The Pool

" This water is contaminated and can only be used for drinking and bathing now " - Me

Blue is an interesting color and the sky is showing why it holds such fascination in my mind. The pool looks more clearer today as compared to the first time I had found it. It is surrounded by trees that have always stayed a lush green even during the coldest of months. Its simple construction would hold absolutely no fascination for the great architectural minds of our time. A lining of unpolished stones is all that keeps its most sacred content where it belongs ... inside. I remember coming here on a sunny afternoon when I first found out that I was going to be moving to Bangalore after getting my Tenth standard CBSE results. Dressed in a black suit with a white pressed shirt, I stood at its side and looked into the clear water. There are no animals or other living beings around here.

The peacefulness is so intoxicating that for a second I almost feel like my humanity could be lost if I stood here for eternity. They say that the true nature of human beings is their need to belong to society or to have some kind of connection with other living beings around them. At this moment, I can only relish the quiet and the calmness that this place offers. It was on my third trip to the pool that I ventured into the water. I slipped off my shoes and stepped into what can only be described as a cool and calming sensation all over my body. I have never ever regretted a lack of company or the abundance of quiet in this place. Screw my humanity ...

Alas, they say all good things must come to an end and after nearly a decade of solitude and the enjoyment of peace, I had decided to share my experiences with a colleague over coffee. His fascination with the place led him to join me on one of my trips up to my place of solitude. Being the good samaritan that I initially was, I entertained his curiosity and showed him around the pool. His first reaction was nothing short of disappointment as he expected more. He stared at it for a while and said " I don't see anything special here ". I simply ignored his comment and slipped back into the ambience of the pool.

What transpired a week later initiated a wave of problems that will lead up to the end of this blog. As with most things people learn, they tend to share. To my surprise and huge disappointment, my friend had shared the information of this not-so-magical place to the rest of his friends (some of them mine) and now there was what can only be described as a greco-party around the pool. People were swimming in the pool and some were eating near the trees. The entire place had turned from a sanctuary of peace into a cauldron of commotion. The sole reason of my visits to the pool were now completely futile.

Over the course of the year, my tension and stress only kept rising till my meeting with a very old lady at a Starbucks. As I stood in line, she looked at me and said " Peace comes from within ". I had now learned what I needed to do.

As I walked around my living room appartment that day, my girlfriend looked at me with a frown on her face wondering what it was I was thinking of and trying to do. I simply assured her that all I was doing was thinking about work and that had pacified her curiosity. The next morning, I walked into an antique store and requested to purchase a Katana I had seen there a few weeks ago. Without hesitation, the shop owner handed me the instrument and completed my transaction. I walked around the streets of my neighborhood for hours before finally returning home. My girlfriend was asleep on the bed in front of me and as I sat there in the dark I finally convinced myself that there was no turning back. Lights out ...

With a shaky hand and my black suit on, I walked back to the pool and found the crowd that had gotten so accustomed to the water and the greenery around it. I stood in the pool once again and pulled the Katana out. Everyone looked at me with a puzzled look on their faces. I then began to chop away at my left hand until I had reached and severed the bone connecting my wrist to my arm. What ensued next, was screaming, panic and a rush of people jumping out of the pool and running away. As a couple was leaving, one of them turned to me and said " You've fucked it all now haven't you ? " . All I could do at that point was look at the water, its transparency was replaced by an opaque black colored liquid which didn't allow me clear sight to the floor of the pool. I only smiled as she walked away cursing me for my act.

It's quiet again. The water is still. My body is slowly starting to come to rest. I have decided to stay here ... Forever.