It was one of those early Sunday mornings; the “gigantic ball of gas” as she liked to call the sun was on its way to take charge for the day. She sat beside the window looking at the morning sky dreaming about the endless realms of nature’s marvel. This was one of those rare occurrences, like Haley’s comet that makes you wait for it for 76 years and disappears in the blink of an eye.
Her unusual calm demeanor meant only one thing; she was going to bombard me with boundless information. I hurried to the kitchen and scuffled through the dishes to find her favorite star-studded saucer to make the perfect blend of coffee just in time before this comet in my balcony disappears behind her books.
It wasn’t difficult to start a conversation, you could either ask a lame question like, is there a black hole on earth which humans aren’t aware of? Or you could ask the meaningful ones like if we travel faster than light would we go back in time?
I was not sure if it was because of her previous job as a primary school science teacher; she would describe the marvel of science and realms of endlessness with so much love and enthusiasm. Not that I was particularly interested in science or astrophysics in fact anything beyond the sun and the stars appear daunting to me. I just do it to listen to her, to fall in love, fall in love one more time.
She makes me feel the timelessness, the eternity of love, her mellifluous voice; those sparkling eyes beaming at me when she tries to explain me about the realms of cosmos; her expressions, those beautiful hands busy with gestures and occasionally taking a break to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. She was impossibly intelligent.
What does it matter to me? The stupid planets which were millions of light-years away, the star which is about to die, the comets and space shuttles did not even remotely interest me. All that mattered to me was her, having her beside me, holding her closer; she meant the world to me. Sometimes I used to wonder how people yearn to perceive of things that are way far when hugs, kisses and love meant the cosmos for the rest of us.
Later that evening,
“John!! Can you come here for a moment?” she called me inside her room, she stood rooted to her favorite spot, her trembling hands trying to hold the telescope in the position which I got her as a gift for her 76th birthday.
“Do you remember the north pole star we talked about?” She asked uncertainly. Maybe, She thought my deteriorating memory and my 75-year-old brain, would have made me forget the North Pole star. How would I forget the North Pole star?
“I do remember baby, the guiding star which was used to find directions by the sailors and travelers who were lost” I said.
“I do remember baby, the guiding star which was used to find directions by the sailors and travelers who were lost” I said.
“Ah! yes baby”, she said as she slowly bent down to her telescope, her trembling hands trying to adjust the aperture of the telescope one more time before she made me look through it.
“Can you see it, baby?” She asked.
My damn eyes tried to focus on the white light coming through the slit; I did see it, the lonely star-studded in the deep blue sky.
“Isn’t it beautiful, baby?” She asked.
“Not as beautiful as you”, I said without any moment’s pause, in fact, I was brutally honest.
“Awww! Come on baby”, she said her wrinkled cheeks turning deep pink, as she gently lugged the eyepiece towards her to take a look at the North Pole star again.
“Beautiful!” she exclaimed one more time as she tucked the lock of hair behind her ear.
“Yeah baby, beautiful”, I said looking at the only star I cared about.
I sat there besides her for the rest of the night, looking at her beauty, wondering if she knew how it felt to have a “North pole star” right beside you, to claim this celestial being as yours and only yours, to have someone like her who could show you the right directions every time you get lost in this chaotic abyss called life.
"Baby, you are my North pole star!" I whispered as I kissed her for the night.
-Adhithya
1/7/2017
-Adhithya
1/7/2017
