I was in a temple; I had never seen or even heard of before. It did seem a bit familiar though but my mind wasn’t able to disentangle that feeling.
It felt like I wasn’t me. It felt like I have lost all my memories. This sense of weirdness had taken over my mind.
But I relaxed myself and took a deep breath. Then when I turned around, I noticed that there were a lot of people out there but that place wasn’t loud which was expected to be because of the crowd. I couldn’t hear anything and wondered if I had lost my sense of hearing.
But being in a temple is very pleasant as it is the place where people with pure intentions visit. I decided to roam around the place and have some peaceful time for myself.
After sometime I found some monks who were sitting together on a platform just beside a big banyan tree. That tree looked ancient. I gazed at the top of the tree and then at the sky. The sky was light blue with very few clouds here and there. The air was still as not even a single leaf of the tree was moving.
I again looked around. Everything seemed still until I looked directly at them and few were still even after I looked at them directly.
The temple was surrounded by huge walls. But somehow I could see right through them and could see that astounding view of the snowy mountains which seemed very close to the temple. This gave me a sense of being somewhere at the North. But the matter was still unclear. I was confused how I even came here. Who brought me here? And Why I was here?
I stopped thinking for a while and walked straight towards the platform. There were several monks, some gossiping others meditating while others staring me for some unknown reason. I asked one of them what this place was and all of them started laughing. They didn’t answer my question even when I asked them again and again. After like an eternity, one of them said, “Why don’t you ask that girl who’s siting on the staircase?”
Well, there was a staircase which I hadn’t noticed before. I went there and saw a girl facing away from me. I didn’t know her name so I just went and sat beside her.
AND THEN, she turned to her left and looked directly in my eyes. For a few seconds my heart had forgotten to beat. I felt that everything including me was still. There was not a single sound. It felt like there was nothing around, just me and her staring at each other.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was so beautiful that even the angels from the heaven would envy her. Her eyes were reflecting me like a diamond reflects light. After skipping a few beats my heart came back to normal with a rhythm that I had never felt before. While I was trying to understand what was happening to me, she started speaking. “Hey, how are you?” Being so confused already, I wondered if she knew me. But if yes, then how. I thought of asking her if she knew me but couldn’t say a single word. Instead of answering the question she had asked, I asked, “Who are you?” which actually seemed pretty rude to me. But she smiled at me for a moment and that moment captured by my eyes was the most beautiful thing in the whole universe.
She didn’t answer my question either which was somewhat funny. She said,” isn’t this place amazing? It is so peaceful out here. It is like it isn’t real.” I was listening to her sweet voice which probably forgot its way after entering my ears to my brain and instead ended up in my heart.
She kept talking and I kept listening. I wished the time froze and she kept talking forever. But suddenly, she looked at me with her hands on my cheeks and whispered. “I know it is difficult out there. That’s why I come to this place. I wish I could stay here forever but…”. But what, I asked.
“You will understand soon.” I was quite comfortable talking to her at this point and told her,” You are the prettiest girl I have ever seen till now”. “She blushed and said, “Well, I’m all yours and I wish you were mine”. I couldn’t believe my ears. I asked her to repeat, “Sorry, didn’t hear the last part you just said, what was it?”. “You have heard right my dear”, She said.
I couldn’t be happier. I started sharing everything about me with her. Although still I couldn’t remember a lot of things and I had forgotten to ask here these questions as well. I started feeling that I belonged there. That was my home. I talked to her about all my insecurities and stories that I remembered. And each insecurity I shared with her kinda vanished from my mind. I forgot all the problems I had. It was amazing, absolutely amazing. She asked me If we could roam there for a while. I held her hands and we stared walking and talked about a lot of things till dawn swept in.
I was now a bit worried about my house and all those questions I wanted answers to. I started asking her about where I lived and all. She said,” Okay, so now it’s time I guess.” “What time, I asked”. “Actually, all this you see isn’t real. You’re dreaming right now”. “So is this all a lie?”. “Yes, it is. I felt the same when I visited this place first.” “This is the best place ever. Can’t I live here forever”, I asked her. “I don’t know”, she answered. “How are you here then?” “Umm… I decided to stay here long time back.” “I also want to stay here with you”. “Me too”.
We both held hands and closed our eyes and wished we could stay together for some more time. The moment I opened my eyes, I was on my bed in my home. This dream felt so real that I could still feel her presence near me. It was like she never left me. Every day before I go to bed, I wish to meet her again. This time I shall ask her name first.