Zap. The biometric-data-swap-card had recorded my exit time. I hung the card round my neck and started walking down the steps to my car. Beep. My car opens with the automatic security system. I get in, turn on the radio and close my eyes for a second. Strange, technology has fixed so many things in our life; has made life so comfortable! But one bad day, and all the comfort seems painful. I know this rough day will end soon, I’ll be smiling, hanging out with my friends, yet it is so difficult to finish this moment.

I start the engine. And the tension begins to ease. It started as a necessity, then a luxury and now, after so many years, I never realised how much I enjoyed driving. I release the clutch and the car starts to move. Within seconds I am on the fifth gear. Wow. Was driving a passion?

I see the traffic turning a corner and follow the cars, with no real destination in mind. Following the crowd is easier. You don’t really need to think twice.

But where the crowd dwindles, I decide to plunge ahead. I am almost on the outskirts, driving for about an hour; have I left the city? I don’t know; haven’t kept track of the mile-stones. I am driving when I cross a tea stall. Wait. I reverse and head back.

It’s 8 years since I got out of college, could it be possible that I haven’t had this-something-that I thrived on for 8 years? That thought frightens. Could it be reality? What else have I left behind? I turn off the radio. I remove the ID-card and keep it aside. I relish the moment and the memories. I think about the child that I was and the man that I have become. I hear the oceans. I hear the winds whispering. How good do I feel about myself?

I close my eyes and think of all those things that bring a smile to me: my friends, my love, my family. But my heart plunges with a sudden adrenaline rush as I realise what I REALLY want to do, at that moment. I reverse, speed up maximum, and head straight to the one place I loved and that one place where I was my own person.

I walk to the auditorium. I climb the steps to it; to the back stage where we practised. I open the door and find it, placed exactly where it were supposed to be.

I pick it up and walk to the main area. I stand on that stage, to an audience of empty chairs; and I play the music.

I play till I can smile no more,

I play so I can smile;

I play to compensate yesterday,

I play to heart’s core.

I stand there; not so someone watches me,

I stand there so I watch myself,

I stand there to feel that energy,

I stand there; it is still with me.

I stand there because I enjoy,

That something within me;

I don’t know whether they see it,

It doesn’t concern me.

I stand there playing the cords

Of my soul,

I move with the music made,

I fill the air with that moment,

I fill it, so it will live.

And I know that is how each life feels,

I know that it is life,

I know this feeling exists,

I know it never dies.

I know I may be far away,

Yet that love thrives,

I know time will travel,

But it will never die.