Chapter 9:living life or leaving life?
London….
Morning dawn, cold weather,
Snowy cool breezes, people with jackets of leather.
Tram of London was heading towards the airport,
A guy sitting at the window seat, in formals, trimmed beard, hair perfectly set,lean body,husky voice, thorough gentlemen he was,
With laptop and airpods,
Typing….as fast as bullet train, and was on call,
“Angre, mail me those presentation as soon as possible”
And again back to work
On opposite seat there was a girl, wearing a camel hair coat, muffler, open straight silky hair and specs, sitting with a novel, earphones on with soft music. Her face was covered with novel, when she heard the husky voice of guy sitting opposite to her, she peek-a-boo from her novel, to see his face and thinks,
“O God!!! This guy is so busy with his work man. Not even enjoying the serenity of nature, the weather is so beautiful outside. What do you think Riddhima? Should I tell him to look outside….. Ummmmm….. No don’t say, don’t say, don’t say”
Riddhima to Vansh,
“Excuse me Mister”
He questions, “Yes, what? Do you want something?”
She replies, “No…. Actually….. Yes…. ”
Raising his eyebrows he says, “What are you saying?”
She says, “No I mean, the weather is so good, so eye pleasing”
He gets confused and says, “so what?”
“So don’t you think that, you should close your laptop and enjoy the serene beauty”
He says in frustration, “and who are you to tell me that what should I do and what I should not?”
She says laughing, “I? I’m a fellow passenger sitting in front of you”
“Oh really, but I don’t think that you are even behaving like a PASSENGER”
She asks him controlling her laugh, “Do you know, how a passenger behaves?”
“Yes, of course”
“I’m very curious to know, how they behave?”
Vansh answers in frustration, “They. Don’t. Poke. Their. Nose. In. Their. Fellow. Passengers. Matter”
Riddhima comes close to him and says, “look how successfully I have wasted your time, I was very well aware that you’ll not close your laptop, see the airport is here, but apart from this I just wanna say that, no work is that important that you can’t give a little time to yourself. Now whatever work you were doing if it would have been so important, you would have ignored my silly talks, but you didn’t. Consider it as a advice from Miss. Passenger” she smiles and leaves.
He thinks, “who was she? Why didn’t I ignored her silly talks? Now why am I thinking so much about her? Phewwww leave it”
He get downs from Tram,goes to airport and sits in waiting hall, he looks at everybody in confusion and thinks,
“Now again 8hrs journey, how do people travel in flight? Although I’m ‘THE VANSH RAI SINGHANIA’ who is not afraid of anything,but flight…It’s so scary. I always try to avoid flight journeys, but this time I had no option left, as Ishaani and Angre’s engagement has taken place few weeks ago, they both need time. I always send Aaryan to abroad, but he also went for a trip. For business work I can’t bring Nitya. When I was coming to London, I thought whoever will sit beside me should be confident, so I’ll get motivation, but no. She was a old lady, she herself was hell scared and also scaring shit out of me. Whole 8hrs journey she was holding my hand….. Like what the hell. She was unaware of the fact,that she has dialed wrong number”
Just then a old man sits beside him. Vansh looks at the passport and ticket, that old man was holding and again thinks,
“O God!!! Same flight number. Please god this time a confident person. He is partially trembling in waiting hall. What if he sits beside me and starts trembling fully, I’ll experience a personalised turbulence on my seat. Either he’ll faint or I’ll faint.”
Old man gives him a grumpy look, Vansh gives him a fake smile and thinks,
“He is giving me such grumpy looks, as if till date whichever crash landing has taken place, I was the reason behind it”
A boy comes and sit beside him. He was talking very loudly on phone, Vansh sees him in frustration and thinks, “Who is this now? Human JBL, his voice is more than 20,000 hz. That’s why I don’t like flight journeys, whoever I meet, I feel like they are some antique piece from museum. Now look at him, he is talking so loudly, shouting at London airport, his voice will reach till India. With whoever he is talking, I hope his/her eardrums are safe, I mean his personal talks has now become a community project.”
Just then announcement was made that flight will take off in few time, all passengers come with your boarding pass.
After all the checking Vansh sits in the flight and was sitting in relaxing position. His fellow passenger who is none other than Riddhima was keeping her backpack in overhead bin, just then her bag fall on her and she slips and fall on Vansh’s lap.
Vansh opens his eyes with jerk,he looks at her and says,
“You? What the hell. First of all you don’t know how a passenger behaves and now you don’t know how a human behaves”
“Sorry, sorry… Actually I was keeping my bag in overhead bin, but my height didn’t reach till there, my bag fell on me and I fell on you”
Vansh replies in frustration, “so what you have decided, to sit on my lap till we reach India”
Listening to him she gets up from his lap and he keeps her bag in overhead bin.
