I could read the excitement over the faces of the people as they entered the bar. Groups of friends, young couples, and solo revelers made their way inside, each wearing expressions of excitement and anticipation. Together, they exuded an energetic vibe, a collective yearning for a fun-filled night ahead.
But amidst the crowd, someone looked different. – a corpulent man with short black hair held a personality which showed that he came there for business, not with the purpose of enjoying the party.
Entering inside, I noticed the musicians playing instruments like Saxophone, Keyboard, and a Double Bass. It was the music I had listened to in movies but never in real life, as they were outdated now. ‘Outdated?’ Sorry I think I said it wrong. Any music style is never outdated but becomes less popular with time.
Inside, the environment was cozy. I felt a sense of warmth and comfort despite being alone. Lost in the ambience, I even forgot why I was there. I was just enjoying being there, savoring the sight of people drinking and dancing. I took a seat in the corner and relished the music. A waiter in white shirt and a red waistcoat came towards me, offering me drinks, which I declined.
Another waiter came and offered some snacks, which I gladly took. Two blondes chuckled as they saw me sitting alone, rejecting several alcoholic beverages that were offered to me. I had no idea for how long they had been noticing me. “Are you a teetotaler?” they asked me, mockery evident in their voice.
They came towards me and one of them said, “You seem to be party pooper, and still you are here?”
“Who brought you here?” Other one asked me with an evil laugh, and I became more aware of my body language and not to mention, I became a lot uncomfortable. I wished for them to go away but did not know how to.
“No, no. I am enjoying the party. My friends must be arriving here soon. God Damn traffic these days, you know?” I said trying to fit in and to show that I am not a nerd, but I failed.
They teased me further, and one of them came closer to me. I tried to move back, but she continued to approach. I backed away until I found that I had reached the end of the sofa. She leaned towards me, ran her finger across my face, and said in a whisper “Why don’t you call your friend and ask where they are? If they are running late, you can come and dance with us.”
“No thanks, I am alright. Now excuse me,” I said as I got up only to realize that my hand was held by the same girl.
“Why are you in a hurry? Come and sit with us. Let us get to know each other.”
“My friend got a crush on you.” the other girl said.
“Come on. It doesn’t take long to get to know each other. She is Myra, I am Manny and you are?” said the first one.
“I am Sarthak. Nice to meet you, but I am sorry; I need to go now.” I said and made my second attempt to get up. This time, she did not resist me.
“Bye, Sarthak. I thought we could be friends.” Manny said. I went to the other part of the bar, near the musicians and paid attention to how they were playing the instruments.
A waiter was passing by me. I stopped him, took a drink, and asked “What time is it?”
“It’s 8 o’clock sir.” He said and went away.
Eight o’clock? That did not sound right. I had entered the bar at 8 pm only, and since then I must have spent at least twenty mins here. “I will check my mobile. Why did I not think of it earlier? I could easily check the time on my mobile.” I said to myself and put my hand in my pocket in order to take out my mobile and realized that I had not brought my mobile with me. My pocket was empty.
Some strange discomfort arose in me, and I felt an urge to know the exact time. After asking a few people I was sure it was really eight o’clock, which was pretty strange. Thinking clearly, I found out that other things were also strange. Till date I haven’t gone to any bar, but today there I was. I did not like parties at all, but today somehow I was able to enjoy the ambience. And strangest of all, I was not able to recall the name of the bar and where it was located. If that is so, then how did I come here and why did I come here? I tried to recall the last thing I did before coming here, and I was not able to. I was not able to recall when I came back after work, when I changed clothes, when I left the house and which route I took. All I remember was entering the gate of the bar.
Then a thought struck me “Am I dreaming?” The strange air further made me sure that I was surely dreaming. Surely dreams are strange but it was strangest of all the dreams I ever dreamt. It was more vivid. IT WAS LUCID.
A waiter was passing by whom I stopped and asked “Do you feel things are strange here?”
“No sir. Things seem to be in order. I do not understand what you ARE TRYING to say.”
