the dancing flames....

'Twas a serene,cool crisp morning.A tranquil and yet frolicsome zephyr ruffled the foliage of the trees...The great ball of fire started to spill its first scintillating rays on the zenith and the little sunrays traversed the heavens down to earth, illuminating the milieu....The crescent moon was bidding adieu to the skies and getting ready for its siesta....I was in a little world of talking trees and walking houses...riding a cloud through the azure skies...frozen in time..and my eyes futtered open...I transitioned from one paradise to another in a "flutter"...This one had crimson skies... I filled my lungs in with the crisp morning air and sprung out of bed.The dainty little space molecules around me started to do jigs....Excitement?Anticipation?Or just an ode to the divinity and chastity of Mother Nature?I felt the little pool of "emotions" flowing through me play some music....The Bohemian Rhapsody?Aaaah yes....Realization made a grand entry into my conscience...As my boat would sail a little ahead in the stream of time, I would anchor and leave my little realm for a while and go to a different realm with an element of "unknown" attached to it....As the little droplets from the pool of "emotions" traced question marks on my soul,my nerves started working up a frenzy and I could feel little beads of perspiration soak my forehead...."Calm down", say the jittery space molecules to my conscience....Thankfully,my psyche complied and after going through the conventional morning routine,I waited for Akshay to pick me up...The jarring monotony of the morning routine suddenly made me realize what slaves of habit us human beings are! As time flowed a bit farther,I saw a silver streak with a somewhat "meticulous" rhythm approaching my building...The glass doors of my appartment doors frowned at me,but little did they know that their transparence had allowed me to catch a glimpse of Akshay's magnetic smile....Soothes the soul instantaneously....Just like a pat on the head from an older brother..!We picked the ever divine Nityanand up (he surely does justice to his name!) and the mellow Marilyn up....The drive to Columbus was absolutely beautiful....The trees were flaunting their lush green hues and the jagged gray and brown rocks were so synergistic, that the "rhythm" reminded me of Beethoven's ninth symphony....Every note evokes and compels a different entity from the stream of "emotions" to manifest....Every note tells a different tale....The trees were in deep discourse with the clouds...Probably convincing them to let the sun come out and cruise the zenith....The "unconditional love" between the elements of Nature always marvels me....The Sun and the flowers,the mountain and the river, the sea and the sky......Such sublime love stories....Yet even the trees and the clouds share an equally sublime friendship...My mind reeled back in time....from the abyssmal river of "today" to the little tributaries of "yesterday"....A depsondent flavor superseded the moment and I quickly shook it off like one would shake off particles of dust from one's clothes.....The rest of the ride was full of Nitya's jokes, Marilyn's wisdom and Akshay's giggles....aaah bliss! After going for a bit of a roller-coaster ride on Columbus' undulating streets,we finally reached the "spot"...We all got out in a tremendous hurry...Marilyn's feet had gone to sleep,but they quickly woke up...We were greeted in the parking lot by a vivacious gentleman...I kept wondering who he was....I noticed the very geometrical and "conventional" beams and columns of the structure,appreciating the architect's inkling for simplicity.The main auditorium was full of quiet human souls...The "kriya" had started.A powerful and yet enigmatic voice was guiding us through it..All the drops from the pool of "emotion" ostracized motion and its kin...Tranquility made her presence felt...All of a sudden,some uncanny sound waves invaded space..My cognitive faculty took a few seconds to realize that these were the shouts of young souls....For a second,a young,precocious version of me came back to haunt me.... After the "kriya",I noticed that melancholy was in the air and I was surrounded by reticent souls..I heard a loud voice enhanced by a gazillion watts...We were to greet each other AOL style...!"Oh-oh" I thought...My nerves started doing jigs again...But all of the love and benevolent sentiments calmed me down in a jiffy...Some people talked with their eyes..some with their souls...some with words and some with their hearts...This resplendent moment went down in my treasury of memories...I met another Preeti...so beautiful!..Sparkling eyes and dimpled cheeks..made my heart beat with joy!And hallelujah...I met yet another name sharer who sang like a nightingale..Which made me wonder what talents Preeti (me) had..a hard,hard question!!..(I made a mental note in my mind to tell mom how "creative" she was in naming us!!!) The next event that granted time definition was a game of "Fire in the Mountain"...Oh,and Sherlock solved the mystery of the parking lot gentleman too...His name was Paresh..and he was hell bent on rubbing some of his ebullient spirit onto the crowd..We scampered around like little rodents for a while and played a toned down version of tug-of-war!We also played another game which I cant remember the name of (shame on me!)