She tells “Thank you.” And she sits beside him and flight takes off. Vansh was sitting quietly rotating his rubik cube as he was scared.
Riddhima to Vansh,
“By God, after so long I’m going back home. It was fun travelling here. Did you have fun? O ho how will you have fun, you might be busy in your laptop. Hahaha”
“Will you keep your mouth shut”
“Do you have aerophobia?”
“How do you know?”
“Your anxious gestures. You are sitting as if you are trying to act normal. Rubbing nails, rotating rubik cube”
She snatches rubik cube from his hand and starts playing with it.
Vansh in anger, “what is your problem? Why are you always poking your nose in every matter of mine. Give that cube back to me”
“Hold your horses mister. I know you are using this rubik cube to distract yourself, but let me clear you this cube will surely distract you but will make your mind think more. You don’t want distraction, you want calmness and a stress-free journey. You are mixing both of them. Take this smile ball when you’ll pump it, this will make you calm.”
She gives that ball to him and he starts pumping it closing his eyes and sitting in relaxing position. Till that she solves the cube and returns him. He was shock to see,that just like him in few minutes,she has solved that cube. After sometime flight experience a turbulence. While Vansh’s fear increases and he starts panting heavily. Riddhima sees his condition and tells him,
“Relax…. Relax…..inhale, exhale”
But he don’t listen to her and gets scared. She takes his palm and starts rubbing it and tells him to hold her hand tightly. He holds it and she says,
“Now close your eyes,sit in relaxing position and inhale….. exhale…… inhale…….exhale”
He becomes normal and she asks,
“Feeling better?” He nods in affirmation and she smiles. She tells him,
“Open the curtain of window and look outside.”
He looks at her in shock and says,
“What? Are you mad. Look you helped me and I appreciate that, also I’m grateful for it. You just now saw that I was so scared and now you are telling me to look out, have you lost it”
She smiles and says,
“Facing the fear is the only solution. You know, this fear is just like an illusion, and if you consider it as reality you’ll fail, never let this fear win over you.When you are scared of something just smile, when fear will see you smiling, fear itself will get scared. Running from fear is never a solution, just face it. Unless and untill you’ll not see the beauty of this journey, which I’m sure you have never seen, you’ll never get rid of your fear. I know we are many feets above the ground, so you’ll get scared, but trust me nothing will happen. Ok wait”
She removes a dark chocolate from her bag and gives to him,
“Take eat this, it will stop your body from releasing stress hormone and it’ll not make you anxious. C’mon trust me nothing will happen”
He looks at her in defeat and taking a deep breath he says,
“Are you sure. If again I’ll get scared you have to face the consequences”
“Phewwwww…. Nothing will happen and if by chance anything happens, I’m ready for consequences. Ok fine… Just hold my hand, you’ll feel you are not alone in this, someone is there with you”
He holds her hand and taking a deep breath he opens the curtain, but closes his eyes,
“Mister, how you’ll see with close eyes. Closed eyes will always give you darkness,to see the sun you have to open your eyes. Open it, believe me, it’s beautiful outside”
He opens his eyes and was surprised to see the beautiful sight,
Blue sky with fluffy white clouds, flocks of birds flying freely,full of life, sun peeping through the clouds, sunshine falling on the glass of window, making glass a little hot and giving him warmth, making his deep brown eyes shine. City was visible in a miniature size as if it was a small block of big globe. He felt like he has reached a whole new world, seeing whole new life. He felt everything has stopped, everything has become still, time has stopped. As he was up above the world so high.
He says,
“This is insane”
She smiles and says,
“You are insane, to not see this before. You know we think that our existence is very big, but it’s not like that. Nothing is larger than life and nature. Nothing can be more soothing than seeing a different world, a different life, a life surviving. This is living life and what we humans do is leaving life. This is something your laptop cannot provide you. One suggestion, if you ever get a chance to save a life, save it. When a life will survive because of you, then you’ll feel some unknown tears in your eyes.”
He looks at her with smile and was about to speak something, when she interrupt and says,
“Annnnnn….. Wait enough for today. Whatever you want to say, tell it later. Now capture these moments in your eyes and brain. Sleep for now”
He closes his eyes and sleeps. After few hours flight lands in India. Vansh removes her luggage and was about to say something. When she tells her,
“Bye….. Bye…. Bye.. I’m in a little hurry. I have to go. Take Care.” And she leaves.
Fear….. An emotion,
If you kill it, you live,
If it kills you, you are dead alive,
Think about it……
~By Author