Shape Of Things At Night

It is true ... things take on peculiar shapes, colours and meaning at night. This is realized last night ... in my hotel room. Or rather, looking out of my hotel room. But first, let me clarify ... since i am still groggy, any typoes are all mine! Well, i was sitting in a nice, comfortable chair, by the window in my room, reading a nice book (The Knowledge-Creating Company is actually a nice book ... i have even blogged about it!). This was the scene when the power went off.

Unable to see a thing, i decided to try the view from the window. I parted the curtains, and was looking out ... a beautiful tree right outside my window. The lights from the cars passing by ... They create living shadows in the trees ... i am sure you didnt know that. But then, this is something you can find out only if you are looking at it, which a lot of us dont. Anyway, coming back to what was going on ... the lights of the cars passing by were creating playful shadows on the leaves. These shadows were of different, beautiful, at times unknown shapes, but beautiful they were for sure, as was their dance. Suddenly, my attention was caught by something.

Something white in the tree. Usually, one wouldnt expect something white in the tree. So, i blinked and looked hard. Yes, it was still there. But, what was it? And thats when it struck me ... It has to be a ghost! What else could be white, and dangling from the branches of a tree? Imagine, barely a few feet from you, in the pitch dark of the night, punctuated only by the lights of the passing cars (and these were quite infrequent, so by now, there were prolonged spells of darkness), there was the silhouette of a ghost. Captivating the thoughts. And, the senses. Fear was slowly creeping in. Unknown to me, being felt only by my peripheral senses, fear was slowly taking over my emotions ... my senses slowly coming to face it.

Just as fear was about to take total control over me, power came back. At first it was startling, this sudden change in the environment. And, it took a few minutes to adjust to the explosion of light. And then i looked out again. It was still there. It was a Kurta. I dont know why it was there, how it got to be there, or why was it dangling right in front of my window. Thats not really the end of the story. This was close to bed-time, and i was feeling drowsy (these days, i am subscribing to the early to bed, early to rise phenomenon ...). But, i was too shaken to face the darkness. Which is why, i had to leave on all the lights, keep the tv switched on, and sleep with all these distractions.