The Journey or The Destination

Today the sun set in darker shades of water color but the air seemed lighter, even though mixed with tears, some of joy, that we’ve come this far, and some of disbelief on how fast we’ve arrived.

The sound of ‘pack up’ did not have the cattle turning homeward. There was no dire rush for solitude before graze next morning. A restless easiness uplifted many minds. Twilight today, marked the end of my first outdoor and the beginning of a journey my heart is set to wander.

I’ve finally completed my first feature. What my role was is not important, the bruised swords not important, things learnt, if any shared, not important. Everything seemed insignificant as I watched this one big family in subdued hugs of exhilaration. Every eye that met shared a moment, and in that one moment it knew, their paths may never cross again or cross for reasons unknown. Holding back an erupting volcano of emotions, I knew I was going to miss every single person on the field today. Even those, whom I never shared, even a minute of space with.

For the less adventurous who'll only brave this ride through stories of mere others, I must tell you, being a part of conceiving a film gives ‘adrenaline rush’ a new, yet unexplainable definition.

My first few weeks were spent masterminding plans of fleeing, without emerging as a quitter that is. Tired, each night I went to bed with a promise that tomorrow will be different, easier, better, an early night. While dragging dead weight out early the next morning, I’d make promises again, just as true as the one’s I made to myself the night before. To top only 4 hrs of sleep on an average, the sweltering heat that reduced my curls to a reminiscence of a forest fire, pimples that promised to remind me of their existence forever, food that made me want to turn bulimic, and work load that could put a master juggler to shame, I felt like a piece of meat, well done. No overcooked. Plain charred (even photoshop now,gives errors while fixing my pics)

But only till I learnt the secret. Stand up and embrace. So, as soon as I tore the blue prints of blowing up the back exit, I fell in love with my bohemian tan, alligator skin, and everything that made me look like a porcupine cross. Today, I appreciate and salute every single leaf of a branch that adorns the tree. At the end of the day, when we put away our masks, we’re all the same; sweaty, smelly and all we need is a hug. And when the day ended after two months, there was only that one thing left to do.

From here, we may all walk in different directions, together, but as we looked back at the setting canvas, standing in this moment, I silently nodded in agreement with the wind; it is the journey here, which made this sunset worth it.