Entrapped

I was standing at the city’s famous boat house. I was there, as many used to flock there, which forced me to bend my plans and visit there on one breezy evening. The avenue was crowded as expected. Admired by the cool weather and the interests of the people, I gently pushed my steps forward towards the ticket counter. There was a wild dissonance in front of the counter, as people were confused to choose among the travel ride options: there were assortments of options available – with names like Shark ride, crocodile ride and many more. I never had a habit of contemplating too much for a simple or a complicated thing. Going by that unwritten and preposterous rule, I went in front and purchased, ‘One deluxe ride’.

After purchasing the ticket, I waited anxiously near the lake. The lake water swayed away softly and helped my solicitous mind to reclaim its calmness. And my turn came - the boat for the deluxe ride arrived. The boat was polished, clean and sophisticated. At a cursory look, it didn’t look like a boat. It appeared to me like truncated Volvo bus moving on water. I entered inside with lot of excitement. The boat could be able to accommodate only ten passengers. Behind the every seat, there was an oxygen cylinder tied to breathing sets. ‘Crazy guys’, I said to myself. The boat was an awe inspiring sight! I was delighted that I had made a wise choice of selecting deluxe ride.

The boat started to move; thanks to timely start by the driver. For the next twenty minutes, it was period of unremitting excitement. I enjoyed the cuteness of two year old child,sitting beside me, who was enjoying just like me. I motioned my fingers across the window glass to feel myself and palpate the after-effect of drizzling rain. Exciting moments went by. It was then, the signal appeared; the marquee of text appeared on the lookalike computer screen. The text appeared, ‘Get ready with Oxygen cylinders’. I was confused and fainted. Again another instruction appeared, ‘The boat is going to move downwards’. Befuddled by the continuous stream of events I swiftly looked how others were trying to safeguard themselves. With the demonstrative help of a few people, I could able to connect the oxygen cylinders. It was an unusual sight for me, to see all the ten people carrying oxygen cylinders at their back. And as promised, the driver drove the boat vertically downwards.

The journey had become an ‘Under Water” trip. Then gradually, I was able to witness the few of the deadly species of this planet. The big lizard – crocodile heralded its arrival with the few of its companions; Bunches of crocodiles, with their long tails, swarmed around the boat. A few of them came towards me. One of them with its black broad eye ball kept looking at me like a bank manager who was trying to collect unpaid interest amount from his customer. The unfortunate customer happened to me. Then Shark with its bulgy curvy body came to the party wagging its tail. Fortunately, only one came. Then the text appeared, ‘This is the place where you can see crocodile and sharks at the same place’. ‘Who needs this information’, I thought. Everyone was able to appreciate the fainted ambience, including the little child (sitting beside me); but I was completely fainted. I was not able to understand why went there. The bank manager appeared to approach me. The crocodile, by his long V-shaped snout, struck the glass window. The glass stated to rupture. The mammoth made an unsolicited entry into the boat, breaking the glass window into pieces. The crocodile looked at me again; it didn’t give any moment to escape. It plunged into me and I was locked between its jaws. At that culminating moment, I was not able to ingratiate with the bank manager! I was crushed. The blood stated to bleed. I gently closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes; I realised that it was my wildest dreams. I appeared to be restless as if I had gulped one litre of lake water. I recalled the entire dream as I always believe dream has a meaning. Even this one drives me the point, ‘If I don’t know where I want to go, for sure, I will be entrapped’.