The sound of the rotor blades chopping air slowly became a soothing, familiar melody. The steady speed at which they fired sent an excited sensation of peace throughout my being.
As I gazed at the vast distance from the rooftop to the streets below, a forceful desire to jump from the roof began to build.
'The art of exotic sculptures of manbu, I went to it once, truly magnificent' I thought to myself. Laughing at my own silliness, I pretended to be touching the head of an elephant.
"Shall I take you back to our hotel now, miss?" asked Abhay the pilot.
My presence of mind had almost disappeared. Suddenly, the vast expanse of the city below seemed to dwarf the size of the helicopter. Protected by an imaginary force field, I floated down the endless streets in a peaceful state of mind.
I saw familiar people along the way, and wondered whether they were dreaming of them in the same fashion. Could they imagine that they were encountering the same people they met in their dreams?
At this moment, Abhay was neither my eyes nor my ears. The rest of the world had slipped away, leaving me in peace.
As I neared the Buddha statue, which I remembered as calm and silent, I wondered whether I would be able to breathe or not.
The awe I felt was beyond description. The majestic carved figure of the Buddha was mesmerizing. His presence was like that of a calm and wise grandfather who cared for me even though I was not part of his family.
As I turned around, Abhay and the pilot were at the back of the helicopter. They looked at the Buddha statue with smiling faces. Was it the same look of awe one saw in the face of a child, who was about to get thrown from a swing because he thought he was strong enough to be able to fly?
I wondered what strangers were seeing at that moment. The wonders of the world they were viewing far away from themselves, desperately seeking their own identities? They found a mystery, an unfathomable universe in the face of the Buddha. That two were gazing at the same statue shared a common element.
The face of man was sculpted from the same clay. I was smiling as I looked at the Buddha, just as he was smiling at me. Deep inside me, I could not tell whether it was a fantasy or reality.
I spotted a distant figure of a woman and the casual looks she gave the pilot sent a shiver at the back of my mind. I did not know whether she was here to seek salvation from the trees.
As Abhay and I flew back to our hotel, the enchanting sight of the city below made me feel so elated.
Now that the feeling was no longer present, a fresh wave of anxiety crept in and I wondered if it was the real experience or only a dream within a dream.
writes an average length story
'I have been fascinated by the art of sculptures from childhood. The creative expression of sculptors has left me to more than simply admiring it but also admiring it as an art. Most of my grandfather's works are not only fantastic to look at but also captivate their viewers'
professor details his reason for choosing sculptor for his story
Any art lover would be fascinated by the astounding ability of these sculptors. A few have the ability to nurture such a profound degree of art in a very small volume. When I looked at the living structures of these sculptures I felt that it is as if I am looking at the picture of a living fossil from the past.
I left flying in my early teens. And my choice of sculptor came in the form of a deep urge in the very core of my being.
professor describes his genre as
A dream-like fiction which is both a reality and a reflection of my being