“Slap me.”
“What sir? Sorry Sir, I can’t do this.”
“I am ordering you. Slap me.”
“Why sir?”
“I think I am dreaming and I believe if it is real then I will feel the pain otherwise I will not.” I didn’t even know where this idea came from. After a lot of thoughts he slapped me and to my surprise I did not feel any pain.
“Thanks. Isn’t it strange, you are a fragment of my imagination and still I am seeking your approval to tell me it is a dream. You just exist in my imagination and still I feel like it is a real conversation when it is all in my head. I know I am talking to a person who does not exist and yet I am still enjoying the conversation as if you are real. This imagined reality is comforting.”
He nodded and went back.
Though it was confirmed that I was dreaming, a part of me still wanted to confirm if it was truly a dream. So I pulled the skin of my left hand with my right hand. To my surprise it stretched in a fashion like it was made of rubber and it stretched and stretched until it finally popped out of my skin. To my surprise the skin of my hand was still intact from the area from where the chunk of skin was removed.
“It is a lucid dream.” I jumped up with excitement and decided to change a few things around me. I did not like the bar so I changed the place and people. I changed my surroundings to a mall and I ate a lot of food, all of it was free. Afterall despite enjoying food, we all want it for free. I could do whatever I wanted to do. For some time I had great fun but then I realized I could not do everything I wanted. Maybe because I was familiar with this and did not know how to do everything.
I saw a girl shopping in the mall and I felt myself drawn to her. I asked her if she wished to grab a cup of coffee with me. She said no. I asked again if she wanted to go somewhere else but she said no to that too. No matter how much I tried, I could not be with this girl.
“Don’t waste your time chasing things that are useless. You were brought here for a purpose.” I heard the voice of a man from nearby. I turned to see who this man was and to my surprise it was the same corpulent man with short black hair. He was wearing a white shirt, black coat, black pants and a red tie. He was sitting on a sofa that looked oddly placed in that area. He held a glass of wine and sat there so relaxed like he had plenty of time to waste. It looked like he had accomplished a lot. There was another man sitting beside him who gave an impression like he was an assistant of that man.
I moved towards him and asked “Sorry I do not understand. What do you mean by I was brought here for a purpose? Isn’t it a dream? And aren’t you a fragment of my imagination?”
“The world of lucid dreams is not what you have comprehended so far. You are new here and you barely understand the vastness of this universe. I am no fragment of your imagination. I am as real as you are. And this world is as real as your earth except that it is too dynamic and it changes frequently and rules of physics are different from the earth.”
“No, I know you are merely an illusion. You are just part of this dream and you exist nowhere except only in my mind.”
“Is that so? Why don’t you give it a try to check if I am real or not.”
“Yeah, sure.” I wished everything around to be changed and it was so except that the fat man was still there. I had imagined myself to be sitting on a train and he was sitting in the same train in front of me.
I was startled and asked “How?”
“Now you believe you were brought here by me? I am real and that girl whom you wished to date is also real.”
“By you?” I recalled that I had entered the bar at the same time he had.
“So you brought me into the lucid dream?”
“Yes, I entered your dream and brought you to the bar.”
“So why did you bring me here? What is this purpose you want me to fulfill?”
“All in time. For now go and explore this world. Learn about it. You will be told everything when it is the right time.”
“Ok.” I took a deep breath and said “Why should I believe you? What is the proof you brought me here? And if you brought me here, then I want you to end this dream right now. Then only I can believe you.”
“It is not as easy as you think it can be. Abrupt waking up from a lucid dream can cause a lot of chaos. You should not leave this world unless it is not the time. You are new here and you are not ready for many things. If I end it right now, you will fall terribly sick and feel a lot of anxiety too.”
“Then how would I believe you?”
“After waking up, you will receive a message on your mobile from the name of Swami.”
“What’s your full name?”
“It’s just Swami.”
“That’s strange.”
“Many things are. Good luck.” He waved his hand and vanished into thin air.
