The first time he saw the image was in an airplane. He had got up to stretch while the plane refueled at an unscheduled stop and it popped up in his head. He had never thought of something like that ever. It was too layered, too complicated too dimensional for a thinker of his caliber, yet he fell into an effortless ease with it. It was actually like he had known the image before but never thought of it. It was different from any image he had conjured up: there was no pretense, no hang-ups, no ego clashes in it: fluid, smooth, pure silk. He didn’t think twice, there was no sense of distance or hesitancy he just embraced the image with his life. Conversation, the confidences, the dreams, hopes and fears flowed uninterrupted. Time and more time spent in its thought resulted in his life getting intertwined with it. Like creepers his thoughts and decisions were seen through the filter of the image. Starting from which movie to watch over the weekend to which project interview was worth preparing for to which friend was morally correct but still didn’t have any brains, everything was a subject of how the picture would interpret it. Life couldn’t be better. All he had been asking for in a companion was answered.
And then one fine morning, he walked into a meeting and saw this other image. He’s brows furrowed, there was something in the picture he liked and some stuff he couldn’t relate very well to. Perfectly proportioned in spirit and form with money and convenience built in. It represented the lift up the material hill he was struggling to climb, the padded shoes which would save him from the everyday thorns. The new image would give him trophy value; it would give him credibility, value in the eyes of the establishment, recognition. Not just another plane, we are discussing an escalator to another world. The emotional satisfaction of this image was low. That is what bothered him. Simply put, the image was built more in synch with what the world wanted to see vs what he wanted to see.
He didn’t know what to do. The choice was killing him: day in and day out he lived, totally numbed out, going through the motions, living life in second person, disembodied, like he was on cctv, himself watching himself. Not believing that he could be apart from the first image, not wanting to believe that he would miss it. Knowing but not acknowledging that life would go on. It was true that the lure of the second image was overpowering, but what of him and the first image? What of their perfect-ness? Will the new image’s flamboyance ever compensate? If he did let go of the first image, would he ever be able to return to it? Would image two and him ever meet in the same way? U cant hold onto images, sab anitya hai he would keep telling himself.
What would you do?
posted by goldfluke @ 6:44 PM
10 Comments:
maya. let it go.
We hold on to images we created for ourselves. These images represent who we are
Self evolution, takes us to a different plane, but the image still remains. We have moved away but the image haunts the mind.
This image is my "happy place", it keeps me rooted.It's a warm place on a cold night and the only tree on a stormy day
There will always be new images but the old is irreplacable, don't look for parts of the old image in the new one beacuse the mirror will crack.
Sometimes I pray that the images meet but I'm scared they will be disfigured. Holding on to these images will only remind you of the past and how great or how depressing life was.
There is so much more to life than holding to images...
Break away from them and then you'll be free.
Sorry...went a little overboard this time.
Great writing:)
So tell us a little bit more about image one and image two. And what have u decided about them?
I would cherish every memory of the first image- not hesitate to go back to it, not distance myself from it and also move on to the image which i see "today"- not compare, not be biased and seek completeness.
Would not get into the trap of 'choosing' between the two.
May your faith empower you.
What would I do?
I would not think so much. Toss a coin perhaps :-))
Ok seriously, i would advice the hero of your story to go with the 1st image. Coz it seems rarer than the 2nd image which seems like a clone of several others in the system.
Also 1 seems more genuine while 2 appears to be a careful facade. Sure, 2 would be trophy, but then you know how trophies are. They lose their sheen, literally and otherwise, after a while. You relegate them to some dusty corner in a showcase where they sit rusting for an eternity before being sold off to the kabaadiwala.
Image 1.
Because you'll sleep better at night :)
image 1. coz from the sound of it, that's the one you like more.
HASH.
would u explore image 2, only to discover that image 1 was perfect. will u then start searching image 1 in image 2. And never find it. Will your ego then prevent you from persueing image 1. What do u think?
My advice, not that it matters; grow with image 1. It will give u more happiness in the long run. You will discover layers, u had not seen before. I promise.
love the way u have given "motion" to the "image"
it is not about the writing- it is about the writer
it is not about the images- it is about the writer
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