This is the story of a moon. Not the one that you see every night from your bedroom window, which bathes you in a soothing light and in the middle of extreme darkness, keeps you silent, constant company. This is the story of another moon, exactly like the one you see, but in a universe far away from this one.
It was a lonely moon, in a big universe. But it was beautiful, spotless and when its light fell on the earth, people looked up in warm admiration and praised its beauty. The moonlight had a certain captivating charm in it and its magic touched the hearts of many. Every night, when the moon came out of the clouds and bathed the earth below with its milky light, the earthlings looked up and wondered - if the moonlight is so beautiful, then how much more beautiful the moon itself would be. The earthlings began to want the moon. They began to long to possess the moon and love it.
The moon would look down at the earth people with a sad longing. It was lonely up there and it needed company. But there was a secret that it hid from others, and it dared not come into close proximity with others, for fear that its secret would out. It was afraid that once people came close to it, and knew the truth, they would no longer love and admire it as much as they did now. And so the moon chose to be friendless and lonely on the roof of the world, looking at things below, spreading happiness, calmness, light and hope, while itself remaining sad and deserted.
But what were these secrets that the moon guarded so closely? What made it chose this path of solitude and sorrow, when so many loved and longed for it? The answer was simple yet complex. The moon was cursed to be dry and barren. There was no life on it. As beautiful as it was from afar, the moon did not have the potential to sustain life on itself. For it lacked the single most important thing that man requires to live - the moon had no water on it. And therefore it had no life sustaining quality. And this curse had led to the death of many near and dear ones. Earthlings who had fallen in love with the moon, and whom the moon too had loved in return. Earthlings who had tried hard and for whom the moon too had tried hard. But none of them could last, and the pain and tragedy had left the moon drier still. and lonelier still. and therefore the moon chose to remain alone now, having accepted the fact that life for it was a life of solitude.
then it so happened, that during one of its nightly sojourns, the moonlight fell on a small river. the crystal clear water reflected the moonlight and the moon could see its own beautifully sad face in it. the river was busy playing with its friends on the banks, when a milky light covered it and lit up its dark world. it had a feeling of warmth that was unprecedented.
the river and the moon became friends. the moon was thirsty and lonely. though it could not drink the river's water, gazing at the river made it happy and it did not feel as dry and as lonely. The river was happy too. In centuries someone had shown care for it and provided it company. In centuries some one had come to its lonely bank for the first time spread a warm light all around, making the river more beautiful.
In this way time flowed on, and this mutual friendship grew stronger and deeper. Every night, the river would wait at its bank for the moon to come out of behind the clouds, and every night the moon would longingly delay its stay by the river banks. they would talk, reflect in each others selves, share stories, joys and experiences, and keep each other company.
They became the best of friends. As there friendship grew in strength and intensity, the river began to see that the moon was never completely happy. even when it was laughing, there would be a subtle sadness in it. even when it seemed to be completely carefree, its eyes had a tinge of sadness in them. " what makes you sad my sweet one? why do I always see an emptiness in your eyes, even when you laugh" One night the river asked.
" Nothing. Nothing but this fatal knowledge that I am predestined to live alone. that I am cursed to be dry and barren so that even though I long for people, I cant ave any around me. I cant sustain life. I am weak and cursed to be lonely."
" And is there no way to break this curse" the river thought to itself. " can I not give myself to my moon and quench its thirst forever?" This thought began to haunt the river day and night now. The more he met the moon, the more he looked in her eyes, and the more he felt the sadness in them. This sadness permeated into his heart and created a strong desire to solve the moons wish - the wish that it were not dry.
and so it sought the help of the witch who lived on its banks below the mountains. " There is only one way that you might do this little one. You must travel to the moon, so that it can drink you and be quenched of its thirst. but be aware of this, that the journey to the moon is fraught with dangers on the way. and no river has made it till now. it will take you 400 years to reach the moon. and 300 years will be dark and you shall not see her in that time. others will as to drink from you, and though you will be tempted, you must drive them away from your banks. remember that once you pledge your water to the moon, it belongs to the moon you will freeze on the way, and all the life in you will die. and when you are melted again, you must start from scratch."
