Bali Moon

रूह से बहती हुई धुन यह इशारे दे
कुछ मेरे राज़ तेरे राज़ आवारा से
खो गए हम कहाँ?
रंगों सा यह जहां

टेढ़े मेढ़े रास्ते हैं
जादूई इमारतें हैं
मैं भी हूँ तू भी हैं यहां
खोयी सोयी सड़कों पे
सितारों के कन्धों पे हम
नाचते हैं उड़ते हैं यहां


सो गयी हैं यह सासें सभी
अधूरी सी हैं कहानी मेरी
फिसल  जाएँ तोह भी तो डर न कोई
रुक जाने की ज़रुरत नहीं

~  kho gaye hum kahaan, Prateek Kuhad



"The magic of bali is best experienced on a scooter" he said, "you just gotta learn! shed those fears". She rolled her eyes, this wasn't the first time he had said this, and the worst part is, she knew he was right - she really needed to learn. Bali was still magical to her without the scooter frankly, but she could see how driving far away from the madness of the town to the rice fields would be liberating. As much as she loved her bicycle, cycling 10 kilometers up and down wasn't her scene (or ability). She got up from the dining table they were sharing in this homestay to get herself a cup of kopi, and he continued talking for a bit and then he suddenly stopped. She was pouring hot water into her kopi when she realised it had been a few seconds since he had last spoken, she grabbed a spoon to stir the kopi, and then turned back to look at him, he has turned his chair to face her at the kitchen counter and was now keenly staring at her. "What happened?" she asked, he looked shcoked or rather as though some epic realisation had dawned on him. "Dude, isn't today a full moon? That's why the waves were so crazy on my surf earlier today!" he said. "Wait a minute let me sit down and try to understand why this has anything to do with me learning to ride a scooter" she said.

She picked up her cup, ditched the spoon in the sink to wash later, and came back to sit across him at the dining table. This was her favorite part of the day, when she had finished her morning yoga routine and he had returned from his morning surf, and they chatted over breakfast and kopi. She lifted her right leg and bent her knee, placed her foot on the chair and leaned forward, with her arms on the table and asked him again, "yea so, today is the full moon and why do you look so excited about it". "See this is why you need to learn how to ride a scooter", he said gesturing with his arms on the supposed importance of this skill. "Okay fine, you can start lessons for me tonight" she sighed. "No not tonight. Tonight you and me will go drive towards babakan, far away from the noisy music, the sounds of the motorbikes and city lights. To the real Bali". She smiled, he got this way when he was talking about Bali, and she loved him because he loved bali so dearly, so tenderly, it ached to hear him speak sometimes. "And what will we do there" she raised her eyebrows and asked him. "We will carry a sheet and lay it near a grassy patch a little away from the rice fields and watch the moon and the stars, I'll show you the true beauty of bali" he said as though he were sharing a ghazal, that music and the want and the need for that beauty apparent in his voice, his gaze already fixed on this moon he was going to be seeing tonight.

At 8:30 after they had eaten dinner, they set out towards the rice fields, him on his scooter that he prized, she sitting behind him, with a sheet but also a shawl in her hands, she knew it could get chilly later at night and they drove out of the homestay. In a couple of minutes they were out of the town, heading towards the quieter side of Canggu, and she could feel the air change a little, her heart eases a little, her lips curve into a smile. She had washed her hair that morning and her curls were soft and wavy. She had let them loose, and Bali night breeze was making them dance a little,  infusing them with the scent of bali ~ frangipani.

They drove for a very long time, until he got her to the spot he was meaning to. There were rice fields all around, but they had arrived at a clearing  of sorts, and it was higher than the fields nearby and had a big tree on it. Was it Banyan, she wondered. He took her hand and led her into the exact spot from where they could see the interrupted brilliance of the moon. There in that space, in that moment, in that exact second, there was magic, and it was lifting her up. She had often heard people speak about this connections that all living beings have with each other, the idea of that one soul permeated everything in the universe, but she felt it today. She was one with the rice fields, with fireflies glowing under the dark shadow of the big tree behind them, the stars which otherwise where the jewels of the night sky, today a little damp next to the beauty of the moon. The moon which seemed to be lending it's strength and it's beauty, both qualities of the feminine power, to everything that it touched. Including the both of them. They were silently standing and watching all this, taking in everything they could see and feeling everything that was beyond their sight. She watched all this radiance, and he watched the radiance of her face and smiled. He loved her, because she loved bali as much as he did and in that love they were bound to each other.