ice-cream with irani chai

"Try it?"

"Huh, Me?"

"Yeah, why don't you give it a try," he asked.

"Oh! am not sure. It looks pretty exciting, but is it safe?" she asked, tempted, pointing at the thick ropes that momentarily grounded the hot air balloon.  

"Sure, you'll be fine in our strong hands. Besides, it's nailed to the ground. We won't let you go too far for us to control. Here's your safety vest. Don't worry, you won't fall off. You'll be so thrilled, you wouldn't wanna come down once you go up there," he joked mirthfully, helping her into the jacket that would tie her to the balloon.

A few moments later, she was off the ground. Para-ballooning. She shrieked in fear and excitement, as a strong gust of wind instantly took her far up into the sky. Seeming to tear at the very cords that bound it from going any further up. Four people, including the coach who'd convinced her to try it, held at the ropes, while she dangled from up there, first a little frightened, and then completely loving the view.

She looked down at the city - a golden orb of Sun spreading its last leftover sparkles on cityscape. Even the lake and the bund road around it, where the Annual Shopping Fest was on, which no one gave a second thought to except as a dirty horrible smelling waste of space in the center of the city, seemed to glow with a magical green sheen to it. She saw little figures of people strolling everywhere, cars moving in their busy humdrum of life, and smiled.

She was ecstatic. "This is euphoria. Truly amazing," she thought. She was high, drugged on the freedom that the flight had awarded her, even if momentarily. "Am a bird..." she childishly waved her hands in glee as though flying, and laughed in realisation that, good, nobody'd heard nor bothered!

The coach shouted - "Enjoying the view?" "U Bet! I don't wanna come down, gimme an extra minute up here, will you, please," she yelled back. "Sorry, ma'm, long queue down here, we got to get you down..." and as the Sun set, a reluctant her was being pulled back down. Back to the darkening dull mundane old world, dreary buzzing streets, and horrid uncaring crowd... 

...She was almost there. One step and she would be back on the ground. A light hop. "What?" she quipped surprised and annoyed, when she couldn't feel the Earth. She tried to put a deliberate heavy step back on the ground. Nothing. Her feet, her arms, her whole body, seemed to be light as a feather. She tried to thump herself back down, to touch down. She felt nothing.

"This's got to be crazy." She hurriedly tried to feel her feet back on the ground... All of a sudden, she saw a body - hers - collapse right in front of her. She hurriedly tried to step into it what seemed to be strangely her own body - "that's so weird!" she spoke aloud, to herself.

She couldn't comprehend it. She screamed in anger, nobody seemed to hear her. She flailed her arms around madly, and nobody even looked at her. This couldn't be a dream, she pinched herself. No pain. She hit herself on her forehead angrily, to wake herself up, in case she might be in some weird sleep-walking mode. Uhum, nope! Nothing seemed to work...

...She glided, floating, a few inches off the ground, following what seemed to be her own body being carried someplace. People were screaming, the coach looked stunned, some children were wailing. And, there he was. "Finally, he's here!" she thought. "Hey, listen, why won't they look at me, am right here," she asked her best friend, puzzled.

But, he didn't look up, either. His face was pale, in fear and shock. And then, as though it hit him - some life-altering thought - he suddenly bent over her body and let out a heart-rending cry.

"You too? You are just like everyone else," she screamed aloud, crying, heart-broken, and ran...

so caught up's a heart
intricacies of emotion,
a mind of its own
doesn't see, won't listen,
a maze of wrecks
inside deep within,
walking in useless circles 
where's the healing?
the circus, foolish drama
a web of pointless living,
for what's love's end,
and where's life beginning...

turning a blind eye to the truth
hearing and just not comprehending,
a clash of thoughts, a war of words,
clenching fists on heart hard-hitting,
wilful drama unfolding time & again,
and no break, no pause yet in pain...

embraced by the tender moonlight
softly shimmering, shining bright,
embalming graceful moonbeams
hushedly kissing the calming night,
cradled in passionate breeze
amazed at the amorous sight,
falling am into deep a sleep,
loved twin of death, perhaps?