Sunday, October 15, 2006
Irony by Parvez Kamal

The cold Canadian is swooping down from the lakes and bringing winter with it. As I stand and shiver I’m reminded of the dreams I used to have. I still do, tucked somewhere deep inside my heart. I always wanted to visit all the beautiful places in this world. I know it can’t be possible, at least some of them should. Before I came to America I used to think that every month I will visit one of the national parks, or I would take a month long drive in summer through Canada, or visit a small town like the one in Northern Exposure. I want to sit under the moonlit sky on the Arctic tundra, lie on the grass and gaze at the rolling hills in the Dakota prairies, bathe in the blue sea off the Washington coast, fly low over the forests and thousands lakes in Minnesota, drive over the bridges and islands of Florida keys. I haven’t done any of these, and I don’t know when I’ll be able to. Maybe never, but it doesn’t hurt to dream, does it ? I always used to have this fantasy. You know the one about what you would ask for if God ever wanted to grant you a wish. I would ask Him to take me to all the beautiful places in this world and let me live through all the seasons. I want to see how it feels in the dead of cold winter, or how the flowers bloom in spring, how it feels like to dance in the rain. I know that it would require me to live for thousands of years. But I don’t want to live for so long, as long as I’m able to enjoy all the changing faces of the nature. When I was not working and going to school I would be tortured by my inability to enjoy the semester breaks. I had no money to take a road trip. I used to think that I’ll enjoy as much as I can once I have a job. Now I might be able to afford those trips I used to dream about but I have no time to spare. How life turns the tables on you and taunts you from the distance !!

Posted by Parvez Kamal 2006-10-15 01:37:24