It was Friday afternoon ; summer in a Spanish city , hot and dusty . Sajjad was travelling back home from work . The people on the train looked tired and bored with life. Or was it just the way he perceived them, through the veil of his own jaded mood ? He felt tired and impatient to get free from the tiring energy of the city. He loved this city ,however, especially in the morning when he went to work, under the promise of a new day, the sun light playing on the beautiful architecture of its graceful buildings , the splash of colour of flowers and fruit displayed in its streets , the exciting challenge of a new day , people opening their shops, people fresh and beautifully groomed walking to work , …he sometimes marvelled and wondered what could be the driving force behind so many people getting up every morning , grooming themselves and all going to work in unison , the sheer wonder of 4 million people all convening to get up , go to work every day and make this place a hub of human activity …But now his energy spent , he felt tired , hot , irritable , ragged around the edges …
The train went along the coast, and he gazed out at the solid dark blue of the sea sparkling under the bright summer sky, glistening in the hot afternoon sun. As he looked out at the sea and the horizon under the clear blue sky, he felt that wondrous feeling of Mediterranean eternity.
When he got home, he jumped into his old Ford Fiesta and drove down to the beach. He took off his clothes and laid them down on the sand. He looked at the dark blue of the sea, the turquoise green and the white foam of the waves breaking on the shore and retreating in an endless gentle rhythm .He silently prayed to the sea as Bava Sagara , and gratefully dived into Grandfather Sea’s refreshing embrace. He felt the coolness of the water take away the heat and frayed feeling that seemed to be coming from the area of his liver on the right side of his body , the salt water seemed to drain away the negative and tired feelings in his being . He could feel the pure, gentle energy that he could sometimes feel in the centre of his body, flowing along his spinal cord. He surfaced and looked back joyously at the distant mountains, the beauty of their shape and colour ; there were no thoughts in his head , just silence. He looked back at the shore with its line of houses that now looked like something a child might have painted. It was as if the patina of tired adultness had lifted from his eyes and he could now see things again in the way a happy, innocent child might see the world. Suddenly the world was a wonderful place again, life was beautiful. His heart was filled with joy.
