AN ENCOUNTER WITH ‘TIME’

          One night, I was lying in my bed in a worse attempt to get some sleep. But I wasn’t feeling sleepy. I checked time in my wall clock; it was 11:30pm. I kept staring at the clock watching the seconds ticking, minutes counting and hours passing. Time was flowing relentlessly, it always does. My mind wandered with time. I wondered when was the beginning of time and if time would ever come to a halt. There is time for everything. We all grow in time, live in time and ultimately perish in time. Nothing escapes the clutches of time. Time goes on passing without any consideration for individuals. I was feeling annoyed with ‘Time’. I always get to hear “Don’t waste your time.” Well! How can I waste time? I feel it’s me who is being wasted by time.

            

          'Time and tide waits for none’, but I think with the advent of technology, in future man can make tide wait, but not time! Most of the times I am late, be it in completing assignments or be it in reaching college (usually I am the last one to say “May I come in, sir…”) or be it in reaching for a friend’s party. Well, why is it so that I am always running out of time? How badly I wish that I could stop time and do all the undone things. Even more badly I wish that I could just go back in past, erase all the bad times and make it good so that I will have only good memories to keep. I always yearn to peep into my future and check how good and how worse it would be? Oh...is there anything which will help me to conquer time or at least that could make time a good friend of mine so that it will wait for me in need? Twenty four hours a day seems to be very long but still it is so short. With my thoughts wandering more and more in darkness, my hatred towards time was increasing more and more. It was then that I suddenly saw a big white hole hanging in the blackness of night. I was totally bewildered but somehow I managed to compose myself.  I gawked at it with wide eyes trying to peep through the hole. It looked like a never ending white tunnel. Suddenly a low angelic voice came out of that tunnel

            “Hello, I am Time.”

  I don’t recall my exact reaction of that moment but it was a mix of shock, excitement, fear and confusion. I replied insanely

“Oh! Well, that’s great. Actually I was thinking about you only.”

“Yeah, I know that’s why I came. I came here to clear your doubts.”

              I was already annoyed with time and now with time in front of me I felt like yelling out at it, so I replied rudely

“Sorry then, I have no doubts. I just have some demands.”

“I see! Let me hear your demands then. I will see what I can do for you.”

 Wow. I thought.

 “Ok then, I want a time machine, like the one we see in cartoons so that I can go back in past and alter it a bit.” I replied excitedly.

“Well, what you are now is because what you have done in your past. And past is irrevocable. Sorry, I cannot fulfill this demand. Go for your next demand.”

“Then give me power to see my future so that I can foresee any coming bad or good happenings and can be prepared in advance.”

“As I said earlier what you are now is because of what you have done in your past. Similarly your future will be because of what you do now. You don’t need any power to foresee your future, how you want your future is in your hands, just work accordingly now.”

“Hmm... then at least be my friend and wait for me whenever I want you to.”

“I am already your friend. It is you who let me go. So what can I do?”

“You are so confusing ‘Time’, moreover I don’t think you have anything with you that you could give me.”

“Actually I have a present for you.”

“What present?”

“Present.”

“Yeah, tell me what it is.”

“I told you dear, my present for you is ‘Present’. It is the most valuable thing I could offer you.”

“Ahh…now don’t start a lecture on ‘Present’. I already had a lot of it from different mouths ‘Live in present’,’Forget the past’,’ Work for your future’. I am fed up listening to all this.”

“I won’t give you any lecture. But ‘Present’ is the only gift I can offer, as it is the only thing I have. I want you to value my gift as it is exceptionally precious. If you value my present you can always be with me. You won’t find me running in front of you, as you will be walking with me as a friend. Accept my gift wholeheartedly.”

          

       And through that white hole came a diamond like shining crystal, which I cupped in my hands. It was marvelously beautiful. The present of Time shone so brightly in my hands that I couldn’t see anything in bright light. I couldn’t see the Time; I could no more hear its angelic voice. Then suddenly I heard a harsh screaming, I felt it was Time and it was in some sort of trouble. Not knowing what to do as I was still blindfolded due to the intense brightness, I started running frantically which made fall with a ‘thud’.

“Oops!” I could see then. I was lying on the floor and I had fallen down from my bed.  The screaming had come from my alarm. Alas! It was only a dream.

          

       Hey! But I still have that gift from Time, my ‘Present’ which is as bright as sunlight beaming through my window. Indeed a wonderful gift, which I would value so that I can go hand in hand with my new friend ‘Time’.

     

      Joan Rivers has rightly said “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift, that’s why we call it the present.” With these words humming in my mind I resolved to live zestfully in the present moment without complaining and to make the moment as perfect I can.