Into the Unknown

I recently spent nearly half a day at a cosy co-working space in Chennai. The space made me wonder if the Pinterest board of a passionate artist had blossomed to life. It was elegant, had the right mix of darker and lighter hues, and was very easy on my delicate eyes. I spent nearly half a day there, and the space was nothing but inspiring and conducive for my creative juices to flow uninterrupted.

A section of that co-working space was dedicated to books. Books from diverse genres — written by authors young and old — adorned the wooden shelves.

There was a book on the Vanishing Homes of India, and another on the Humans of Bombay; so on and so forth. My eyes scanned the books slowly but excitedly and it landed on — bingo! — a book that I had wishlisted on Amazon only two days ago! — The Big Book of Ideas.

My hands shook with the thrill that comes only with discovering treasure troves of the written word. I picked the book up, thumbed through the pages, sincerely admired the book’s design, photographs, fonts, and marveled at the sheer power of ideas.

I put the book back into its original spot, and made a mental note to come back to it later. I went back to my nook and continued working. Within 20 minutes, the alarm in my phone whistled softly to remind me of a storytelling event that was going to begin upstairs.

I picked up my things, and dashed towards the venue. After a mesmerizing session of storytelling — in which the narrators enthralled me with tales from Indian mythology — I came down to the co-working space to continue working.

After a minute or two, I looked up and saw the book shelf. I excitedly remembered my book and went over there. I scanned the shelves, but alas, my book was gone! I panicked; surely it would be here?!

I searched the shelves again, but I couldn’t find it. I asked the manager about it, and she promised me that all the books were still there, and requested me to check again.

I checked every nook and cranny of the shelves, but I could not lay my hands on that devil. I think Elsa would nod her gorgeous head in agreement when I shout that my book had truly vanished Into The Unknown.

May be the book transformed into a invisible Snitch and flew past me. But, if I ever set my sights on that book again, I’m not going to Let It Go!

And if you ever get a chance to grow wings like this magical book, grab that opportunity and fly away into the world!