Time will remain one of the greatest mysteries to be solved. We have only figured out a coherent system to measure and quantify it. It has stood the test of time and is considered to be the scientific standard. I am talking on a metaphysical level.

We know what time is. We are ruled by it. Everything happens in accordance with time. Yet have we really grasped it? Time flies when we are doing something we like, or when we are having a good moment. It slows down when we are at work, or during a boring lecture. It stops still when we witness an accident or something out of the ordinary. If time is linear and constant how are all these possible?

The way we perceive time is something to be understood. We are solely dependent on our senses for everything. It has been shown again and again. They can be easily tricked. All the magic tricks you see are playing with your senses and their weaknesses. When it comes to time, no one is tricking us. We are tricking ourselves. Why does it speed up when we are having a good time and slow down when we are undergoing a bad time?

Since we unconsciously alter our perception of time, I think we live with a perceived notion of time. The absolute significant part of it will always be hidden from us. This seeps down to how we see our past, present, and future, how we interpret it, and imbibe them in our personal lives.

We don't have time. We feel we do. It is this feeling that clouds the truth. We feel we have all the time to do the things we want to. So we put it off for the uncertain future. We know this and yet we do it. When the future comes, we miss out on it forever, thereby feeling pain and agony. We should have taken action when we had the time and opportunity. We find it difficult to let go. We hang onto it for a while before it takes us over or leaves us.

This could be what the great philosophers of our past were trying to teach us. They might have understood the problem we are in and contemplated an answer for it. The simplest thing they all had to say is to live in the present. I like the notion. I have tried to implement it a couple of times. Whenever I have done it, I have felt peace and in harmony with time. But I was not able to sustain it. The past creeps in. The future invades slowly. I am bound to them. If only there was a concrete way to break these shackles and live freely.

All these point to one thing - we are time bound. We are under its grip whether we like it or not. We feel we have freedom and live on our terms. But it is an illusion created for us to bind us. I would like to believe that there are people who figured this out and escaped its clutches. I don't know who they are. Maybe the philosophers. If they have tried to pass on the message and bring us all into that circle, they have not done a great job. We are all still here, going about our lives in the same old manner, taking one day at a time under the illusion that we are the ones in control of it.

When you get to know someone you want to spend all your time with them. That is how it is between us. We want to be together as much as possible. But my job doesn’t allow this. I am away from her for weeks before I see her. We do the occasional video calls. But it doesn’t compensate for the feeling of being together. When I am home I do everything to be with her. She reciprocates it. She keeps aside a lot of things just for this. Her schedule gets messed up. We watch movies, go out, and do all kinds of things together. She does this after coming back from work.

If I look at it from another perspective I am very much lucky. I should be grateful because there are a lot of couples living apart owing to the nature of their job and the need to fend for the family. One would be earning miles away while the other looks after the house and tend to the family. They meet on holidays and find joy in the limited time they have. Compared to them I am lucky.

Doesn’t this show we never take time absolutely? It is always taken in reference. It is always compared, which breeds a sense of discontent among us because the pain of losing is much more than the pain of not gaining. We tilt towards the side that is opposite to where we should be focussing on. Imagine a world, where we focus only on the better things. People would be content. It would automatically seep into one's daily life, making it happier and more fruitful. Our virtues would have the upper hand. This can only lead to a better world. Maybe then we would acknowledge time for what is it. We would think linearly along the direction of flow and grasp what time has to say. As I have said earlier, I believe the saints and prophets had achieved this. They did try to pass it on. It is not easy to explain. They did try their best. Also, the barrier of language comes into play. This muddles the message and makes it all the more difficult to understand.

I leave from the crash site and continue on the wrong side of the road for a while. There is a cutting in the divider opposite a school. My brother studied here for the two years we were in Trivandrum. The building that faces the entrance has got a major makeover. There is a huge wall painting covering its height and width. It attracted my attention the first time I saw it. Wall painting is gaining popularity throughout the world. Cafes, restaurants, hostels, bakeries, railway stations, and bus stand all had a wall or two covered with doodles, paintings, graffiti, and whatnot. It became a way of expressing a thought or a message associated with the brand.

