As I hit I-95 N going towards Washignton, DC I realised something I should have before I left my cozy digs at Richmond...The damn traffic! Leaving on a Friday afternoon and that too towards DC was something only a mad person would attempt (which i guess undoubtedly I was now!).....in any case, it was done and i was on the road...i figured i might as well chill and enjoy the music if nothing. But by the time i reached 495 N, i was not only ready to get out of my car but my mind was seriously contemplating never to drive any longer than 20 mins at a time!
The long line of cars snaking their way through.....parents with kids in the back seat, grandparents (who shouldnt be driving by themselves anyways...and some who dont even see you when they cut you off on the road...and honking at them doesnt obviously help cuz they cant hear u...so why are they driving? right...someone has to drive them around...), college kids.....office goers returning...from god knows where but most of them are in a bad mood!(ah..pity..most good looking hunks have a frown and that definitely doesnt endear them ofcourse..... :) )
So yes, on my brave onward journey towards DC I impulsively decided to get out of the damn traffic. yes! that was it.....i cdnt bear to see long lines of cars inching their way in a determined way towards some purpose...well, i was purposeless wasnt i? so who am i to want to change the world? I wanted to get out of their way...give someone else my place on the road while i sat comfortably somewhere and drank coffee! Ah! that paradise was beckoning...away from this mess.....and with just some well made coffee...not the usual muck i drank! and as if on cue, there loomed ahead the exit to Bethesda.
I have never been to Bethesda...I simply wanted a place to go to and forget the traffic for a while. So i speedily made my way out of 495N onto Rockville Pike. not that the traffic here was any better but at least i spotted Starbucks!!! I found parking around the corner and walked(how glorious it felt to be walking!!! i suddenly wanted to banish all the automobiles into a cave! well, i warned u i was feeling impulsive....so there!) Anyways, i reached Starbucks and they made some good coffee. i retired to one corner that had this huge window looking out at the street.
I settled down and gazed out at the world from my (once again) cozy digs! I probably have never felt so much at peace with myself than at that moment. i dont know why and so dont ask me why! I saw people hurrying outside, going back home...waiting at the bus stop, honking at other people, crossing the road, a mother carrying her little one and a grandma just out for a walk. and i was sitting inside warm and cozy understanding maybe for the first time the world outside...
I sat there for sometime...looked on and saw many things i have never seen in that perspective. Many things started to make sense. Thin wisps of thoughts streamed through my mind and although i never tried to catch them i knew they will eventually become more concrete..but for now the wisps were enough...
Strangely, I wasnt restless now the way i usually was...i started to wonder and then started thinking...really thinking and reflecting. Often i had searched for oneness with the world...I had travelled far and wide and stood on cliff tops at sunsets, ran through rain, walked through fog...even shivered out in snow! But suddenly it hit me ...sitting here at Starbucks in Bethesda, MD....that finally, i had found that oneness.....I identified with the world outside. I knew what it was. I was no longer afraid, no longer unsure. yeah, i didnt have all the answers...but at least i knew the mechanics behind how to get the answers...i didnt exist in a cloud anymore because i was here on earth walking it with hundreds others.
I was happy and content. at that moment. it was something i would hold in my mind forever! one moment when i was completely happy and content and at peace with myself and the world! As i walked out of the shop, i entered the crazy, manic world i had been watching from inside...I knew one thing for sure...I belonged here! Now dont get me wrong...i am not talking about this place, this country...I meant this world...with all the different people in it...no matter where i go...i know that this is where i want to be!!!
