The stinging pain... ahh

Lots of things happening in a short span of time can actually leave
you overwhelmed.
It's barely 20 days into the New Year, and I have already been a part
of a lot many significant events in my life. But one common thing
about all my experiences in the last couple of weeks is that I have
been a passive participant, though I have had privy to the necessary
details, I have never been the protagonist.
I was in touch with a close friend who suffered a tragic loss, till
the moment the sad news reached him. This did have a profound effect
on me, on a subconscious level as well. It set me thinking on lines
that left me numb, bereft of any further thought. If that was ebb, the
crest of the wave soon came to wash me over with a new kind of joy.
The sound of wedding bells chimed in happiness; when I came to know
that one of my close friends is gonna tie the knot. Having seen her
struggle through life's hardships, this ray of sunlight in her life
also bathed me in a new found moonlight. For the first time, I could
see the reflection of another person's sorrow and joy in my moods.
The following days brought in incidents of separation. Two of my
closest Friends, had to leave on assignments overseas. Though I had
known about this weeks earlier, the actual impact of it sank in only
when they had left.. To be precise, only when one of my other friend
was moved to tears by the separation, did I realize that I too would
miss her... Her idiosyncrasies, and all the late night chats, the
games of badminton in a garbage dump, roaming the streets of Delhi…
And proving time and again how gullible I am, by buying her crazy
stories… I didn't know why, but I wanted to spend as much time with
her before she left.
A few years in hostel has conditioned me to get along with people
coming and people going.. There were times when I grew really close to
people that I would wish their trip gets cancelled cos of some last
minute mishap... But this time over, I felt a new kind of reaction. I
didn't experience that excruciating pain of longing, that white angst
against the cruel hand of fate.. All I felt was a need to make best of
what I had - the few moments left before the flight. I knew it was a
great plus to her career, and I wholeheartedly wished all the best for
her. And at the airport, when she hugged me, I really felt a weird
sense of completeness, an uncanny fulfillment, which said my life has
been embellished by this wonderful person, and wished that the feeling
was mutual.
One separation followed the other, one more person with whom I felt
close, also left, though this time, I wasn't there in airport when she
flew, and Heaven be praised, she is going for a shorter term.
My interaction with humanity, elsewhere, also provided me with some
enlightening insights. I started seeing things in a new light,
perceiving dimensions which were erstwhile invisible. People removed
layers of their masks revealing hitherto unseen countenances… Some
hideous, some beautiful…Leaving me with lots of thoughts to mull
over…. Besides giving a reason to expect new things from the same old
faces..
A multitude of emotions and a myriad of thoughts can either cause
complete clamor, or can leave one in a state of unadulterated calm. Till now, I have
had the joy of experiencing the latter. Hope the Equanimity prevails.