For a long time I have been scared of the shadows. From movies to theatre, from prose to verse, from childhood to adulthood, everywhere I find a common image of the shadows. The horror, the fear, the terror is all hidden in this one term. This shadow! What can be behind it? What if all the shadows disappear from the world? What would be there when there will no more be a sign of any shadow? It was all my boyhood fantasy, and I had an urge to move the curtains from this mysterious term.

At the dusk, when I was sitting in the shade of a tree, I heard a cry. The cry was from a rabbit. I was deeply influenced by the woeful depth of the voice. There were shrieks and there were cries. There was this monstrous touch in it and there was this timid nature in it. I could have composed anthologies on it. I could have published books on it. I could have mastered psychology in it. And I could have practiced my literature in it. But I did not compose. I did not master that one cry. I did not go beyond the humble beginnings. I was not literate enough. All my vocabulary, all my craft was zilch in front of that depth. Words appeared short horizoned before it. It was something deep enough that could not have been captured by the words of any language. It was something deep enough not to be captured by any craft, any art or anyone from the mankind.

But I turned. I turned towards that animal. I took a glance of that creature which opened a new world of literature for me. But what was I to see? Yet another shadow. In the dim light from the back, I was only able to see the curves of that body. I was able only to find something. But this time my anxiety and my inquisitiveness were not willing to leave the case in its present condition. I had to do something. I had to discover it. I had to disclose the secrets. And so I set off for my expedition. Every step of mine would mark further enthusiasm.

But as I approach the scenario, I am surely not as pleased and delighted as I might have expected. The ring turns into horns as the heaven shows hell…the fairy comes up as the devil. It was surely not a timid rabbit crying for some aid and love. It was surely not piety asking to be relieved. It was a trap. A trap for the innocent, a trap for the loving, a trap for those who trust. My destiny came out to be my biggest nightmare. And I came to know that all this time I was going after the jackal. My dreams broke. First time have I realized in my life that it is a frightening dream to see the shadows vanish! Some facts of life are better hidden. When exposed they are not a blessing but a disguised nightmare.