Dark Truths

Sitting at the window, she was taking in the fresh breeze as much as she could. Fifteen stories above one could still feel the freshness in the air, away from all the mayhem and chaos of the world gone mad. She sat there staring into nothingness. It was a pitch-dark night. The moon and the stars had decided not to show up, and she was grateful for that. She was lost within herself and the darkness that had enveloped the whole world.

‘What are you looking at?’ he asked, slipping in beside her on the windowsill trying to figure out her object of attention. His efforts, though, were in vain, for she was looking no where. She didn’t respond, didn’t even turn her head, as if she didn’t even want to acknowledge his presence. He felt irritated and annoyed. No, he didn’t. This woman had always been a mystery to him. The present scenario presented an opportunity for him to unravel the secrets that lurked beneath her calm composure. He asked her again, nudging her elbow, ‘hey, what are you looking for, out there in the dark?’ She came out of her trance. Looking deep into his eyes, she said, ‘I am searching for the darkness.’ He couldn’t help, but chuckled, ‘in the dark?’ Sternly, she turned and glanced at him. If looks could kill, he would have been at her feet. Nevertheless, it made him shut up.

‘The dark is so beautiful. It just takes everything in; all the sorrow and sadness in the world’ she said. He didn’t utter a word. Just stood there listening. Ignoring him, she continued, ‘it is not the time of the devil and the damned, it’s the time when one and all shed their makeover and let the real self takeover. It’s time when each and every reveals itself in its purest form. As the blackness of the night shadows everything, love, only true and pure surges. No lies, no pretences, no fakeness prevails.’ No more was she taking to him. In fact she wasn’t even talking to herself. She was just pouring herself out. ‘Only darkness is real. It is not tainted. It’s pure unlike the light that is a blend of seven colours. You cannot add anything or take anything away from it. When darkness prevails, so does the law of equality. It is the light that teaches us to differentiate- whites from blacks, rich from poor. Light discriminates. Night is not the hour of the Satan; it’s the time of God. It is the time, when love creates life- when a man and a woman stand together as equals, to rotate the wheel of life for life to continue.’ Abruptly she stopped speaking, still staring into nothingness, taking in the purity and truth of the very moment. He didn’t dare move; frozen then and there, right in his shoes. His gaze could drill through the floor. He didn’t have the courage to look at her, may be at himself.

He was her lover, though only for the night. As morning descended, he would go back home to his wife, his family- the uncomfortable but comforting lie. She, his mistress, of a lower caste would keep waiting for another night; meanwhile numerous nights would pass by, before he would come again- in the blanket of the night.