Eternity | A love story
I have a tattoo on my right hand that reads Eternity. It has been around long enough that it’s starting to fade. Here is a photo of it from when it was new.
When you have tattoos, you get asked the justification of putting yourself through that kind of pain (aka significance of the tattoo) once in a while. So there have been quite a few times where I have recounted versions of ‘why the Eternity tattoo’ to various people including many of you reading this. Today, I want to write about it in light of a story that I learned last night when reminiscing old times with Pious and our friend, Aamil.
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Part 1
When I was in the first year of college, (right out of a school where I basically knew everyone and everyone knew me to a college where I was just another college student. In the beginning, I wondered quite a few times if I belonged there) as a part of a business event, I invested 100rs to start a business for a few hours. We were told that we had to make a profit using this money by the end of the day. The customers were to be other college students who weren’t participating. The team/person that made the most profit would win the competition. I loved this challenge as much I loved winning back then so I got busy with it.
I bought some chocolates for a hundred. Sold them for a small profit. Reinvested that money to buy pens, sold them for a lot of profit. Reinvested that money and the cycle continued- by the end of the day, I went home having made 15 times my initial capital (mighty returns). Till last night, this was the highlight of that day for me.
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Part 2
Last night I heard a story about three school friends who were in hanging out in the canteen at St Xaviers’ College, Kolkata. They felt a deep sense of belonging to that canteen as they had gone to the same school. It was home and they were just chilling.
Another college student comes to them and tries to fabricate a reason as to why they should buy overpriced pens from her. Now, remember it’s not like college kids have large disposable incomes. It was clear to everyone involved that she didn’t have high hopes but they were good looking guys so she gave it a shot anyway. Unexpectedly, one of the friends took an interest in what this girl was up to. He asked her a bunch of questions and eventually decided to help her out and buy a pen.
That friend was Pious! The pen salesgirl was me!
That is how I first met the person I was going to marry. 13 years ago in a college canteen. And we found out the truth of how we met only yesterday. He’s been backing me and taking a chance on me for a little longer than I knew.
I have believed in my concept of Eternity for a while and as time goes by the belief has held its significance in my interactions with strangers and friends alike.
What do I mean when I say Eternity? (my answer is no more than an effort to define a limitless idea and feeling using limiting words)
Eternity is a space where all the connections that touch your life live. This is where the ‘light of that relationship’ shines. We are aware of only a small section of connections that make it on this list. People that have a direct impact on us or people whose lives we touch deeply. But the large part of what becomes the shining lights and the connections on the map of our own eternity remain largely unknown to us.
Picture a night sky with lots of visible stars. You can name a few if you paid attention in life. But you still can’t name most of them- that’s how I imagine the map of eternity looks. Another thing about this concept of eternity is this- it is separate from our physical existence on earth. It exists in eternity. And keeps shining on whether we are around or not.
Linking the song that I was listening to while writing this and which is perfect for this musing too: Goodbye by Apparat
Have the most wonderful week ahead.
