THE TUNNEL
It’s in our nature to poke our noses in others affairs. We
nurture that nature to dig in with curiosity. It just takes a small peek to
indulge ourselves completely. We go through the depths to find the truth. In some
way it gives us a pleasure to know what actually happened. After we discover,
it gives us an incomparable satisfaction. Especially when it happens in our
neighbourhood or someone who we are used to, it becomes more interesting. At
that moment of curiosity, our senses function at their peak. We hear whispers;
we see hidden things, our nose acts like a drill and sniffs out the very essence
of the problem. It cultivates a taste
and gives us a kick.
The interesting parts are the stories behind them. I was
always keen and fascinated by the stories those secrets had behind them. In my
case, places caught my attention than people. Every place, be it a city or a
village, it had a story behind them. It had several versions and several layers
with different people. To some they were haunted, for few they were spiritual
and sacred. But, for most of them it was just a useless topic. They considered
talking about it as a waste of time.
One such neglected spot existed near my city. It was an abandoned
tunnel. With greys of concrete wisdom and prominent cracks of wrinkles, it was
as old as my great grandmother. And anything
old is authentic and has lots of stories behind them. Since childhood, I had developed huge curiosity
to explore this place. Many times I tried to reach it, but, many kinds of
distractions pulled me away from the one thing I wanted to explore so badly.
And one day the opportunity came. I had nothing to do. When people have nothing
to do and when they are alone, they will be in their actual self. Staying away
from my mobile and video game set, gave me enough conviction to make a move.
Things started the way I wanted. I took my flashy back pack,
with stuff I was not ever sure whether they were required or not. Firm as an army man, I started walking. From a
distance, the tunnel looked small. I thought it would be a piece of cake. When
I reached the spot, things were not the same. It was huge. No one was nearby.
My mind released cortisol in liters. It’s a special chemical that is secreted
by our brain, when we are afraid or in danger. At the same time, it evenly
secreted more dopamine. Dopamine enhances curiosity.
I started walking. With heavy steps, I stepped into the
darkness. I felt as if I was going into a complete void of darkness. The strong
rays of light grew thinner. The more I moved in, darker and colder the ambiance
was. Yes, finally I reached to a point, where nothing was visible. The power
supply to my eyes and confidence was completely off. What do I do? Yes, the backpack!
I took out the long torch light; that I recently bought
online became handy. A gentle push, and yes a beam of hope came out. When I was
proud of myself, the beam of hope stated flickering. I felt as useless as the cheap product I bought
online.
Should I go back or go forward?
It was a tough decision to make. That very moment, a huge
revelation hit my mind. The darkness and the lack of light actually resembled
the concept of life. We all travel with a purpose of creating our own purposes.
Initially, when we grow up, we believe that, we have more to offer the world
than the world has to offer us. As we move on we find things appealing and we
look up. Look up for people and stars and imagine a beautiful paradise ahead of
us. Gradually we move ahead and hit a spot and realize what we had was nothing
and there is still a huge world out there completely untouched. That’s when our
confidence breaks and everything around us becomes dark. With fear and anxiety,
we ask ourselves one single question.
Should I go back or go forward?
9 of 10, return from this journey and get comfortable with
the place where they began their journey.
The remaining 1, go ahead and make a difference. They find
something special, where the others hear them as stories passed on to next
generations.
This is the part where I find something special. I decided
to face my fear and walk ahead. I started walking. Everything was completely
dark. Though my heart was beating aloud, brain was thinking aloud, dopamine
kept me going. Without seeing the other side, my curiosity won’t fade. The more
I walked in, the stronger it grew. I did not bother about the space around
me. I neither cared about the time. I
just kept walking. Though my muscles begged for some rest, I kept pushing them.
I kept walking.
After a long time, a tiny white dot flashed. Yes, that was the light of hope. The weight,
tiredness and stress, everything went numb. A warm sensation went through my
body. That was the answer I was waiting for. As I moved further, the light grew
stronger. The white hole grew bigger. What lies behind the light was the one
thing that drove me for hours.
Several questions popped up. Will there be something
ominous? Will there be an old graveyard?
Will I bump into a treasure chest?
It continued. I picked up pace and finally reached the
entrance.
And that’s where the second realization hit me. End of the
tunnel was connected to another path that connected to the old highway. Across
the highway, there was a landscape. Just for a second I felt happy. It was
nothing special. It was simple, yet satisfactory.
Satisfaction Is something that comes from inside, exterior
elements are just a catalyst to cultivate curiosity.
The trick is to keep walking.
I started walking again towards the old highway.
- Ashwin Muralidharan
