Cloud 9 Minus One

If there are characters in a book, then one is bound to like some more than others. As a writer, I’m not supposed to have any favourites. They are all my babies, and, to create well, I have to love them all. But somewhere along the way, some of the people in this book became my step-children. I wouldn’t like to meet them on a stormy night. And there are others whom I talk to when I feel down, or when present company doesn’t meet my needs. These people have been with me for so long that they are now a part of my life. And the best part is, they are exactly as I want them to be! They are my security blanket, and if ever I have a Last Supper for myself, these are the people I would like to invite to it.
Except for one thing. None of them exist in real life. They only reside on the pages of my book, and I can love them only there. Priya, for instance. Now she is what I would describe as a real friend. All of us believe that we deserve more love than we actually receive – from our parents, our children, our spouses, our friends. None of them satisfy that hunger for unconditional affection that we have. No matter how badly we behave, we want one person out there who forgives us, accepts us, loves us. Priya does that. She is like tea on a rainy afternoon. She takes one into her fold, and the world becomes fine. Or at least that’s what she has done for me. Unlike the Beatles, it isn’t Mother Mary, but Priya who comes to me.
I wish Priya existed, and I could call her up on a lazy Saturday afternoon, and spill out all of the carbon dioxide of the whole week into her ears. And she would listen, and give some sage advice if I asked for it, and keep quiet if I didn’t, and let me make my own mistakes without saying ‘I told you so’. I wish she were there to let me hover around her, and suck some of her energy into me, and not come up with her own set of demands. But she isn’t there. And yet…
I’m sure I have met Priya sometime in my life, someone who was born to give and not take. All of us have. They could have been our friends, or our parents’ friends, or teachers, or people we met during a walk in the park. They may not be in our lives now, but how we wish they were! And in the absence of that all we can do is endeavour to become givers ourselves. That is our life’s journey, to learn to give more than we take.