Larger than Life..

She quivered as she entered the extraordinarily brilliantly lit lobby. A stranger to such an ambiance. A stranger to the life lead within. Simply put, a stranger.

The revolving doors, the comfortably cushioned futons, the superbly accessorized and polished furnishings bouncing back the light of the chandelier. Mesmerizing! The surroundings called out to her. Pleading her to be a lady. Did she feel like a lady though? Even if she didn’t a fraction of minute back, before stepping in, she definitely did now. The instant effect that the grandiose had on her was shocking. I could belong here, she thought. And instantly realized how strange a thought that was!

Yes she had plunged in a foreign language and had decided to do so even in the future. The need to visit places like these would certainly arrive even later as they had in the past. But to BELONG and BE what these places expected her to be was not, according to her, remotely possible.

As she proceeded through the walls of a palace, each step she took, distanced her from the world that she belonged to and pushed her right into an unknown piece of land which could not be more different than from where she hailed. And yet, the sense of foreboding disappeared. The fact that she felt wrong-footed right at the onset, evaporated with each further step into the heart of this fairyland.

And then it hit her! This was nothing but a feeling of familiarity. The fact that she was comfortable in a place like this without having any prior knowledge of how one is expected to behave. She didn’t belong here, neither would she ever. She was comfortable in tuning herself to the behavior that the décor expected. That was all. Nothing more. That is where she drew the line. She had no desire to actually be a part of the life lead within these walls. No, not at all!

Cause even the luxurious setting could not mask the sad state that the endroit found itself in. Yes, one could find here everything that money can possibly buy. But the more important things in life would be very hard to track down.

The look that the manager of the ‘business centre’ cast on her said it all. The disdain. The disgust. The ‘I-don’t- think-you-belong-here’ look brought her back to reality. It defined the mere character of every person in the heart of this place.

She felt lucky. Lucky enough to share a few well cherished moments rather than regret being a total part of such a hollow life. Its better sometimes that we do not have everything we ask for. It makes us realize that what we are missing, is not even worth being waited for. She knew quite well that the life beyond the doors of this palace was much more difficult, but was equally precious. Equally cherished. Equally required to appreciate the better things. Once one has lived the worse, one is trained to overcome the worst. And that is what life is about. To go beyond and surpass our own expectations. To achieve new heights. And this can surely not be done if we are always looked after. No, we need to be out there. Fight it ourselves. The only way to appreciate what we have and also what we don’t.