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I love the wall art in the hostels. All the ones I have been to have had some really amazing wall art. Some were simple, some were huge, some were too colorful, and some were dull yet powerful. It has become a movement of sorts. In houses too, barren walls are being covered in paintings. In my childhood, they used to be covered with posters of all kinds. I was into cars and bikes and so my wall had the posters I got from buying car magazines. Later on, in my college life, they were replaced by posters of rock bands. Pink Floyd took the centre stage. When I was a child, I saw some of them at my friend's house. They were punk rock bands cause the members were wearing black gothic outfits. They didn’t appeal to my tastes. I didn’t give them much attention. But the poster of Michael Jackson had my full attention.

I became a fan of Michael Jackson when I watched his History Concert gig. My uncle had brought the DVD of it. When I was in my hometown for my vacations I used to go through the CDs kept on the shelf. I consumed them during the day as there wasn’t much to d. Everyone was busy with their work. I would happily be myself and stay glued to the television. The performance MJ gave was mesmerizing. I watched it on repeat. A couple of songs that I loved were played in a loop. Seeing my interest in him, my uncle brought home some more CDs of his songs. They were compilations of his music videos. In it, I came across the original videos for many of his famous songs.

The beginning of the thriller is a bit scary. Sometimes I used to sleep with my Grandpa in the common hall. The TV was kept here. In those days my uncle took a keen interest in terrifying me. He would casually start with music videos or movies after everyone else had gone to sleep. He would wait to get my attention before switching to the thriller video. I would hug my Grandpa and peek through the pillows as he played it. When the lights were out, it got even scarier. Soon I got used to it. It wasn’t scary anymore.

After Thriller I saw the video of Billie Jean being performed live. It was his Motown performance, the one with the moonwalk. I was left stunned. I had heard of it but had never seen it. The way he floated on the floor left me in awe. I tried it when I saw it but I knew it wouldn’t work. When my friends saw it, we started talking about how he did it. Someone said the floor was made silky smooth. Someone said it was all in his shoes. I just knew it was brilliant and amazing. Next, we talked about the infamous lean in Smooth Criminal. We all agreed that it had something to do with the shoes. It must have been pinned down or something like that. MJ was an icon among us.

My friend had MJ’s albums as audio cassettes. I used to lend it from him occasionally. I would hear them out on the weekend. I made up my own lyrics. It sounded similar to the song. I sang along with him.

The teenage years saw me exploring music. I was consuming whatever came my way. Some struck on for a while and became a part of my playlist. Others faded away. Some of them made a comeback and stuck with me forever. Some just never left. Music has been an integral part of my growing up. I always have it with me now that we have mobiles. I make sure I have them downloaded in my storage so that I can listen to them whenever I want. This is pretty useful when you are traveling and do not have the internet to stream your music.

I will reach Pattom junction soon. At night you will find a couple of food trucks in this stretch spanning from the school to the PSC office. They set up their stalls and attract a good amount of customers. In the evening you can see fruit vendors, booksellers, and people selling simple stuff. Just beyond this stretch is the Pattom bus stand. All the buses stop here, so there is a steady stream of passengers to be catered to.

I take the cutting and enter the left side of the road. A bike lies crashed on a telephone pole. It is awfully quiet. This place was never quiet.

I have seen my fair share of apocalyptic movies. I am Legend is the one that comes to my mind when I think about them. Will Smith has played his role beautifully. The story takes place quite a few years after the outbreak of a virus that has killed a large chunk of humanity. Some of them have turned into something similar to zombies. Will is immune to it and is trying to find a cure for it. It was a popular movie. I am sure everyone has seen it.

I like how they have portrayed New York City. The graphics team has done a phenomenal job in creating a ghost city. The eerie silence enhances the atmosphere the movie creates. I saw it on DVD. I wish I had seen it in the theatres. The feeling of emptiness can be daunting on the big screen. But I wanted to experience it nevertheless.

Never had I thought I would experience something similar to it. I am in Pattom, which is an integral part of the city and I find myself surrounded by silence. There is so much silence - the pin-drop kind. This place never remains shut. No matter what time of the day it was, vehicles could be found plying on the road. People could be found waiting for a bus at the bus stop. There was movement and people and sounds.

Thinking about the movie and my current circumstance makes me apprehensive. I wish this ordeal doesn’t last that long. I don't know the reason for this yet. I am still in the dark. I am trying to find out what has happened. It will take time, I know. But I need to get to the bottom of this. I need to find a solution to this and bring back my wife and everyone else who has disappeared.

I stop at Pattom Junction. The signals are flashing yellow. A few dogs that have come out of a bylane bark at me. They hold their ground. I rev my scooter loudly and drive ahead.