I was flabbergasted. In fact this dream was eerie in many ways. I went to a small restaurant and had a cup of coffee. While enjoying the sip of coffee and wondering about the mysteries of this world, I noticed a young boy holding two tea bags in his hand. He came towards me and lit a cigarette. I took away his cigarette and said “are you not too young to smoke a cigarette?”
“And ain’t you too foolish to believe that it was real?” he said.
“Sorry I am not used to being here. I am Sarthak and you are?”
“I am Mickey. Never seen you here. Is it the first time you visited here?”
“Yes.”
“So how are you feeling to be here? Enjoying it?”
“Yes. But I am afraid of a few things too.”
“Yes. I understand. The fear of the unknown. Don’t you worry. You will get used to it.”
“So where are you from?”
“Take my advice. Do not share your personal information here. It is not safe.”
I understood he was not going to tell me more about himself.
“So tell me how does this lucid dreaming work? I am still not able to believe it is real. Because I have heard experiences of others and none of them ever shared anything similar to what I am experiencing.”
“It is because they are not able to meet real people here. And even if they cross them, they are not able to notice it.”
“Are you real or do you exist only in this dream?”
“That is not my part to tell you.”
“Why?”
“Some things cannot be answered. Some answers you have to find out for yourself.”
For a brief moment I thought I would change things around me and imagine myself in a new place and see if he is also present there or not. But I did not risk it as my mind was whirling with a lot of questions and they needed to be answered.
“So you were telling me why others have a different experience from mine.”
“Yes. So this is how it works. When people have lucid dreaming, they think everything they have seen during their dream is entirely the part of the dream, which is not true. Yes, most of the part is their imagination but they are not able to notice the real people around them because of a few reasons. First of all, real people are very small in number as compared to imaginative figures and when they change the world around them, they feel everything has changed and they fail to notice one or two persons present after changing the things around them. Another reason is because the probability of their interaction is very low. Thirdly, not everybody remembers all the details of a dream so even if they have noticed it they would forget it after waking up.”
“I understand.”
“So people when they are in a lucid dream, they are not merely dreaming but they are visiting this strange universe.”
“Cool.”
“By the way if you want to come here again I have two tickets for coming back here.” He held out his hand and showed me the tea bags on his palms.
“They are just tea bags.”
“Yes. Drink its tea and you will be here tonight also.”
“You mean if I don’t drink it, I won’t be able to lucid dream tonight?”
“You can of course have lucid dreams but you can’t come here. This place is called Sindharak. Not everyone who has lucid dreams, comes here.”
“Sorry, I do not understand,” I interjected, my curiosity urging me to seek clarity.
He proceeded to explain, drawing an analogy to the vast expanse of our own universe, which featured galaxies like the Milky Way and Andromeda, along with an array of planets such as Earth, Mars, and Jupiter.
In a manner analogous to this, he described the lucid universe as a complex realm teeming with various galaxies, characterized by its dynamic nature. He emphasized that what existed as a galaxy today might undergo a complete transformation by tomorrow, all influenced by the thoughts of those who ventured into lucid dreaming.
Yet, at the heart of this ever-shifting cosmos lay a constant, the planet known as Sindharak. He made it clear that not just any fledgling lucid dreamer could find their way here. Only the most potent and skilled practitioners who had unraveled the universe’s secrets possessed the ability to access this enigmatic world.
With a solemn tone, he emphasized, “As you are a newcomer to the world of lucid dreaming, your arrival here was not a mere chance occurrence. You were brought to this realm for a purpose, guided by the hand of a powerful lucid dreamer.”
“What purpose could it be?” I asked, eager to unravel the mysteries of this strange place. “Do you have any idea?”
His response was cryptic, leaving me with more questions than answers. “With time, you’ll know,” he said, his enigmatic tone adding to the intrigue. “So what are your thoughts on coming here again?”
