You and Me

Contributor: Prachi Lohia

Pablo Neruda once wrote, ‘Someday, somewhere, anywhere, unfailingly, you’ll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.’

It was one day when the sun had just emerged over my head in all its glory and cradled me in its marvelous beauty. Digging holes in the sand, I was trying painfully to leave my mark but the waves kept washing them away. I thought to myself, ‘It’s always gonna be there, isn’t it? You and me.’ 

Sometimes in solitude I sit down, just to ponder over the thought which had so overwhelmingly engulfed me within itself. What was the ‘you and me’ that my mind kept racing back to? Was it the constant dilemmas that we face? Was it the duality which resides deep within us? Was it the ongoing war between the right and the wrong? In this world of vast adversities and turbulences, are we to face the ultimate challenges from within ourselves? We try with all our might to pose an icy exterior with poise and dignity, while we are raging within.  The fight between the heart and mind has been a long and cliched one. The choice between the path which welcomes us with its mighty promises and the path laden with the footprints of many others becomes our life altering moment. The battle for that choice is a long and courageous one. I never fathomed myself courageous enough to take a decision, to take a path less travelled by. But now, it’s different. 

Art Work by Lena. All rights reserved.

My life has been changing itself every nanosecond; every second is a new decision, a new choice. It is the twists and turns that I always wanted, it is the roller coaster ride that I was craving for. I realized that even my thought process is a choice that I make. Every step covered henceforth, is a milestone that I have achieved. My life has brought with it unfounded, subtle changes. Some, which probably haven’t even made themselves apparent yet. But I want to know them, feel them, maybe even touch them closely. Now, I am intrigued. Now, there’s no stopping me. Because now, my passion is my driver, my reasoning has taken a backseat. When we set out into the world, hand in hand with our dreams, we discover true happiness. I have always believed that only when you find your reason to die for, the fear of death leaves you. I have always been looking for that place in life where I have no one but me to answer back to. I vouch to create my life at my own risks. Perhaps I am looking for something vivid, a destination or a far-fetched dream. Perhaps there’s a place where I want to be. I don’t know. All I do know is, even if I come back to realize that at the end, the journey is the destination, I should not regret it.

Again I sit on the beach with the sunbeams caressing my face but now I don’t struggle to make a mark in the sand. I now choose to flow with the waves instead. Because now I am free.