Imprints and Impressions

I have come here at the seventh floor of my office for a break. This is where the cafeteria is located...and much more. I stand at the balcony, sipping a glass of fresh juice. The night has fallen, giving a colourful glimpse of the entire city. To my right, the Husain Sagar lake offers a splendid view, with tourists still enjoying boating to behold the Buddha statue in the centre of the lake, now lighted golden so that it can be seen even from afar, as I do now.

There are hundreds and hundreds of buildings, shops and residential apartments before me- some near, some farther, some almost out of sight- brightly lit in different colours. I watch down at the pani puri stalls nearby. A pretty mixed crowd over there- office goers who have come out for a stretch, tired vegetable vendors quenching thirst and hunger, a couple of kids accompanied by their parents and who were attracted by the stalls, random pedestrians...

My focus now shifts to the apartments. Some have lights in rooms, some are dark- probably the inmates have decided to retire to bed early. A few homes are grandly lit, indicating celebration. I can catch a closer glimpse of a house in nearer view. A woman is busy making rotis for supper and cooking some delicious curry, the fumes of which waft from her kitchen window.

The kind of view I behold from this balcony always makes my thoughts wander and slip away...It would be interesting if I knew everything about every family member in every apartment like an all knowing being. Then I could think, "Oh..Preeti seems to be up late studying for her exam" or "It is little Sonu's first birthday, no wonder the crowd and the illumination in their house or "Mrs. Rao is baking one of her husband's favourite cakes!" and so on...

I also wonder what emotion is going through each individual in all these apartments. I wish I could get a glimpse of everyone's life as if through a kaleidoscope. It will probably run like this: an exam preparation in one house, blowing candles in another, a son visiting his parents in yet another, a sick person being tended to, a newly wed missing her parents, siblings quarrelling, someone living in debt, another enjoying a hot soup after a tired working day, one packing bags to go abroad to study....The variety of emotions and situations don't seem to run out. And yet, each family leads their own piece of life in a tiny cubicle called house, not seeming to bother to know about the bigger picture- the entire spectrum of emotions being expressed out to the world at one single moment.

I suddenly have an odd feeling that someone is  watching me from above the same way I am watching the city below. Oh, I know! It is Him, the almighty. Well, what would it be like to be God, watching the whole wide world below him (including me, who is looking down and thinking about just a fragment of the city!) and to actually know every species on earth, the kind of life they lead, the emotions they undergo and the experiences they earn in various phases of life..

Would I, in His place be thinking about more serious matters about the earth than casually glancing below? Like what to reward whom, how should I help this person out of his terrible problem, how should I award this sinner a punishment that befits his deeds, what blessings should I bestow upon this newborn...or more terrible decisions like: Let the next moment see a massive earthquake in the northern hemisphere, let an epidemic break out in xyz country, let me choose this happy family be blown up the next instant by the terrorists...

Being God is probably difficult. We sometimes blame Him for not answering our prayers or empathizing with our miserable lives. But He is probably grown numb to feelings, since He is just one being watching upon the billions of us. And is He just worried about tender feelings? No way. There are deaths, diseases, bad luck and punishments to mind. So is He cold and unaffected? I don't know...

All I know is I am much better off being a mortal and one among the zillion, minding my own business rather than that of the entire universe. I have finished drinking my juice and descending the steps now.