The Petrifying Magic Trick

I once found myself attending this great magician’s show.

It was night. We were seated on something that architects call “stairs to nowhere”. We were a small audience. Maybe 25-30, if I remember correctly. We were in the middle of a field- cricket or football or hockey; I don’t know. That's pretty unusual you see. We were not at the stands but on a stepped seating on the ground. Were there other spectators in the stands? I can’t remember! What’s more unusual is that there was no stage.

I was “busy” with my iPad. I think I was hooked to some game even while at the show.

The magician saw me. He approached me. Put his face in my face and said “You are next”.

My heart was already racing. He wants me to “volunteer” for his next act! I got up from my seat and followed him to the front.

Oh, by the way, this magician was anything but charming. He had a grin, an unusual grin. It reminded me of the masked Joker with a sly grin. Only here, this guy was not masked but had his face and hands painted. Painted blood red.

Anyways, this next trick is called Levitation.

I was asked to lie on a specific spot on the grass. I did.

I was asked to close my eyes. I did.

Next, I heard a muffled voice “Here...she was buried… here she lies”. Or something like that!!!

I gasped and the next thing I know I am being levitated. Pulled up flat. Like a soul leaving the body!

Of course, now I had a panic attack. I opened my eyes (at least I thought so). But the field floodlights now spotlighted on me. It was blindingly white. AaaaAAAaaaaaa!!!

And then suddenly, my eyes were opened (truly opened).

I found myself having a siesta with my husband who was still sleeping blissfully unaware.

But there’s a problem. I am frozen. I can’t move. I think I am moving and screaming. But I am not.

I tried my best to reach my husband. All I could reach are the hairs on his legs. I pulled them. I think I pulled them hard. But in reality, I just brushed them softly. He turned to me. Not because of what I did. He was just switching sides in sleep. And put he put his hand on me.

I unfroze.

 

Ps: It’s been more than 4 years that this happened. I still have this magician’s face, his grin etched in my memory. I still remember how my heart raced. I still remember the beads of sweat of fear. I still remember my helpless frozen state. I still remember how the floodlights dispelled all darkness and opened my eyes to reality.

Are We Really Celebrating???

We people are proud of our heritage… our culture… our zing-y festivals. We just need an excuse to celebrate… and boy we celebrate it with a bang!  That’s our guilty pleasure. Guilty … ‘coz just after all the celebration… there is a flood of news items… articles… blogs… opinions… telling us how wrong/immature/shallow/toxic our way of celebration was. We feel guilty… we promise ourselves to be more concerned next year… but then… these promises follow the trend of our diet resolutions… we can’t stick to it.

Diwali, for example… is supposed to be festival of lights… not sound & smoke. The idea of celebrating Diwali is to dispel the darkness… within us and around us… and not deafen the ears … or blurring the eyes… or suffocating the lungs… or burning the fingers. And it definitely is not about sending the dogs howling & birds scurrying to safety. We have images from NASA of how Diwali celebrations look like from outer space (And man it’s amazing!)… But then… the street view speaks (read screams) otherwise. It makes me wonder if there is any positive connection between the crackers you burst/burn to the satisfaction of Goddess Lakshmi-Goddess of Wealth.  I mean… think about it… one moment you pray to Her to bless you & your family with abundant wealth... and next moment you burn most of it by igniting the Lakhsmi bombs!  Is it an investment scheme where your money (wealth) gets doubled just by setting it on fire? ‘Coz if it’s so… the whole world should try… our economy woes shall shoo away… and that too with a bang!

Our last guilt trip before Diwali was probably during Ganesh Chaturthi… We prayed… we spread joy… we danced… we immersed the not so eco-friendly Lord Ganesh idols (only to be washed away to the shores and polluting the water & beaches). We saw it on TV and newspapers… we felt guilty… we promised ourselves to go green next year (let’s see how that goes). The festivity drugs us so much so that even Lord Ganesha pokes fun at us.... Remember the once upon a time trending SMS where a devotee cries for help during a water disaster and Lord Ganesha dances in glee… the devotee questions Him… to which He replies… “Hey! You started it… you danced like crazy while you drowned me...!”  

Holi if you ask me… has turned into festival of revenge (in a sweet-chilli way though). Nobody remembers or bothers to know the significance of Holi festival. It’s not festival of colours anymore for Holi is not played with just water & colours but anything & everything that can be slathered/ splashed upon your opponent. The “balam pichkari” of Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani is way too clean version of holi is all I can say.

The list of our drugged guilt trips is endless. Now we have a few more added… thanks to globalization & movie-Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. Every year at every festival… there is this trend… Activists try creating awareness & request for greener celebrations… We celebrate the way we always have (plus or minus here and there)….  Reports come in post celebration on how green or mean it was… We bow our head down or pretend we did not know about it…

Agreed that we come have a long way… there are a few who have changed the way they celebrate these festivals… they now do it with a greener zing… schools have also now taken the responsibility… We have so called eco-friendly non-toxic colours… less smoky crackers… Lord Ganesha idols… nd blah blah… But then like my friend points out… Are they (we) really celebrating??? Think about it… Do we need all this preaching of toxicity at every festival? Doesn’t that actually dampen the very spirit of celebration? Haven’t our way of celebration become less of a sparkle more of a bang with zilch devotion & spiritualization??