A man called P

P was a great guy. The care he showed to his grandmother, made me think that he was a loving guy. The girl who marries him was a lucky one, I thought to myself. "Jesus Christ", he would say every now and then, I carried that habit with me to India, and curse myself upon saying it.

P's parents were separated. I looked closely at him, to see if it had scarred him. Nah, he said. And you? He asked. "I too was like you for many many years, until it got to me." He shook his head in dissapproval.

I spoke of my research and told him it was about enlightenment. We began to say something about Meditation together. He then gave me what was the most cynical expression his face could ever conjure up, saying "it leads nowhere". I smiled. I wished some Buddhist or Zen techniques helped us connect things and take off from Patanjali Yoga. That would do so many people good.

6 years or so ago, my brother and I would have given that same cynical look to anyone seeming to be championing Meditation. We had read, we had tried. The path did not take us anywhere. We had then believed more in ourselves, in hard work and in carrying ourselves gracefully. But its time to read up and try all over again, I think.

P thought of his work, was strong, kept time, and tried hard to work in a relaxed way. Alas, dear innocent P, there are lots of short-spanned things on this earth; we could have definitely talked more over those couple of weeks.

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