In a crowded market place I saw a guy gazing at a mannequin. He stood still with both his hands hanging loosely on his sides; his face held high by a few centimeters, giving an impression that he was probably looking at the mannequin’s eyes. The mannequin wore a baby pink lingerie, posing in a sultry manner to lure in some ‘customers’. But he didn’t seem to fall for this marketing trap laid by the shopkeeper, instead he stood still for minutes without any sort of motion. It was as if he was in the intense process of mindful meditation- where a person meditates being aware of his surroundings. The uninterested crowd passed behind him, pushing and shoving him away from their extremely tight schedules, schedules in which they couldn’t fit themselves but only the multinationals they slaved for. After a while, a brown pup came around him and started hovering near his feet. It was trying to catch his elusive attention in search of some food and enormous love but he was actually not there. Even the pup lost its will and sat beside his right foot, idly waiting for at least his minimal commotion.
Then, that moment of a spring morning arrived when the warmth in the atmosphere starts becoming harsh, leaving behind its freshness, but still he was stoned at the same place. And then the owner of the shop stepped-in in a casual manner to re-open his only source of income and found this person in his intriguing paralysis. He shooed away the innocent pup with a spark of dominance and without any sense of affection and called for this guy standing directly in front of him. He didn’t answer, so the shopkeeper pushed him aside by a little stroke of his palm only to disturb his body by a few millimeters but not his attention. Still, the guy stood firm where he were ever since like ages. The shopkeeper thought for a moment, considering all possibilities of him being blind and deaf both and started testing his assumptions. He waved his hands right in the front of the guy’s face but there wasn’t an iota of movement; continuing his battle, he shouted vehemently in both his ears but response was a blank audio-video from the guy. From behind a short heightened man in his forty’s came and patted on the shopkeeper’s back. Alarmed, he immediately looked back with an expression fluctuating between surprise, confusion, frustration and more confusion. The short man asked,”Did he move at all? Did he say anything?” baffled, the shopkeeper said “no” in a reflex reaction accompanied with questions. The short man replied with a satisfaction,”Oh that’s brilliant! I knew he was in love with her.” Outpouring with doubts, the shopkeeper gave a questioning look to this short man who possessed a caring happiness on his face, and he said,”Last night I saw this lady mannequin, I showed it to him and I could see the love he had for her; it was love at first sight. The very next moment I glued his feet here so that he could gaze at her beauty until he wanted and I am extremely delighted with the love they have generated since the last six-seven hours, I feel like letting him stay here for more. Let them know each other to their unexplored cores.” Stunned and astonished, the shopkeeper asked,”Are you out of your mind? And this is a mannequin! How come it is so real? His skin, his eyes, his lips, how come… and… if it is a mannequin then how come… he loves… what the hell is all this you are talking about!” he said all this while touching the male mannequin’s facial features. “I had a wife whom I loved so much that I used to get lost in her the most when she was in her pink lingerie, the moment just before we were about to make love. I loved resisting the temptation of what was forthcoming and what was right then. It was our kind of love: unusual and magical! So I didn’t want him to miss that kind of enchantment and ecstasy I experienced, after all he is my best friend now and our tastes are analogous.” said the short man with joyous tears trickling down his cheeks and instantly he walked away from there pecking his ‘friend’ at his neck and leaving the shopkeeper awestruck.
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2016