Life, or something close to it.

'Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame!'- W.B.Yeats

Dhaka, she's such a tease. Its summer now. Day after day, it gets hotter and more humid. The increase is efficiently steady. And the day I conclude that today has to be the hottest and it can’t get hotter than this, the very next day it does. There's heat, so much heat and there's humidity but no rain, unfortunately. So it’s just the draining heat without any respite, no rain for company, no escape from the sun. Every passing hour of every day is a struggle against the wet, sticky sweat beads and the ever exhausting dehydration. And just when I feel broken down and begin to think how much more of this can I really take, she sends in the smoothest, the gentlest, evening breeze. As if a small gust of air could make up for so much torture, but, it almost does. And though I know I’m supposed to be sulking over how unfair she can really be, the feel of the cool wind against me makes me forget just about everything. The wind is so alluring, it’s almost impossible not to enjoy it.

But more often than not, the breeze doesn’t stay a simple gentle breeze for long, it becomes more powerful and maybe more destructive but for me that's what makes it even better. I do not live along the coastlines, and though I’ve heard of the hundreds who lose their home to this very wind, it’s hard to stay mad at something so pure. It may cause absolute mayhem and take many human lives but by the time it reaches me, it’s just perfect. It may have arrived from a bloody past but when with me all it is, is a very blatant but very pleasant reminder that Dhaka can be wonderful if she wants to. And I know tomorrow, the sun will shine again, brighter and hotter and Dhaka will be back to her normal self, and our love-hate relationship will continue, buts that tomorrow. Today she's in a good mood and the wind is just so heavenly. It's the perfect company, if there ever was one .Why can't she be this way all the time? Even the harsh wind would do, if she’s in a foul mood. It would be hard to walk, it would be hard to drive, and basically it would be hard to move around, with unprofitable disruption of transportation but it would be so easy to smile.

Life. The undying mystery of our existence is astonishing, amazing and quite frankly exasperating. How far does a man have to go before he finds his answer to the ultimate of all queries, what is life? And it will be his answer because I think each of us has a separate answer to be found. In fact, each of us has a separate answer for the separate periods of time that we are going through. What I felt life was, around ten years ago, isn't what I feel now. The meaning of life for me has changed, drastically but also inevitably. Our definitions of life change with time, and so it should. Nothing stays the same. Change is unavoidable. So, for me, (believing that it’s meaning is ever transient), life is the present. And it’s not necessarily along the lines of 'live life as if it’s your last day' mantra. No, none of that, because more often than not, circumstances dictate our course of actions, or rather we let it. Life simply put, is the present. What you are going through now, is life. It might be a rainbow of happiness, with sunny skies and rosy beds. If it is, that's really good. There is no reason why it can’t be so. Or, your present maybe horrible, a dreary tread through the unrelenting motions of frustration that echo day after day after day. If that's what it is, well, tough luck, that is life. The future may change everything. But the future is an illusion and nothing more than a fictional apparition. There is every possibility that things may get better and the struggles you put in today may reap you benefits that you so deserve and you may bring about a change. But change isn’t a guarantee of better things to come. You then plunge into another phase in your life and find a new definition, it may be more blissful or it may be more miserable. Life knows no justice. It knows neither compassion nor disdain. It doesn’t measure out equal amounts of happiness and sorrow to hand out to everyone, so each of us is happy and sad in equality. Happiness and sorrow are your achievements. All life gives you is your present, what you have now, this moment that's alive. The past is gone, it’s dead. You may linger with your memories of how good it all was once, but that is nothing more than a few thoughts circling in your head. It is romantic to remember the good old days, but unfortunately futile. The future is just a hollow promise. It’s something to pin your hopes to, just so to avoid the feeling of absolute dejection. Hopes that maybe based on nothing more than a sincere, illogical wish. The present however, is real. The present is all you have. The present is all you'll get.

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment" - Buddha.

Imagine a child's dream of becoming the greatest there ever was. Imagine two brothers' memory of having a game on a Saturday evening. Imagine searching for five friends to have a match indoors. Imagine 11 of us walking, running, jumping, sliding, heading, tackling, crossing, passing, shooting, saving, scoring, defending and attacking. Imagine the breeze the forty yards of turf feels as the ball rushes over, courtesy of a Lampard stunner. Imagine ninety minutes that gives you every possible emotion. Imagine hundred and ten yards of green heaven. Imagine hundreds of us shouting and cheering in front of a big screen though our cheers don’t really matter. Imagine the five thousand broken hearts that travel across cities to see their team lose. Imagine the seventy thousand hearts that soared when Michael won the derby match on the 96th minute. Imagine the two hundred thousand hands that go up when Andres drives through a wall of defenders at Catalonia. Imagine millions of mouths across the globe shout Goal! , at the same time, as the ball crosses the line. Imagine a nation holding its breath as it watches you take a free kick. Imagine billions of hearts beating for the same cause. Imagine the humiliation of a stupid blunder. Imagine the redemption in a fingertip save. Imagine the chill of an early shower after a red card. Imagine the thrill of a last ditch tackle. Imagine the half time talk of a furious manager. Imagine the cleverness of a chip. Imagine the audacity of a back heel. Imagine winning in the second half, after you were down and out on the first. Imagine the pain of a defeat. Imagine the joy of a goal. Imagine the torture of a penalty miss. Imagine the agony of coming second. Imagine, oh can you imagine, lifting the World Cup. Imagine Steven's fifty yard pass. Imagine Paul's vision. Imagine Lionel's quick feet. Imagine Cristiano's step overs. Imagine Diego's dash. Imagine Roy's tackle. Imagine David’s free kick. Imagine Gianluigi's full stretch for a save. Imagine Ryan's cross. Imagine Wayne's volley. Imagine Ruud's finish. Imagine desolation. Imagine ecstasy. Now gather all these rainbow of emotions: pain, misery, suffering, hate, sorrow, relief, hope, joy, delight, bliss and everything else, and somehow stuff it inside a circumference of 27 inches, put it down, take two steps back. Now KICK IT! Imagine Life. Imagine Football.