Rim Naam…
Radha is gazing down at the shimmering water which is glowing in full glory in that full moon night. She has no lingering thoughts within her. Just a complete, calm and nostalgic stare which lay on the lake. The lake which has been her most favorite companion since she can remember. She had always come to this spot since her childhood days, looking for answers to the questions she had in mind. Just speaking out loud to this non-judging, all absorbing water, she could always resolve her queries.
Tonight Radha had no queries. Yet, she was at the same spot, looking for an answer to the question which did not exist. She was dressed in a dazzling indigo colored full ankle length skirt, with the same colored crop blouse. She also wore a pure white colored long dupatta (scarf), which hung from her and ended at the ankles and complemented the skirt. The dupatta was adorned with tiny indigo colored stars which shone like the stars on the cloudless sky. She mirrored the image of the moon in the sky and the stars which twinkled around the moon above and on her dupatta. The outfit was woven and embroidered with love by her mother for Radha’s wedding. It was Radha’s wedding night. Before taking the step towards her future life which was chosen by the family, she knew she had to come here once, to her beloved lake to look for a sign. A sign for exactly what, she wasn’t sure.
As her eyes were taking in every divine corner of the water within her to behold forever, she spotted a figure across the lake on the other side. It was the figure of a man, who sat unmoved on a large rock. The moon’s bright light helped her realize that the man was looking right at her. Her heart stopped for a moment. She couldn’t possibly make out the features of the man, yet somehow she knew that his gaze was on her and it went to depths of her inner being. She stood still. She could faintly hear her sisters, friends calling out to her from behind. Yet, she couldn’t hear anything. It felt as if she drifted to another realm in that moment, a dream…
A realm, which was far away, yet, as close as it could be. The same lake, the same gleaming full moon night. Kabir was sitting beside the lake playing a melodious tune on his flute and she lay on his lap, emerged in the tune and one hand raised up towards the sky, making invisible lines connecting the stars with each other. Every move her hand made, the tinkling of her bangles complemented the tune coming out of Kabir’s flute. Kabir put the flute down for a moment, ran his fingers through her dupatta and said, ‘the stars on your dupatta are brighter than the ones above’. She smiled turning her eyes towards Kabir. Being so close to him, yet this uncanny, unidentified feeling of longing swept across her as if she is standing across the lake from him…
