Random me... (Random 3)

As I entered the room, my sandals made a sound which my ears immediately classified as noise. I took them off, and walked barefoot on the wooden floor.

Somewhere near the center, I paused, and looked all around me, taking in every detail. When flawlessness  and plainness come together, there isn't much to notice. I think I was just absorbing it all. There was so much the arched roof echoed, there was so much those mirrors reflected, and the beats, still resounding from that floor.

Four chairs were placed on one corner of the room, and I occupied the second from the right. My feet crossed to resist the urge to move to an inaudible beat. 

It all seemed to reappear before me. And then, it disappeared. Reappeared, and disappeared. The dupatta taken over the shoulder, and tied around the waist, the kohl-lined eyes, the wrinkles of the churidar, hair neatly pulled back in plaits, the faint stains of sweat on our clothes, and the glow of it on our faces. The sound of the anklets, now loud, now soft, now gone. 

My feet had uncrossed themselves, and my grip on the arm of the chair had loosened. I don't remember walking to the center of the room, but I found myself standing there. I tied my hair, rather untidily, and noticed from my reflection, that my glassy eyes longed for kohl. Still scrutinizing my reflection, I took the dupatta over my shoulder, and tied it around my waist. My feet, I could see, longed for anklets. 

And then, there were beats. I knew, they were only in my mind, and would be inaudible to another, but to me, they were compelling. My right foot stretched out, and the hand followed, and I performed with apprehension, the first tukra I had shown proudly to Ma. I remembered the excitement I had felt when I had put on the angarkha for the first time. I remembered the Ladi I had performed to an audience of more than two hundred people. As if in a trance, I found myself performing the Ladi again, and then the Tihai, and then, I was spinning on my feet, just the way I had, then. The spinning was uncontrollable, my feet wouldn't stop.

I fell on the floor, gasping for breath. The sweat on my face intermingled with silent teardrops. My heart beat hard, so full of exhilaration.

After a while, I got up, wiped my tears, tidied my hair, my clothes, put on my sandals, and walked out of the room looking a lot less solemn than I did when I had entered. I think I had a smile on. 

And now, I even walked on a rhythmic beat.