Glasses swirled. The Old monk rested. Mixed with Soda and ice cubes,
it waited patiently for its date with his senses. It wouldn’t be long.
Fingers were busy. It was not every day that they found themselves
handling a cigarette with clichéd style. Half done, thought the brain,
unaware that the real deal was to come from the last two puffs. It was
a day of surprises. Surprise for the body and for the mind, both of
which stood powerless, watching as he plunged into stimulation – for
the first time.

Gaurang smiled. He felt like a consultant today. Half way through his
box, he watched, as Kapil puffed enthusiastically on ‘Wills Classic’-
a brand that Gaurang almost considered family. Niraj guzzled his beer,
intending to drown the irritation felt by being teased on the fact
that his cigarettes were menthol flavored. Nikhil sat at 45% to Kapil,
his hands firm on the hookah pipe, his eyes fixed, happily toying with
this scene of a ‘so-called’ saint having succumbed to these kings of
stimulation.

Breathing slowed. Deep inside, the smoke was starting to do its thing
with the mind.

Three rapid puffs had done the trick. The head warmed instantly. This
was too good to waste. Numbness deepened as he took another two rapid
puffs and reclined with eyes closing slowly, absorbing it, maximizing
it, leaving whatever was doing the trick -distraction-less, This was
real. This was good. The mind was clear now. Akin to a healthy horse,
standing perfectly, ready to be used with utmost efficiency. Will
power. Was at his feet.

Time had slowed down. An era ended as he sadly crushed his stick in
the tray. The real thing was yet to come. Lips smiled thankfully as
they touched black water wavering silently in a long chic glass. The
smile was short lived. Taste buds yanked as the dark bitter tonic
fought its way down the throat. He had been pre-warned. He was
surrounded by experts, playing ‘Count my fingers’ with this rookie of
a novice they watched happily – high and helpless. Countless sips
inside, the rum had started to kick in. The mind, with bags packed for
a vacation, had almost put the body in auto-pilot.

Muscles loosened, legs relaxed, spine eased as he shut his eyes to
distractions and funnily focused on how his will was being sabotaged.
The effect was almost the opposite of what the puffs had had. Or at
the most, a conflicting corollary. By the time the big last sip
approached, technically, he was on a ‘high’. The body felt shut down,
and the mind on a standby. Control was relinquished. This was better.
A new dimension had creeped up between the body and the mind, almost
akin to an astral body.

The moment had arrived. Oblivious to everything around him, he stood
erect on this virtual mountain of happiness, searching feverishly for
other mountains around him. He was looking for one in particular -
That of spiritual happiness. At last he saw it. At a distance, it
looked smaller. His eyes now squinted, considered it closely for a
stretch of time, judging its strength and size as well as his senses
allowed him to. The answer was clear. He smiled. It was higher, and
stronger.

* *  * *

Hi, Im Kapil, A happiness freak, a firm believer in pure
love and full awareness, and a happy writer of happy fiction.

And also read his another stories The energy network and Unsplit beings.