Where Are You?

A stage full of white smoke, nothing is visible there. It has a faint blue light on the center of the ceiling, and from the corners, there are white lights coming to the stage. The stage is looking like a page from a suspense novel as if something is going to happen there...something much-awaited, something awfully beautiful. There are hundreds of people waiting in the front of the stage, to see what is going to be next, the same as they turn their page towards a new one to read further of that suspense story. A low buzz is going on, as they are talking with a low voice. With a pair of eyes, they are eagerly waiting for the next chapter.

Finally, the moment comes. A girl, not completely visible, enters the stage. The hall fell into a dead silence. There are only her feet can be seen. She walks to the center of the stage, turns behind, and waits a while. A song starts to be played from backstage. It was the Sufi song ‘O re piya’, from the movie Aaja Nachle. As the starting tune is playing, she moves her hands, and her waist, in a slow rhythm. She wants to feel that moment, to live at that moment. She is seeking her heart’s quest and dancing in the rhythm of the song. Within a moment, she immersed in her dance and starts whirling. She is searching for her mate, she is searching for the one she has a heart full of love, she is searching for the one her soul wants to unite. She is dancing in the center of the stage. In the milkwhite salwar suit, she is looking like an angel. She has forgotten the world, she is dancing in the rhythm divine. She starts whirling.

Suddenly, someone calls her name. But she couldn’t hear this call. She is dancing in the wild rhythm, she is on the journey of her eternal quest. Her eyes are wet, tears are rolling down from her dreamy eyes. She has no perception of this worldly life, she is on the journey of her seeking. Meanwhile, the voice screams again her name, this time, with a tone of fear and pain. As if he is trapped in something, and he is calling her to rescue him. He is seeking help from her. Slowly, his voice lowers, and he tries to call her once again. But, something chokes his voice, and he can’t spell her name. Finally, he gathers all his strength, and he calls, for the last time…

“Kavya!!”

Kavya wakes up on her bed. She puts the light on and watches the bedside clock. It’s 1:30 AM. This is the dream Kavya sees every night when she closes her eyes.

Whenever she tries to sleep in the night, after some time, she sees this dream. She wakes up and looked around. There was nobody. She was sweating. The call seemed very close to her heart, as if, she was used to this call, one day in her life. She takes her shawl and comes to the balcony. She can’t sleep anymore tonight. The call…it was very near to her soul. She longs for that call, every moment. But, she never hears that again. She looks at the sky, and asks someone,

“Where are you, Ivan??”