" that is not all. the moon may itself deny you. it will refuse to take your offerings, refuse to believe you. through all this you must be composed and consistent. in the darkest of hours, in the saddest and loneliest of moments, you must keep your calm and trudge ahead. In my 1000 years of life, I have never seen a river reach up there. Men have done it, but men have not lasted. rivers have never done it."
"Go, if you are so determined, I shall tell you the way and the manner. But remember this. Even though you may reach her and obtain her, you will lose your own identity."
The river listened with bated breath, and then replied. " o wise witch, thanks for your advise, but every river has a destination. All flow to the sea, I shall flow to the moon. That is perhaps what I was born for. we must at all times do what our heart calls us to do. and my heart calls me to travel to the moon and unite with her. And for that, and also for quenching the thirst of those eyes, I shall go through all trials and tribulations.”
“Then, god bless you my child. Nothing wrong will ever come from this because whatever is done from the heart’s desire is always pure and leads to greatness. Therefore though your journey maybe difficult, your destination will be beautiful.”
And so the river began its journey. and immediately, all life in it began to leave it. for it was leaving its normal course and going to an unknown place. no one wanted to be with it any longer and the river was left alone. slowly it rose, from the path where it had lain for centuries, over the mountains and valleys where it had been flowing through, and started towards the dark distance space.
a hundred years passed, and the moon was nowhere in sight. the witch had been right in her predictions. the river could no longer see the moon. But it kept on going. though it was lonely, tired and heartbroken, it kept going. cold waves swept it and froze it. darkness made him lose his way. but he kept going. whenever he felt that he could not go ay far, it remembered the thirsty eyes of the moon and started again.
then one day, the river's journey ended, and it knocked on the moon's door. " Who are you?" the moon asked. Three hundred years of separation had made the moon forget the river. " I am your friend the river. Remember back to the days when we used to play with your moonlight on my banks? the days when we talked all night and days when you cried and laughed with me.
remember the days when you peered into me and seeing your beautiful reflection there, became immensely happy. don’t you remember anything of that?"
" yes I do. but where did you disappear? and why have you come here all the way?" the moon was still sad and lonely and on that particular day was feeling very bad. it did not know why the river was there and it did not want it there. all it wanted was to be left alone. so, without listening to the river, it just closed its doors. and so the river in that cold outer space, half freezing, half dying, broken hearted and lonely, just waiting for the moon to open her door and accept it.
meanwhile the moon, kept its journey though the universe. earthlings came and earthlings went. but it was still the same - cold, dry, sad and alone. One night, tired and beaten, the moon fell asleep. It was centuries since it had fallen asleep, and there was darkness on the earth below. everybody wondered what was wrong - for the moonlight had never failed them ever.
through all this commotion about it, the moon slept - a fitful tired slumber - and dreamt. It was strange dream. in the dream the saw a beautiful land, with shady trees, green lawns lined with flowers, crystal clear pools which reflected the blue sky above. it saw children playing in the parks, and it heard much laughter and merriment and it saw many people - happy people every where. It was such a happy dream that the moon smiled in happiness. " what land was this? it tried to peer closely. the modulations in the mountains, the valleys, the plateaus, why did they all look so familiar yet so strange? why did she have
the feeling that it had seen this land somewhere? and then, in a flash it struck her - that she was seeing herself in the dream.
but she had been transformed. she was no longer dry, or lonely or sad. she was green and alive and full of life giving strength. she was a new moon and now she was as beautiful from close as she had been from afar. her ageless thirst had been quenched. and her sadness and loneliness had bid adieu. her eyes were truly happy.
the moon woke up, and opened the door. and without stood the river, smiling. with open arms she welcomed him. there was a gushing sound as the river entered the door. Centuries of thirst, centuries of pain and desire, on both sides, were finally quenched, as each of them lost there identities and mingled into the other. and when this was over there was neither the moon nor the river. in their stead, stood a happy park, full of shady trees, green lawns and beautiful flowers. where children played with abandon and laughter and joy reigned supreme. where the sun shone by the day and the moonlite filled the night. and where there was no thirst, for there was a hidden river to quench the thirst.
