When one of them leaves the bunch
and soars joyously unchained towards the sunny blue sky?
Do the other balloons, still knotted by their strings, tethered to the ground,
feel their loss, miss them and weep?
Ignorant of the fact that the goal was always to merge with the blue.
You’d think they’d have figured it out.
But they got too attached to the impermanence of their surroundings,
the lights and the sounds.
Got too attached to life in a bunch,
living this close to the ground.
Instead of rejoicing for the one that broke free…
Instead of imagining all the wonders they will see…
The weightlessness they will feel…
They sob for themselves
because they’ve been separated from one.
That very special one, their favourite one,
The one they were leaning on.
And others watch them and worry,
what would happen if they faced the same fate?
How would they cope if the balloon closest to them escaped?
All having fallen in love with this drudgery.
Fearing freedom.
Mistaking departure for the next adventure
to be a tragic finality.
Only because it does not include them.
Forgetting, this is what they were always meant to do,
roam the universe, blend with the blue.
Forgetting, for that soaring balloon,
it’s reason to celebrate
this assignment accomplished.
This exhilarating exit from the ground.
-Nitya Alwani Satyani
(6 months on…and still trying to find the right thoughts & words to tell ourselves, to make sense of life as it is Pray for endless happy blue skies for you❤️)
Sunset Effect - Nitya Satyani 