Day 3

Sunsets used to have a melancholic effect on me, I was unable to comprehend as to why people were fascinated and would have their pictures taken at dusk especially at seaside. Most of my academic life I preferred to study in evening shifts but I was never comfortable with this time in particular. Until I saw the sunset in Singapore, it was beyond my teeny weenie imagination that an end of a day could be so captivating and serene. I have been fortunate enough to travel to some countries but nothing matched the evenings in Singapore; everyone was celebrating life, very dressed up with perfect hair. Almost all the taxis we hired the drivers were either whistling or humming some tunes. It was really odd for someone coming from Pakistan to observe such behavior, me & my family were like “oh gosh, this driver is a suspicious character”. In Pakistan if a stranger sings and even worse if he whistles in front of ladies it is considered impoliteness bordering to offensiveness. Luckily for us we soon realized that it was only their very normal way to express Joy. Probably that’s why there is a song “Jevan mein eik baar aana Singapore” which means “once in a lifetime you should visit Singapore”.

Looking back I could now understand that it was neither the lights nor the contemporary architecture nor the glamour of the place which was responsible to beautify sunset or any time, rather what is required is deep inner peace, joy and gratitude of the people. The external is merely the mirror reflection of the internal. The Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle tells us that “as the perceiver changes the perceived changes.”

Since then whenever I looked at sunset mostly from the window of my mom’s room I stand in awe of its mesmerizing beauty, how fascinating are all the different colors in sky from lavender, pink to red, nearly blue and the sun being brilliant orange.

I know for sure that Peace, Love, Beauty Gratitude and Joy are all independent of everything.

A Very Good Evening To All.

Sonya