A day I thought was not about me…!!!
On a misty rainy morning when the stars looked smudged covered by a thin layer of clouds. The sleepy monochrome was turning into colorful hue as the sun rose and the journey towards the airport was descending. A long new day ahead started with the cheerful freshness of the golden yellow rays of the sun. In the early hours of the morning the airport is a serene place depicting the quiet flow of humanity and the floor reflecting the early rays of the sun along with the artificial lightening. The joy of travel got pumped me up, but I had to constantly remind myself it was not my day. The day was dedicated to her, for once the wanderer in me had to be on the sidelines and let the day go as per her. Post boarding formalities we, a dear friend of mine and I were waiting for her, though the wanderer in me was on the sidelines but couldn’t keep myself calm. I started monkeying around with my camera clicking random yet interesting pictures. In the sea of faces those moving in unseen currents I found this face right at the entry gate. Through my lens I saw the fullness of life and cheerfully smiling woman draped in honey drop colored saree.
I had a tiny window to click a picture of her, but somewhere I was engrossed looking at this joyful six-year-old at heart adult whose face lit up brighter after seeing us. It was not the first time she was traveling and airport is something like a second home to her, but the joy of seeing us immeasurable on her face. To have the luxury of knowing and traveling with a frequent flyer and a group of well famous people in the town has its own perks of getting to get passed by the fast track security check. This chirpy one went all gaga gaa with silly banters and pulling each other’s leg at a point I felt as if I was the only one wearing the grown-up frown but she was just unstoppable. Just when I thought after reaching the destination may be, she will get composed but that only remained as I thought and this upbeat female was on her streak. After reaching the city of beaches, the air was heavy and salt was felt on the layer of skin. As we walked to the exit and the remaining friends of the clan joined, her energy just doubled it felt like the same six-year-old was pumped with a load of sugar candy and skyrocketing happiness.
We took a small detour on our way to the hotel, I had the faintest of the information about exactly where the detour was towards and the purpose of that, again because the day was not about me. As we reached the destination, she was the utmost composed person whom I have been seeing all through the morning. The endless chit chatter was suddenly the calm, humble and gracious, an adorable transformation as I observe. The detour we had was to a talented female painter who made a portrait of her with charcoal. Without any doubt the artist was simply the master in her craft, but when this lady saw her portrait made in charcoal her eyes glistered looking at it as if she was admiring her own self looking in the mirror. The humbleness of gratitude towards the artist in her tone, but the pride in her eyes to have brought herself to the place of deserving this was evident. For whatever I have known her, she is the master of deception (she is 😊) she is very well capable of masking her thoughts and feelings with her words and tone. Her tone was full of gratitude for the art made, proud of herself looking at the art, in the dust of charcoal she mirrored herself and couldn’t stop the torrential thoughts running on the back of the head. Here was that one moment I didn’t want to miss and captured it with my camera.
As the journey continued to the hotel, she switched back to her previous mode, which knew no boundaries for her peace and excitement. It all looked like she had come for a picnic just one too many times and there were no one to stop her from doing anything and everything. In between all the chatter and clutter it was almost the time for her live show and she generously took her time to dress up and look like a diva herself. The master deceptive all happy and cheerful, but somewhere deep in her heart a hint of nervousness. As she reached the venue and when she proudly walked on the stage, she was this beast with full blown confidence and that transformation I witnessed was simply awestruck. She stared with her regular set of cover songs, some predictable and some previously heard in her voice already. The enjoyment of the live show is unique every single time, be it same singer and same songs, but the energy is always different and unique in its own way. The houseful crowd in the auditorium clapping and whistling and cheering took all her attention, but she made it a point every time she laid her eyes on her clan of friends and every time she saw the smiling faces of her clan her eyes glittered from the joy she couldn’t hold herself.
It was all going smooth sailing with several songs few requested by the crowd and some wonderful numbers from her own basket of collection. As it was feeling the obvious end of the show and I was getting the feeling of predictable, she surprised with the most unexpected number “Man Mohana”. Until then I was happily clicking pictures and smiling for the choice of songs and the cheering from the audience. But when she started with “Man Mohana” a cover of hind song, unknowingly my camera came down and so did my eyes shy down. My eyes were filled with the tears of immense joy and everything around was fading except for her voice resonating in my head. It was that time when I realized the day was not about her but me, for me to experience this ecstatic emotion which I totally fail to express in words…!
It was possible only for her to make it happen, the deep ocean lover in me couldn’t hear the crashing sound of waves that night and only kept replaying the song in my head until it got into my subconscious and that made a place for itself in there. The joyful six-year-old whom I met in the morning suddenly started seeming like the magic in reality…. !!!
