Freudian interpretation of dreams" I declared with some authority, " I would interpret this dream as the following… Ahem! Would you like to have it opened up for you?" I concluded.
Anusri stared at me doubtfully. " Okay, but don’t come up with your own theory" she look at me threateningly.
" Lie on the couch and let me sit behind you in typical style" I said taking a seat by the window.
I stared out of the window at the lovely green mountains that surrounded us in this hill station where we were on a week’s vacation.
Who is Anusri? You will remember, she is my office romance from my earlier piece "But Who Is Going To Be The Man?" She has been struggling with my advances towards her, loving and despising it all at the same time. And of late she’s done the worst – she’s started to work from home and so I don’t see her every day. We planned therefore to take a week off and hike up to Matheran, near Bombay. Just the two of us.
Presently she is going to share her dream with you and me.
" And…if you are ready…" I say
" Okay, I dreamt I was sleeping with someone, a woman. She was very dark and I was hugging her. We were in a room full of people including Nags from the office was there. I thought to myself…Oh, they are going to see me! I was afraid and shy. But I knew I liked this dark woman I was holding in my arms."
She turned around to face me " Okay! What is the meaning of that dream?"
"Simple! The black woman you are holding is the dark side of you. The side you do not want to acknowledge or see. Yet that is a side you love as well. Explains why you are holding on to her you see? The people you see around are the social faces you are ashamed to face as you willingly indulge in loving that side of yourself. You’ve been trying to hide the fact that you are not so main stream after all! These are your constructions. There is no Nags from the office etc."
Anusri flew at me. " You are so wicked! You’ve made that up, haven’t you?"
" No! Of course not! Why the hell should I want to make that up for you?"
" Because you imp," she said grabbing hold of my hair, " you’ll do anything to make me admit I have something going out for you!"
" Well don’t you? C’mon, you are really trying so hard to keep that side of you, who is capable of loving women, under cover. Admit it! You love me".
" No, I don’t. Or at least I am not aware of whether I do or I don’t."
" Oh! You are such a thinker".
If you have ever hiked up to Matheran in the rains (best time, by the way) you will know the beauty of that walk is something you can never forget in your life and it will haunt you till forever. We had arrived in Bombay early morning and taken a train at 4am to Neral from Dadar. It is one hour thirty minutes to Neral by local train. When you get down at Neral Station, you just have to start your walk. There are many ways to get to the top – hike the tough way or take a toy train. But Anusri and I love hiking and so our choice – take the road less traveled, the tarred but smooth road up to Matheran. We both knew that we would just have to walk up without halting at all. If we did we would never be able to walk with the same determination. Four and a half-hours! Non-stop! What determination it takes – the rain beating against us, drenched to the skin! Our feet slipping inside the keds….hard walk, hard work. When we reached the top, we were really exhausted. But exuberant!
Inside the Hill Top Hotel we had a lovely room overlooking the green hills and valleys. It is while we had our afternoon siesta that Anusri had this dream necessitating this Freudian interpretation of dreams. Away from our natural Delhi environment, Anusri was relaxed. Also there were a lot of people in Matheran last weekend. And that set the setting for the night.
Matheran does not have any discotheque but the Rain Dance just a little away from where we were staying was the most lively disco I had ever been to. Anu refused to dance in the rain but I dragged her to dance in the open-air dance floor, all so slippery and wet from the red mud and the downpour of screens of rain. We shook our tiredness away….having a few beers and rocking it till the early hours of the morning.
" You are going to give me pneumonia," she said as we walked back to the room. We were just about to turn the key of the door when I pulled her back in the open and this time without a word, I embraced her in my arms and kissed her for the first time, right here under the pouring rains and for some reason, she did not resist. Only after we sort of broke away from each other, she said, " How come you did not even ask my permission?" I moved close to her and together we turned the key to our room " Because, I realized, you like brute force"! She was going to react again but we were inside the room and already in bed with our wet clothes on.
" Let’s at least change," she said
" Yes", I said, my voice thick with emotion, " You help me do that and I will help you too " I said greedily kissing her body.
Have you ever made love in the rains or under a tin roof when the rain is pouring relentlessly down on it? It is called the dance of the wild horses – it is a passionate, steady pouring and you might have your music playing in your room but it is difficult to hear that sound over the thumping sound of the hoofs of the horses stamping on your roof. It is loud and clear like the fire in your eyes, and the blazing heat of your breath and the movements of your body. It binds you like two pythons would, if they were to get entangled with each other.
In Matheran, it never rains; it pours. All night long.
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