I have this strange desire to lose my way. Whenever we are going anywhere and suddenly the person/people with me forget the directions, I feel a great thrill.
Years ago when I was dating my ex, I remember how he panicked when we landed up in some obscure place. I wanted to eat at a Chinese restaurant run by a Parsi in a Maharashtrian locality.
Why? Just like that...I had eaten there once and though the food was not memorable, I recall the flickering shadows cast by the red lantern. I was new to the eating-out days and dragons and lanterns made me very excited. I did not talk about "authentic cuisine". I did not even call it cuisine.
So, there we were in the middle of nowhere and he had no clue why we were there. An impeccable driver who knew exactly where to go, he was being navigated by one with no sense of direction.
"What now?"
I was laughing. I loved the music, the night air, the urchins who had fallen asleep...
"Just take a loop," I said.
I instinctlively know there are no straight paths.
Sure enough, as we were turning, I yelled out, "Stop!"
There stood the obscure restaurant. It was still open. I could see the red tinge from the lanterns.
I suddenly felt a surge of having achieved something. The only way to reach someplace is to get lost on the way.
Because there is always some place.
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