That day, everything just had to go against my mind. At the end of the day, I was a frustrated person snapping at everyone for no logical reason. I decided to walk into the gallery to get some fresh air. The city lights sprawled in front, with the skies spread above. There was coolness in the air. Somewhere I could faintly smell the aroma of a nocturnal flower. As I began to take a closer look at all this, my mind somehow managed to calm down a bit. But the real impact was when I turned my eyes skywards. It was as if a whole new world had opened up there, a world of which most people including me, were oblivious of.
The stars twinkled beautifully, it was as if sequins were spread across a vast expanse.
This spectacle enthralled me and I was automatically compelled to think beyond. As I stood there, my thoughts travelled from the fact that in this ever expanding cosmos, we humans were so busy with our own self that we didn’t have time to discover more. ‘Look at me,’ I thought. ‘Making unnecessary mountains out of mole hills.’ Small problems become colossal ones only when our mind decides that they should. Here I was stuck up with my own problems, revolving in the same circle, round and round, without even making an attempt to go any further. I began to think of all the people who wore a smile, inspire of facing real challenges. With my eyes on the stars, I realised that they somehow had said something that couldn’t be fitted into words. I smiled. Perhaps, sometimes you need something beyond words to make you realise your mistake. As the cool air swept over me, I remembered reading a quote somewhere, ‘If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I’ll bet they’d live a lot differently.’ At that point in time, I couldn’t agree more. As I stepped indoors, I realised that I hadn’t got direct solutions to all my questions, but I certainly felt much better. My bad day had long been forgotten. As I closed my eyes that night, the dazzling sight of the sky seemed to have been etched in my mind and without a further thought, I rolled over and fell asleep.
~ Mugdha Deshpande