Dream Land

The holy river was in front of me. A breezy wind, babbling sound of the water and the horn of the launch far away enchanted me in the evening. I was just going to jump into the river, a voice from my back obstructed me. No, it was not the voice from any supernatural power.

A man, aged 30-35, wearing t-shirts and jeans shouted at me, “Excuse me, brother, what are you doing? Are you all right?”

I gave a glance, being bewildered for a few seconds, I replied, yeah, I'm okay.

He came to me from the upper corner of the stairs.

What were you going to do, he asked me. What happened, brother?

No, nothing, I'm alright, I hastily replied.

But I don't think so. You must go home right now, he said. Where do you live?

I was gradually coming back to my conscious state. There was a silence for a few moments. I saw he was looking at me eagerly.

I replied, “My home is 5 mins away from here. Yes, I have to go home.”

Are you sure you can go? He asked. It seemed that he was very polite, careful and educated person.

I said, “Yes.” After saying that, I took my way home.

I guessed that he was from the nearest locality. I never saw him there, though I frequently used to go. Whenever I felt down, I would go there. Madness for the environment pulled me there. I had been busy with my new work. I was a little known writer, though still, I'm. My room was full of books here and there, papers and my new novel, called "Statis in the happiness". I was dedicatedly experimenting with my new piece which is about going into a time where there will always be happiness. No change should be there. I failed many times but couldn't find one proper way to fix it. I read many books about time travel but those weren't fruitful. I was trying to establish a life in a different way. In fact, we can create anything we want by writing. I make myself happy by living in a different imaginary world. It was something different from others. I couldn't find any logic to make it more real. So, the idea was always with me. Wherever I went, it didn't leave me. It was stuck in my head.

There was a reason to make such a work. I had been living with depression, anxieties, worries for a long time. I couldn't find a period where there would always be happiness but didn't happen anything like that. Life was being pathetic. Insecurities, failures in life grabbed me wholly. People might say my decision about dying didn’t have any strong base. But I knew what I was going through. I was running after more. So, the dark web of dilemma, conflict was running after me. Recently, weed was my only dependent to show me a similar world something like that but it was also not fruitful. So, I thought to create my own world by writing.

That day, I couldn't write anything. I was totally exhausted after the evening incident. Sleep was the only option.

An imaginary world was in front of me. Rays penetrating the bushes, greenery everywhere, butterflies flying in front of my eyes, beautiful flowers starting to bloom. Everywhere was vibrant. People were enjoying their morning bath. Some were meditating on the stairs of their beautiful small huts. The excitement was in everybody's behaviour, and happiness was splashing. I thought I was in the right place. After long years of hard labour, I was in front of my futuristic world.

I heard a voice from the back.

Are you looking for anyone? A male voice asked me.

I looked at him surprisingly. It was exactly the same man who saved me from jumping into the river.

I asked, you! here?

Do you know me? He asked.

I got shocked. How could it happen? I spoke to me. The man who saved me yesterday doesn't know me the next day. How's is it possible?

Don't you recognise me? I asked. Weren't you at the river yesterday?

I'm sorry. I think you are being mistaken with someone else and I didn't go to the river yesterday.

It's okay, I concluded. Because there was nothing more to discuss after that. But I was attracted by his gay attitude.

I took another way. People were looking at me like I was an alien to them. Everywhere was so amusing to me. Women were so respectful there. Children were playing around the garden. It seemed to me I was in front of a spring field. Some children were being thought about old scriptures, moralities. Time was passing. They were looking happy.

Are you looking for someone? A lady asked me in front of me.

What is the name of this place? I asked. Actually, I'm very new here. Everybody seems to me unknown.

Sukha*, she replied. I see you are rambling here.

Yes, I am lost, I think, I said.  

She invited me to her house. Her husband was in front of the laptop and 6-year-old daughter was solving Rubik’s Cube with a Roald Dahl's book before her. Their hospitality was reflecting their quality of education.

Discussing with them for a long time, I ensured myself that I wasn't so wrong predicting about this locality. They were really educated, polite and helpful to others. Surprisingly, there was no crime. Women were prepared for all kinds of men's jobs. They thought themselves self-defence. There was no gender inequality. Everyone was satisfied with their personal life, their career. Greed couldn't capture them. According to Maslow’s law, I could say that they achieved the self-actualisation stage. I understood that they would support each other in their neighbourhood. I learnt a new meaning of pure love.

The morning alarm broke my sleep. I was on the bed writing about whatever I confronted with. I wished if the dream was for the whole life. But life can't stick to one place. It has to move with its own will. So, I had to come back to my real world. There was a small pack of noodles. I cooked and ate the whole. I had to go to the market also to buy some necessary commodities. So, I took a break for some time and went outside to store some new materials for my novel. This is my old habit. Whenever I get stuck somewhere in my writing, I go outside, ramble for some time, apply smoke to my brain and then come back home.

I went to the river after 1 week again but not for jumping into the river, rather finding an end for my story. I was throwing stones into the river. It’s a very popular activity. If you are alone in front of a river, do this, it’s really enjoying to spend time. I met with the same person for the 3rd time.

He waved at me from the jetty near the river. I couldn't see him but he noticed me. He was in a same old t-shirt with jeans. I felt very jealous of his cheering attitude.

How are you, brother? He asked. Is everything all right this time?

I smiled at him and said, yeah, I am okay, tell me about you.  

We started discussion.

I shared all my personal stories with him including what I am writing. His speech was enough to finish my novel. I added his whole remark on life to my novel. He said, “Life is something which you have to deal with very carefully. You can't cheat on it. You have to face both side life shows us. We want our life filled with all the beautiful things, happiness but that is really not possible. It doesn't happen to anyone. We all have to go through some difficult situations. We run after more but don’t love what we currently have. We forget about our first priority in life which is survival and give more priorities to passion. But I have a question. If we don’t survive, how would we follow our passion? We should certainly do what we love but keeping in mind about survival. There is no such imaginary world. It looks good in our dreams, in our writings, in movies also but not in our real world. I agree with one thing which is, there is always hope for our better future.

I was astounded by his words. There was a grave silence in our conversation but I broke it in a few minutes.

By the way, I didn't get your name, I asked him.

He replied with a witty smile, people call me, “Life”.

We took our way home.

*Sukha(Sanskrit word) - Happiness