HE SAVED ME FROM DROWNING

She’s always had a liking for water... the flowing sparkling water. The dancing waves would fill her with an unusual joy, unusual attraction towards the same. And the feeling of wet sand under her bare feet, being touched by the approaching waves cannot be described in words.

It was the temptation of those dancing waves that drew her into the water. The golden rays of settling sun would illuminate the water as if it was covered with a sparkling paper. Step by step she went in, feeling the water, soaking in the beauty of the beach.

And suddenly a strong wave came and slipped the ground under her feet. She felt gravels of fine sand being slipped and within no time she was under the water. Her senses filled with the water completely. That was the moment when she felt the depth and the darkness of the vast sea. As if Alice entered a new world beneath the land; the world where it seemed impossible to survive; the world that forcibly dragged her right in; the world that seemed sparkling and joyous from the outside.

She tried a several times, but she could not hold onto the sand underneath, Unable to breathe, unable to decide, yet struggling to find something to hold on to. It is a strange thing in life we seek something to hold onto, something that could keep us from drowning. It feels like an intense desire to fly in the sky with the wings tied to the ground. Maybe it’s the fear of the unknown, fear of unexplored that keeps us from losing our ground.

And suddenly a hand came for her help. A strong hand that grabbed her within no time, that didn’t let her drown. It was him. “He was there by my side. And he saved my life. I owe him one...” She Said.

“...And all the time he was there, I felt safe. I somehow knew in the back of my mind that he won’t let go off me. Till the time he is there, he will keep me safe. I could go into that water again without any fear. I just knew he won’t let me drown. I don’t know this guy since a long time, but there was this unsaid faith that we secretly shared. That faith that made me feel that till the time he is with me, he won’t allow anything wrong to go with me. And so I obey all that he says. I guess it makes sense. Maybe he doesn’t love me. May be he did this for others, or maybe he did this for the sake of humanity. But the bottom line is that he saved my life. ” She said while her eyes were set far in the sky as if recalling every detail.

It made me wonder how differently the incidence influenced my thinking and my notions about faith. I’ve always believed that hope and faith are two words created by man to cloud reality. What exists exists. How can I expect to change the world into a miracle just by a “faith”?? How can I say that I can walk against gravity just because I have faith in the idea of the same??? And here it was a reality and a faith, existing together miraculously. Here it was an unsaid faith rendering my notion wrong. Here it was something telling me that I could fly in the sky with my wings tied to a Faith and with that I knew that my faith won’t let me fall, won’t let me drown.

©Dr. Prerna Singla, 2016