....But I do remember the exhiliration and joy that spread like the pneumonic plague! Everyone was quite hungry by the time we were done with our round of shenanigans...And sure enough,dinner was just moments away..I was thankful to the big,red apple in my bag...I realized that I hadnt tasted normal food in 10 years...As I was about to eat the apple,I felt a hand on my shoulder...and there she was...charming and beautiful as always...Rupa.She had cooked boiled "daal-chawal" for me...I was touched(which made me cry!)..After sneaking in some surreptitious tears,I joined the crowd and relished every bite....Everyone loved the food...Food to satisfy every last taste bud...sweet,salty,sour,stringent,spicy...! After the scrumptious and hearty meal, we gathered in the main room again....It was "Satsang" time....."Yipppeeee" is all I could think of saying!! "Satsang" means "with truth"....I wondered what "truths" would manifest...I looked into the eyes of some people around me...and I could see glimmering pools of mirth and tranqulity; which soothed me...We all grow "up" to defy gravity..we all want to touch the sky and ride on the clouds..we all want buoyancy in our physical as well as metaphysical beings...we all gather immense fortitude during the span of our lives to keep our boats sailing...These are the realms where my mind goes galavanting away when the word "truth" comes around....But "Kirtan Ensemble" took me to yet another wonderland..What mesmerized me the most was the 16-17 yr old tiny soul playing on the "tabla"...I could imagine as he being the heart of the group...His tenacity and dexterity put me in awe...It was as if each beat was singing a note..His fingers and the "tabla" were in perfect synchrony...Preeti started with "Hallelujah"...quite different from the conventional gospel version that I am so used to...but beautiful!The girl is a nightingale!Prasad and Munish made the space molecules very happy...I could see the tiny flames of the "deep"s near Guruji's picture dance with the tiny space molecules..I swear I saw Guruji smile a bit wider which just added to the luminous twinkle in his eyes...Paresh's voice made me as happy as the space molecules...One of the songs was similar to a "Garba" so everyone started to dance...Beautiful hand and foot movements etched pulchritudinous and ebullient spirits in both space and soul....Akshay, Sandesh, Rupa, Nitya and Ishan were hell bent on making me sing...."Thundering typhoons",I thought...My nerves and the pool of "emotions" started to create a mayhem again....But Inshallah,my little treasure box of memories didnt let me down...I thought of my "nanima"..and her soothing voice..I thought of how her songs were like an elixir for me...I would sing as an ode to her...as an ode to every soul in that room...as an ode to "Kirtan" and their talents...And I did!!(clap,clap,clap Preeti!!).Then all of us folks from the Nasty 'Nati rocked the house...I realized that Sandesh and Akshay had marvelous voices... As we neared the end,we sang the "Guru Arati"....I love flames...and my eyes kept wandering off in the direction of the dancing flames on the "thali"...Guruji got his birthday cake,birthday song and birthday sentiments...Nilesh played the role of Guruji..hehe..!It was his birthday too...I exchanged telephone numbers with a few folks...And I fell in love with little Harshita...such a doll!We then decided to have a slumber party at Paresh's house..."Goody goody gumdrops" I thought...We had a blast..We played dumb charades and pictionary...I flaunted my low IQ level by making very,very "Preeti" blunders...!!The nightingale Preeti,Paresh,Rajesh in one team...trust me folks,if u're on the opposite team you DO NOT want that to happen..!We opened the golden gates of our pasts for a while and let each other catch a glimpse of the other side...After gulping down a plethora of laughs and a keg of "masti", we were ready for our siesta..Back to the land of talking trees and walking houses....cruising on the clouds in the azure skies.....with precious moments and lots of love as our priceless souvenirs... As I left the next morning, my spirit was lugubrious...the milieu seemed wistful too! After saying heartfelt good-byes,we were on our way to Cincinnati...I was pensive and thoughtful for a while...The resplendence of the morning before all made sense now...Mother nature was euphoric 'cause she foresaw the moments to come...priceless moments saturated with unconditional love,laughter and ebullient spirits that made every last molecule surmounting us hallow and consecrated....The soul of every being that I interacted with is engraved on my heart....Now I understand what Mark Twain meant when he said "Dance like no one's watching,sing like no one's listening,love like you have never been hurt and live like its heaven on earth....".. Heaven is definitely a place on earth!