Timemachine Meeting

He wondered gazing up at stars, the night sky clear in Timbavati white lions reserve, "Why do people prefer city neon lights to such beautiful natural light"? With a wild life research doctorate, he was always engaged in remote natural spaces. 

No city professional,media personnel would like to join in with his project,leaving aside the amount offered by the natural environment media channel. 

He will have to get it done as usual by a local as usual. 

Gazing at the evening star she wasn't sure why she was sitting in this garden of Indian town waiting for an Indian colleague, her world famous nature television channel company had asked her to meet. 

Her photoshoot of traditional India (being a photographer) was over and she just had two more days to fly back home. 

She took a one hop flight via Pune to Mumbai to meet her software techie friend who was on holiday to visit his parents there. 

Indians had weird family rules but the bonds were very close. 

His mother said the temple in a small pond in the center of the garden was lite up with small lamps, was considered a very holy shrine and this lady supposed to meet her, said she was visiting this shrine and why not have an informal meeting to save time. 

"Hello, you are the famous photographer Sarah"? 

"Hello" She replied looking around disgustingly "odd place for a meeting" 

"Oh, sorry just thought we would get extra time for discussing the wild life photography shoot of Timbavati white lions'

"Wildlife photography, I am not into it plus there are special wildlife photographers". Waste of time she thought, the channel better check and instruct. 

"Nevermind we will visit the shrine of ganesha, the God with elephant head then". She said.

While climbing the steps she explained, "Long ago you could find the Sarus birds here. The tallest flying birds:nearly 1 to 2 meters tall and always in pairs. The great Indian grus antigone. Wild creatures have some unexplainable lovely way of life". 

"Such as"? Sarah raised her eyebrow. 

'These Sarus cranes do a spectacular  duet dance gazing at the sky,a very serious courtship and have a life long relationship with the partner. If one bird dies the other slowly gives up life in the pain of separation". 

As the temple approached, Sarah hesitated.

 "It's alright, if you don't want to visit the shrine, you can visit the small artifacts hall plus museum in the temple campus".

Sarah was moving in the artifact hall slowly observing the beautiful old art pieces, statues of ganpati and in one corner halted at the wonderful piece of bronze: the sarus crane pair, the grus antigone! It looked dazzling, with red necks (were studded with red semi precious stones to give them the red colour to their necks) .  She realised she was seeing the mirror image of the piece in the huge mirror fitted full length to hide an old door of the hall. She softly touched the mirror in the now deserted hall and……….. 

……. she seemed to glide through it softly into another world of green forest of beautiful flora fauna. 

It seemed like some old Indian forest. The Sarus bird pair was engaged in a spectacular courtship dance. Their movements of wings, rhythm of neck movement in harmony with their footsteps was breathtaking. She was stunned at this original, beauty of nature and so were the couple watching

this ritual of love. 

The boy was  in trousers and the girl in traditional Indian folk attire.But both had dark brown hair glimmering red in sunshine. Sarah observed and slowly put her hand in her bag and captured the movement in her camera. 

As she clicked, she had a bizarre image of the boy waving to the folk girl from a ship bound to west with tears and in mid ocean suddenly was caught in a storm meanwhile the girl in the indian town seemed to be ill with plague. As both saw the end coming they turned into two sarus cranes deeply in courtship, dancing to their death with eyes full of love. 

"Wake up ma'am,you have fallen asleep on this soft divan(Indian version of sofa + bed) in this hall" someone was calling her. 

"The birds should have danced to their life not death". Sarah replied. 

The Indian representative of her channel asked"What are you speaking"? 

"Oh, had a dream of the antigone pair dancing along".

"That's a good sign. You have started thinking of flora fauna and ways of nature, please just take a hop stop at kruger sanctuary in S. Africa and meet this environmentalist doctor trying to restore nature. Maybe the emotional depth of your skilled photography may help  save this white lion species.You can always reject the project if not

upto your mark, can also get a quiet much needed paid holiday you deserve". 

A very deserving point to be pondered upon, Sarah thought of this piece of advice. 

Sarah was waiting for this environmentalist working on these white lions of Africa. Hope the old man is not very antagonistic or she will be taking the next flight home. Forget the Timbavati safari with him! 

"Hello, Ms Sarah, hope not disturbing you from your fashion magazine". There was a sneer in the voice, a taunt at what she was reading ( reality  was hiding her face in) ! 

Startled, she looked up and saw a young man thrusting his hand forward for introduction. His brown hair shone with a glint of red as the sunset rays touched them. 

Sarah gulped and inadvertently murmured "Grus antigone" 

His eyes narrowed, "you  know about the Indian Sarus cranes, my research paper was published on them. Their dance always fascinates me, a  sight rarely seen".

"It's because of their information given, I was tempted to stop here to consider wildlife photography" Sarah replied. 

"So I have to court a photographer for participation in my project. It's not a fashion world my dear Ms Sarah". His glare softened as his eyes fell on the Indian folk skirt she was wearing with a matching scarf. The last ray of sun caught the bright red colour of her hair. 

Their eyes met in a hypnotic gaze and hotel lights dimmed for the dancing floor in the end of the enclosure. 

"I saw the grus antigones dancing in my dream and decided to fly  here". Sarah whispered. 

"I dream of it every day, but last night it did not repeat, maybe today I am given the opportunity to actually feel it" he bowed asking, a dance with Sarah. 

The music was soft and as Sarah tiptoed in his arms for the dance she had an odd feeling of gliding on the wind with wings as they whirled on the dance floor. Two redheads, necks nuzzling. 

• Both oblivious of the world around them danced in rhythm as grus antigones gazing at the first star through the glass ceiling, knowing that this time they were dancing towards the new horizon of life! 

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