Freedom at Midnight

On the calendar it read Friday, 07 December 2008.

For me however, it was 30 January. Friday, 30 January 1948 to be precise.

I am among the crowd who have gathered to attend the prayer of Mahatma. I saw the great soul walking through the garden along with Abha and Manu. A sort of divine aura seemed to emanate from him.

Then from the crowd, I heard that gun shot.

I stood in shock, staring the evening sky.

The great soul has transcended.

I felt heavy. I couldn’t' move.

Mahatma in his last procession. I saw him. I saw him lying among the masses, still, peaceful,divine. As he was taken to the funeral pyre, I gasped among the crowd along the banks of Jamuna.

In a few moments, at a distance the dark fumes emerged in the sky.

Lead me from the Unreal to the Real

From Darkness to Light

From Death to Immortality. 

The second crucification has just ended.

(Thoughts reading Second Crucification from the book Freedom at Midnight)

The Dark Night

31 October 2008, 9:00 pm.

The night felt darker in its creepy silence.

A chill of winter air flushed my lungs.

Yet, I was severely suffocating -

A distress never felt before.

But the sky was calm.

Winking stars, patch of clouds, the hidden moon.

Then in the silence,

I heard the clank of the key -

The door has closed -

closed for a final time.

There was no looking back.

I walked down into darkness.

Into the fathomless darkness.

Into the cold darkness.

Into the ruthless darkness.

I realised I am dead and I am born again.