Come Dance With Me

“Every child has known God,
Not the God of names,
Not the God of don’ts,
Not the God who ever does Anything weird,
But the God who knows only four words.
And keeps repeating them, saying:
“Come Dance with Me , come dance.”

                                       – Hafez

Let me share a very little, teeny tiny story with you. It is about a very devout Indian princess named Meera Bai (that’s her in the painting). She had accepted Lord as her husband and dear friend for her life and for the time after that.  There are many interesting incidents about how she defied all the decorum expected of a princess and sang and danced in public temples to please her Lord. She was forced to drink poison and when the poison touched her lips, it turned to nectar because she loved the Lord and the Lord loved her.

The biggest question that rises here is, does faith really have that kind of power that will make miracles happen? My grandma once told me that faith is stepping on the first step even when you can’t see rest of the staircase. A second question raises its head here. Are we capable of having faith? Are we capable of holding the love and belief for something, anything like the good in this world, a promise from a loved one, in love itself and hold it within us as a beacon of light so that it would illuminate the way when we step face first into the dark alleys of life?

Scientific studies say that the way faith really works is by boosting our self confidence enough to enable us to work wonders for ourselves. Whatever it is, I have always thought that all the magic and miracles of the world lie within us, for I believe that we are like small specs of divine power, so if not in anything else, can we just put our faith in ourselves and dance to our own melody? Cause if you think that life has no background music, listen closely, your heart taps out your tune every single day.

You There?

You there? I’m sorry, I don’t know who I am searching for but I need someone to be there to catch me because I know I’m falling. And I don’t mean it romantically. Literally, my world is being ripped apart and I feel so lost, like I don’t know where my life is going and I hate being like this. And I know if I fall this time, the fall will kill me. I hope it does so only metaphorically. So I desperately need someone: God, my parents, my brother, my family, my friends, my teachers, a kind stranger, a historical personality, some kick ass character from a novel, a guardian angel, someone!

I don’t know what happened to me, I used to be such a happy person, I was the one who would laugh out loud on the silliest of jokes, I used to write lovely poems, I was the Agony Aunt and I used to motivate people and so now I can’t truly show what I feel. My body is my cage, my face a mask. It is all a lie and I smile on the outside when inside I have cried oceans and inwardly as I cry for help, I laugh on the outside.I have to act as if everything is great and I am so happy when I am not. My faculty advisor says I am unhappy and dissatisfied because I am living a second rate existence which is totally governed by what other people think of me. As always, he is right. But these people whose opinions matter so much to me are the people that I love and cherish.

My mother visited me some time back and while it did lead to some truly great memories, there was always this undercurrent of dissatisfaction when she was with me. Don’t get me wrong, she is an awesome person, in fact she is perfect. But the problem is that I am not like her. I am not perfect and so she is always chiding me and I know she does it for my own good but I am so hungry for some praise from her. Its like whatever I do, whoever I become, nothing will ever be good enough for her.

So, come forth. Near, far, wherever you are, I plead you, come and be my lighthouse. I know I’m no damsel in distress, I will save myself as Buddha said all people have to, just be with me while I’m at it.