Maybe or may be

Spaces matter. They can take you from an attitude of willfulness or send you hurtling hopelessly towards probability. No wonder you hear people murmur, ‘I need to protect my space, dear!’ You smell the power of willfulness there. It is as though you clearly hear this person shout out: ‘I have clearly defined this territory as my own. Dare to step in at your own risk.’

This battle between maybe and ‘may be’ can be seen all around you… just pause for a while and watch. You may be in for some real surprises – or maybe not, as you do have your own brand of uncertainties festering within you. But then aren’t we supposed to at least decide on if we want to be like a word that is split by space or…

This is where I stopped my wayward thoughts and asked, ‘Are you trying to say that togetherness is a bane or that togetherness makes you more like a bundle of shaken or stirred nerves?’

My thoughts stopped in their track and giving a chilling smile, said, ‘Maybe you want to re-structure your conclusions because the word that does not have a space between is the word that takes you forward.’

I pondered on this for a while and decided that my thoughts were indeed in the right direction. Definitions and willfulness and affirmations end up being quite static and unwilling to move into new worlds and can, therefore, remain quite un-evolved. ‘Maybe’, on the other hand is like a free bird that goes on hopping from one conclusion to another and probably explores more than any other explorer that we have ever known. At this stage of my confabulations with myself I saw Specky, my wife, enter the Study and I showed her what I had been writing about.

She probably read it the paragraphs a couple of times and then seeing that I was getting restless as all writers tend to be, she said, ‘So it is good that women take such a long time to decide what they want or buy or say or do.’

I looked at her and asked, ‘So women don’t prefer needless spaces. This may be the right time…’ And saying this I inched closer to her. She stood where she was and simply said, ‘Maybe some other time,’ before moving away towards the kitchen where she was jostling with her probabilities and possibilities with all the vegetables spread before her like an army of mercenaries willing to jump into any pan on her orders. I smiled at this thought and said to myself, ‘Some silly vegetables will surely be shouting ‘this may be my final battle’ before volunteering themselves to face the chopper!’

‘Undivided,’ I murmured to myself, ‘being undivided is the mantra of survival. Spaces can be so divisive. Remain undivided with all the uncertainties and diversity of thoughts and opinions and beliefs nurturing us. Almost like our country.’ Yes, the thought does make the mind-boggling diversity of India so attractive and so full of potential! We need to be like ‘maybe’, always in search of the right answers, always exploring for new vistas!