Till light..

Till light………. The heart is accustomed to darkness. It is the eyes that pine for light always. We all tender a strange relationship with darkness. Like or dislike are apparently very precise terms we use to proclaim our choices in life. However, these two words are too little to describe our emotions related to the dark. Before we opened our eyes to light, we were immersed in an almost divine darkness in the womb of she who brought us to light. So, life starts in darkness. Darkness binds the mother and her child in a bond so deep that it becomes the foundation of all the other relationships formed in life. A child learns to be afraid of the dark only when he learns to perceive light. The season of festivals has begun. Be it Navratri, Diwali or Christmas, we seem to have quite a step-motherly aversion towards darkness. Thousands of lights illuminate up the skies during festivities. We eagerly switch on every possible source of light in all corners of our house to welcome the joy of celebration. All of these are known facts. What is amazing is the alacrity with which we switch the lights off when it’s time to retire. We heave a sigh of relief as our senses soak in the balmy darkness and cajole us to sleep. Light seems to me a necessary commodity like many others….but it lacks the beauty and depth of darkness. All that we see is light and all that we sense is darkness. To see is to believe, we believe the existence of all that we can see. However the things that we see don’t have the charm of the dark. We relate evil to darkness. Hence the customary diya is lit every evening by the woman of the house to ward of all that is evil. But who then is evil? One who challenges good? Strange, but who then is good? Good is nothing but the negation of bad, as light is nothing but which illuminates the dark.. Light is the power of fire, we say, and we use light to worship goddess kali who is herself dark. I fail to comprehend why darkness is so abhorred in every religion and custom! Darkness is the epitome of peace. Imagine yourself in a brightly lit room amidst a migrane attack or even worse when you are howling your mascara down your cheeks! Imagine closing your eyes and seeing bright light after a day of hardwork! Darkness is a salve for broken hearts, a haven of peace for people in love, the power of meditation for an artist. We celebrate light in all its forms for the robust warmth it gives us. I embrace darkness for being my mother always, for never failing me. I have fallen in love in its scented gloom, I have known the mysticism of music in its silken breath, I have been born in it and when I die……..light no lamps for me. Do not fear for my soul, as in darkness I will embrace eternal light.