The Shape of Our Lives - Part III

Maya invited her guest in. She had entertained guests before but none so gorgeous or so young…or so eligible. Astitva on his part couldn’t believe what he saw. It was his first interaction with a female and something within him stirred. Back home he had been in love; with a guy, Vikram. His heart was aware of the body pleasures of skin touching skin, at the most intimate of the places of the mental pleasures of sharing sweet nothings and the talks of the most intellectual kinds. He was aware of the agony of missing a loved one and was infact going through it. But nothing matched the emotion he felt at the moment. He was still to come to term with the concept of opposites attracting…so intensly.

As the evening fell and the two shared the titbits of their lives the atmosphere inside the room became as intense as the one outside. It hardly seemed that they were meeting for the first time or that they belonged to two different worlds. It seemed the most natural thing to fall in love with each other, marry, bear children and spend a lifetime together. A life full of love, laughter maybe occasional tears that were the messengers of future smiles.

It’s so funny that no one needs a training how to make love. Some things come in naturally...even to people who belong to 2 different races. Maybe it has something to do with how well the mountains of one fit in the valleys of the other. The soul carries an intimate knowledge of the smells, shapes and tastes that it would like to own and merge with.

It was just a slight brush against each other that made them take the plunge. Maya had taken Astitva out to the garden to show him the golden kingfishers that she kept as a pet. Those were beautiful birds with the nicest shades of blue green and a hint of gold. It was still raining; the kind of shower that drives any kind of resistance that it encounters. Both of them were well aware of the peaking desires and maybe such a strong emotion blocks out everything else. Suddenly Maya slipped over a piece of uneven stretch- her eyes were too busy drinking in Astitva that she forgot the contours of the land, over which she walked maybe a thousand times each day. She fell down and still didn’t register the fall – it was Astitva who saw this happening. He stretched out his hand to help her up…their skins touched and mixed with the torrent created lightening inside each cell of their bodies….a reaction that no philosopher, no scientist or chemist can ever explain. Momentarily that made them drew apart only to flame the desire of experiencing it again and again. Both of them understood that despite what ever they felt they didn’t have more than a few hours with each another...maybe nothing more than the sunrise the next morning. This time when they stretched their hands; it was to come closer, to give their feelings a tangible form. To pull down the cover from the most wonderful form of interaction that can happen between a man and a woman. To celebrate life. To be one…not just with one another but with time, space and eternity. Like the sky and earth the two strangers were connected by the rains, the rains of passion.

Morning arrived. It’s so strange…thought Astitva, I almost feel I have known Maya for ages, yesterday seems so far off and yet the night has vanished in seconds. He promised that as soon as his “worldly” duties for which he had received the calling were done he would take the permission of Gods to wed her legally so that they could stay together for ever. With lots of tears and love biddings the two of them parted, counting the seconds till they would meet again.

On his way ahead, Astitva mused. He had made it sound so simple to Maya… the fact about the two of them meeting again and staying together for a lifetime. Things weren’t that easy. The responsibility for which he had been chosen by Gods made him one of the most respected persons on his own planet, giving him an almost a king like status assuring him of a rich and fulfilling life ahead. But that was where it ended. The rule book said that the “Chosen one” can under no circumstances sleep around, with men of his own kind or woman of the God-kind. Any such act would bring him a punishment of a cruel and painful death. Right now there was nothing that could be done, except walk. If he reached his destination maybe a day or two in advance he could convince the Gods, to let him go off and spend the rest of his life with the creature with whom he had fallen in love with. He decided not to think of what would happen if the issue invoked the wrath of the Gods. The thought itself was so cold that it made him shudder in the hot midday sun. He decided to walk fast so as to cover the distance in shortest possible time and then maybe, maybe he had a hope….Maybe….