UNVEILED.....................

Left alone at my aunt’s apartment yesterday while the others enjoyed the cool breeze on the rooftop, thanks to the perennial power failure problem of Calcutta I actually took time to observe the vast stretch of Tollygunge cemetery. The view from the fourth floor balcony was breath taking. No apprehension or trepidation rose in my mind, the fear that people usually associate with the dead seemed absurd to me. Hundreds of obscure mounds lined by shimmering candles and prominent crosses engulfed me in a feeling serenity. So many thoughts kept drifting across my mind…… all these people who were once living, taking, laughing are nothing more than mere earth now…… I wondered at the futility of our petty concerns when Nature lies awaiting for us to make the little difference that we can if we stop being so selfish and self centered. It is hard for us to rise above the constant battle with life day after day. It is a challenge that we must face which leaves us panting, gasping for a breath, looking for ways and means to give vent to all those human emotions that we keep locked up in secret chambers of our heart fearing the consequences if we let them be expressed. So many lives lay ahead of me surrounded by the shroud of mystery……. My heart longed for revelation of those secrets of death that are so far away from us, yet so near. Each day we take one step closer to the eternal truth that we all scram to avoid but never stop hoping for the tranquility that only death can offer us… I felt envious of all those mounds. How they rest in peace with no worry no anxiety……… no board results, no entrance exams, no college admissions, no fight with friends, no broken hearts, no trouble with parents, no silly quarrels……. Nothing to perturb their soul……. As I stood there speculating all these I felt contented knowing that someday even I am going to rest in peace…………like all of them…………