“His next question left me momentarily perplexed, pondering the prospect of returning to this enigmatic realm. A notion crept into my mind: would the individual responsible for my initial arrival not extend a second invitation? Unable to contain my curiosity, I voiced my query, “The person who brought me here, will he not bring me here again?”
His response, however, conveyed a sense of finality. “He has fulfilled his role,” he explained solemnly. “He has granted you an opportunity—a chance to become what you might never achieve in your waking life, an opportunity to embody the hero others aspire to be.”
His words stirred doubt within me. What was this task, and could it possibly be perilous? I sought further clarification, admitting, “I still do not understand.”
Then he explained again “You have been given this chance,” he said, his voice resonating with gravitas. “Now it is up to you to decide whether to accept it or continue living your simple life. You must choose whether to fulfill another’s destiny or embrace your own path.”
He presented a tea bag before me, and as I gazed upon it, I knew that my desire to return to this realm was resolute. I accepted the tea bag, and as if by magic, he conjured a tea cup from thin air. With a sense of purpose, I drank the tea it contained.
Simultaneously, he expressed his intent to depart, and just as mysteriously as he had appeared, he vanished into the thin air, leaving me with the weight of an impending quest in this intricate lucid universe.
As the dream shifted, I found myself near a towering flyover, and I encountered a mysterious stranger. The world of lucid dreaming was still filling me with a lot of enthusiasm. This world was very strange and still filled me with ecstasy. I pondered what others feel when they are in a lucid dream. I recalled confessions of various lucid dreamers that they used to fly in their dreams.
Thinking this, suddenly a desire to fly within this lucid dream burned within me. I thought of flying but before I could try it, I do not know why I felt like sharing it to that person.
I introduced myself and soon shared my desire to fly. But in return he said “I do not think that is a good idea as your lucid dream is about to end. Soon you will be back in your world, waking up in your bed.” I questioned how he could possibly know this, to which he responded cryptically, “I know a lot of things.”
Intrigued, I inquired about his existence, seeking to discern whether he was real or a mere construct of my imagination. He replied enigmatically, leaving the answer to my judgment. “That is left to your judgment,” he murmured. “What do you want to believe?”
He warned of the potential consequences of attempting flight at this critical juncture, explaining that an abrupt return to my waking world might cause a severe disorientation, a fall from grace I might not bear.
Heeding his counsel, I decided not to test the limits of my newfound powers. The dream world blurred around me, and I awoke in my own bed, my room bathed in the soft light of dawn. However, a strange sensation overcame me – I couldn’t move my head nor could I open my eyes. Panic set in, and I cried out for help.
My brother rushed to my side, concern etched across his face. “Sarthak, what happened?” he asked. But I was speechless.
In that desperate moment, I felt an inexplicable urge to surrender to sleep. It was as if I needed to refrain from waking myself up. So, I let go, allowing myself to slip back into slumber. The details of my ensuing dreams eluded my memory.
Morning eventually arrived, and as I awoke, my first instinct was to check my mobile in anticipation of receiving a message from Swami. But there was none. I could have ignored whatever happened in the dream to be my imagination and something still told me I was really in the Lucid universe. I thought he would message me later so I kept my mobile aside and came out of my room. Coming out of my room I saw my brother and I said “I am ok now.”
He looked confused, paused for a moment and then said “I am sorry bro I did not know you were not feeling ok. You looked fine last night at the dinner table and you did not even tell me anything. What was it?”
“Nothing , Just a nightmare.” I said.
Nothing odd happened that day. In the evening I felt strangely tired and canceled my therapy session. Without having dinner, I went to my bed and wondered why I had not received any message from Swami. Soon I got lost into the thoughts of the previous night.
WAS IT ONLY A DREAM? IF YES, THEN WHY DID MY INNER FEELING TELL ME IT WAS REAL? AND IF IT WAS REAL, THEN WHY WAS THERE NO MESSAGE FROM SWAMI? WHICH PURPOSE WAS I GOING TO SERVE?
With these thoughts in my mind, I drifted into my dreams. “Will I have another lucid dream?”