Open the windows

The dark room looks gloomy. Things are intact in their places.

The favourite denim jacket is hanging on the wardrobe knob. The curtains, which used to flutter around with vigour, now, look lifeless.

The light is dim and the fan is slowly going in circles above the head.

There’s an uncanny silence all around, only the tickering of the clock gives some respite.

The cream, without which, the face used to feel uneasy, lies untouched on the table.

I am lying on the bed, something that I find myself doing all the time, nowadays.

Life has stopped, atleast it appears so. Getting out of the bed feels like a tiresome task.

I am locked in my own room. The roads outside are deserted, they are calling out to me, but I ignore their tempting invitations.

Even the mobile, the greatest invention of science, fails to amuse me now. There’s no notification; even if there is, I don’t feel like reading it.

Everything feels monotonous, and the days crawl clumsily. The body is drained out of the remaining few drops of energy.

But then, comes my mother’s voice, “Open the windows girl, get some fresh air baby.”

I unwillingly, crawl out of the bed, and stagger towards the windows, holding onto the furniture for support.

Somehow, I reach there, and open the windows… I am dazzled, as the ray of sunshine lights up my face.

I had thought, I’d open those windows and jump back into bed, but something stopped me there. It felt good… For the first time in so many days.

I can feel the gentle breeze caressing my hair and the blue sky outside, with the patches of white and orange-tinted clouds are a pleasure for the eyes. It looks like an artist’s work on a canvas.

The roads are deserted but that sight gives an unknown sense of satisfaction. The luscious green trees surrounding those streets are welcoming me, their leaves fluttering in the wind.

The blood-red sun is glowing bright, it is about to set, but it has its energy stored in itself.

I see the flowers blooming, all pink, white and yellow, with their lingering fragrance soothing my olfactory receptors.

I close my eyes, and listen to the birds chirping sweetly. The cuckoo is singing a sweet melody, whose words I don’t understand. Perhaps, she is calling out to her offsprings, to enjoy the limitless sky, because the black smoke is gone, the car honks are muted…

As I open my eyes, my gaze falls on the old well, which has been in the premises of this palatial mansion, since centuries. The people who lived here, before us, were descendants of the Royal family.

The walls of this building, with colour faded, and some cracks here and there, still stand tall and strong. The fort like fencing of brown rocks reminds me of pictures I had seen in the history books.

The scene outside is beautiful and those lavish green fields that stretch beyond the horizon, make me nostalgic, reminding me of those games we played here when we were younger.

My lips spread into an upward curve, as I remember those stories about the haunted well, that our elder siblings used to tell us. How we used to chant mantras while climbing down the stairs of the terrace, in the dark. How, even a slight movement, would give us goosebumps.

I stare at the coops made for the pigeons and see those beautiful, snow-white creatures, nodding their head to and fro.

I try to absorb all of it, as I slowly turn around. I find my room well lit with the sunlight that stealthily crept in from those windows. It gives a different vibe now. The curtains are wavering again. And I experience a feeling of weightlessness, like a patient who has recovered from a fatal sickness.

Now, I stand by those windows, every evening, feeling the wind, and trying to listen to the whispers it carries from maybe, a far away friend. I stare at the sky that teaches me to reach the unbound limits.

I look around, engulfing myself in nostalgic feelings and memories of incidents, good or bad, that occur in life.

I stare at the early evening moon, and share stories and secrets, hoping it might reach someone someday.

This reinvigorates me and I start each new day, feeling fresh and a lot more active and energetic. Truly, nature plays its role, faultlessly.

Not just in this hour of crisis, when we all are locked in our houses, but everyday, we should take out some time to look at the small things that surround us, which are usually ignored by us in our hectic lifestyles.

Open those windows and notice those small things, the same old sceneries, that earlier had no meaning, and you’d feel a different kind of joy altogether.

Open those windows of your room, and let the light enter and lighten up your world, and maybe… Open the windows of those four chambers too, and lighten up someone’s world.

©Tisha and The Brainy Essays (2020)

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