THE HORIZON...

AMITABH SHANKAR

The Horizon. The meeting point of the earth and the sky. An illusion. A beautiful illusion.
The horizon has always fascinated me since my childhood days, and reaching there has been my secret fantasy. Standing on the bank of the river Damodar at Bhandaridah, I always used to look, across the river, at the eternity. Somewhere far away, it looked as if the earth and the sky met. Across the river, across the woods and across the hills, they meet and that I believed was the resting place of the sun when it sets. Even then the cynic within that innocent child used to wonder if they actually ever meet.
The fascination with that meaningless creation of the Almighty was repressed deep inside as I grew up and got involved with the more mundane things of life. Having come to Delhi, the metropolitan city, and having been lost in the labyrinthine of a dense concrete jungle, seldom did I find time to look at the sky above, leave alone looking at the horizon, which has been blurred by the skscrappers.
The fantasy had been relegated to oblivion in due days, but for a beautiful twist of fate. I was left alone at a rock on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus. Alone, all alone I was, with my world by my side and the horizon, my secret fantasy, ahead. It didn't take me any effort or persuasion to plunge into that long journey, which I knew, might never end. The loneliness of the path and the challenges en route didn't deter me. I believed I will have my world for the company and the hardships of the road would be worth it.
I set on the journey then itself, lost in myself, hopeful of reaching my destiny and sure of the support of my world. Soon I realized that the paradox of this journey is that the more distance I cover outside, the deeper I travelled inside. Hardly had I covered some distance that I found that my world is nowhere in sight. My world probably could not muster the courage to come with me beyond some steps, foreseeing the hardships on the road and the worthlessness of the journey ahead.
I was left bewildered but I am still going ahead. Assuming that my world has either lost the way or just couldn't match the steps with me, I am moving on, with a firm faith in my heart that we will be united once again we reach the horizon. With each of us beautiful stories to tell each other about the experiences of our journey. And when on the way did we feel that the journey would have been more beautiful together.
But the cynic within is once again rearing its head. Reaching there is a chimera, the earth and the sky just don't meet. Or do they? Only nobody has been able to reach there.
Anyway, it's simply impossible to end the journey at this point. I am moving on...