of the universe, beyond the realm of fragile human understanding, beyond the greatness of the mountains, beyond the depth of the oceans, beyond the worth of pearls”.

And the two happy girls continued to gaze at the stars, amazed, mystified.