The Window

I live on the twelfth floor and there is no lift in these buildings. At the end of the day, the walk up to the room was really an ordeal. By the time I reach the door and open it I am left with just a few more breaths to sit down and relax. Instead what I do is to spew out expletives lined with profanity. Why the f*** does it have to happen to me all the time?!! Why am I your favorite spike spot God?!!! And it continues, day in and out. The window was open and the breeze was refreshing but my body was fuming with the fire of hatred from the heart.

I had showered and was standing by the window with a cup of coffee. I looked out and saw the usual site in this land of skyscrapers. Every window was lit and for a change I started looking at all the buildings. Is everyone looking out of the window too?!!! Some windows had drapes on and some were new, opened today. My search suddenly fell on a condominium. It was a lone individual house that had so many windows and was well lit. It was strange in many other ways too. First, I had never noticed this house among all the skyscrapers around me. Second, it was bright colored and well lit with a beautiful garden around it. And last but if not the least, it had a beautiful name “Darby & Joan’s Ark” on it. The first thought that hit me was that God was being biased as usual. How on Earth was this possible?!!! I will check it out first thing in the morning, I thought.

I couldn’t sleep and kept tossing in the bed whole night. All my life I was taught a lesson of opening a new window whenever a wound was inflicted on my heart and mind. Every time something bad happened it opened a new window. With time the building became taller and taller. That’s what the skyscrapers around me showed. Some were tall, many taller and there were tallest ones which almost touched the sky. If that’s so, how is it possible that this small little house existed right in front of my building?!! Was it some new trick that God had decided to play on me?!!! Must be so, I registered and at last slipped into my dreams.

The Sun was up and my mechanical life took over. What’s gonna be today’s gift God?!!! I thought aloud and then I remembered the Ark. Since it was right in front of my building, I decided to check it out before going to the office. I still doubted that it was some kind of mind game. I stepped onto the road and there it stood right in front of me. I started walking towards it and saw that an old man (presumably Joan) was working in the garden. Hi, Good Morning, I said. He looked up and saw me coming. I stood near the gate and he greeted me back. Why don’t you come in, he asked? I am sorry I am in a hurry. I just came to ask you a question, I replied. I know your question and its answer too but I would request you to join me for a cup of tea while I speak. Reluctantly, after looking at my watch, I decided to stay. After a while she came out with tea. Meet my wife, Darby, he said. And then he continued…….

How do I have a small house amidst all these skyscrapers?!! Take a look at that building behind my house, he pointed. It was way taller than most of the buildings. That’s where I used to stay till sometime back, he spoke while handing me a cup of tea. We sat together one night and thought over it and that’s how this house came into being. Every time trouble visited us, a new window opened. In our lives we tend to forget that the real answer lies in the last window which was shut. That night we opened the last window which we had shut and realized that we were wrong all the while. We shut these windows which open out to reason simply because of our ignorance. The reality hit us like a tornado on our faces and the next day we started opening all the windows in our building. One by one the answer started spilling out and when the last window opened we understood that we didn’t have to stay in this building anymore.

So, we built this new house and that’s when we realized the real meaning of those windows too. The windows are there for us to look out at not just the bad things that happen to us but also to view all the good things that happen to us. From that day onwards every time something good or nice happened, we planted a sapling in our garden and as time passed we even forgot to register the negative things that happen to us. We would just stand by the window and look at the blossoming garden and the worries would cease to exist. It may be late in our lives but we have realized that life gives us it’s meaning to us in very simple ways, if you open the closed windows and look out.

I thanked them profusely and as I started walking, a bus passed me by. There was a poster on the back of the bus. It read in loud colors, “It’s my life” in Crush by Bon Jovi. Audio and Video CD now available in stores.

Life’s like that.