Fish out of Water

The Fish is such an interesting aquatic animal. I say this for the sheer lack of anything more respectable I could address it with. When I was a child I thought it is an overused artifact on canvasses and an overbought food item in our household. I could not understand any of the hype attached around celebrations, and sufferings, with the having and not having of fish. I could not derive the reasoning behind and over the grand debate of Hilsa vs Prawns.

Till the fish swam into my soul.

It often teases me, soft, slippery sensations of breathing in and breathing out. It wants to be something, and be somewhere else. It feels like flying while it is adept at swimming. It loves getting an ornamental make-over while it can tackle a bloodbath. "What about those who love the best of both worlds?" it eggs me, with that bulging egg-pack under its gill much alike my chin.

What about them, I ask. What about them, I think. What about them, I know.

I know a lot without my knowing. I know of rains when I hear them in the middle of a winter night, unexpectedly catching me awake, stark stirred off my deep sleep. And the sound is so familiar that I am overwhelmed. It sounds like a favourite song and tells me that I do not know of rains actually. They are mere arrows of water. What is familiar is the effect it arouses. The rain is beautiful because of the sensations surrounding it -- it has never been the rains themselves. It was always the tapping on the roof, the sticking of the clothes to the skin, the ensuing steaming cups of tea while taking a united, voluntary break. It was resourcing fine fish to be fried to bejewel the occasion. Whether the fish has been in water, in soup or caught in the net was something else altogether. It was time for a fine fish!

I know about the fish in my soul. It reminds me of all of us who want to be somewhere and are somewhere else. It reminds me of that rare breed of ambitious women who despise competition.

Day-dreamers who are sleep deprived. Day-dreamers because they are sleep deprived.