I had heard several times from the Village pundit that the soul was an entity distinct from the body - I, of course, hadn't given it more than a fleeting thought. But that day, I fully realized the joy of it - I cannot express the relief I felt knowing that the deformed and rotten body was not really me. Not only was I free from disease and death - I was beautiful beyond description.
I stayed in that state of utter bliss for several moments. Despite my efforts (or perhaps because of them) I drifted back to my body. Not long after I was back in my body and feeling the heaviness of it.
That day was a few years ago - since then, my life had revolved around getting that detached sensation back. I have tried all the methods that I have heard about. But even though I have become still inside and can listen to nature more easily, that bliss-filled feeling never graced me. Most of my days are still spent drowned in thought and depression.
But today I felt different. I couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard I tried. Finally at dawn, I got out of bed and looked out the window. The sun had just risen, making everything golden. The birds and the wind were joyfully singing of love. Did they always sing that beautifully or were they, like me, feeling especially jovial today, I wondered? With a twinge of sadness, I decided that they always did sing with such beauty, it was only I who hadn't heard them before.
But that sadness quickly faded away with sunlight streaming on my face - I stood there for a long time bathing in freshness. For the first time in many years I decided to go for a walk during daylight. I had been an avid walker at one time, but the look of horror on a boy’s face when he had accidentally seen me, kept me locked inside since. But today, all of that just didn't seem to matter - I felt a trace of life and excitement in me.
I spent the whole day seeped in nature, waiting for something to happen. At the end of the day, I was more surprised than disappointed that nothing had happened.
I lay on my bed and dozed off.
The same man with a white turban appeared again. This time he held me by my hand and took me to the river. He signaled me to go into the water. I looked at my reflection in the water and with a shock realized that I had been cured.
I looked for the man but he had entered a hut on the riverbank. I ran and knocked on his door. No answer. I knocked again...
With a start I woke up. Someone was knocking at my door. It took me several moments to convince myself that I wasn't still in a dream.
The knocking continued persistently. I had always turned away accidental visitors with a warning of my disease - but I knew from a depth within that these visitors were not ordinary visitors.
I opened the door - a middle-aged man stood at the door. he had a small bundle of what appeared to be books and clothes on one shoulder, and a box, which appeared to be a case for a musical instrument, on the other shoulder. A few steps behind him ... stood the man from my visions.
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