Have you ever seen someone for the first time in your life, and felt an odd sense of familiarity? And not just some light feeling- but strong enough to feel it like the force of ripples in the field that holds us together. You’re gawking, and trying to process it, and the other person just stares back at you, slowly growing more concerned as the seconds pass — you’ve not felt that, no? Ah.

Then you must have surely felt the way you sometimes instantly click with someone, within the first few seconds of meeting. Yeah? That works too. It’s the same thing really, just without the metadata plaguing you.

Everytime I feel this, I think back to something I was told when I was very young - about how I we keep meeting the same people in different forms, again and again, until we’ve settled all our dues completely. It makes me think about how we ourselves, are a part of something much bigger, a play at a scale much grander and larger than our own individual lives. But we live it through ourselves, so in no way are our lives insignificant. We magnify every tendril of chaos, every little unfurling of order. Our existence is the proof of magic.

As I smile and shake your hand, images flash at the back of my eyes in quick succession.
Me and you, sipping coffee under the pink skies today in Bangalore.
Me and you, in rags and riches of a time centuries ago.
Me and you, leading our armies against each other on the battlefield.
Me and you, playing the bloody game of succession in the royal household.
Me and you, fishing and leading ships to war to capture a tiny piece of land.
Me and you, in every lifetime before this one, always in an attempt to settle our dues.

Perhaps we’ve met so many times now, that I recognise the fragrance of your soul from miles away. You may have no idea yet, but I have a feeling this is going to go a long way. The only issue is- I have no idea what way this is going to go. Who’s got an upper hand? On which side of the balance is the pile of gold larger? The tides begin to move, and I feel the weight of the ancient, larger than life balance, shift. Slowly but surely. My hand falls back at my side, buzzing with electricity. Time will tell.

Try it, next tine. If you tune in, you will be able to feel it too. People always have their characteristics, all their learnings are just a layer upon the original flavour of the purest form of their beings - and every character has a certain role to play. I see the teller, the doer, the beauty, the beast, the player, the ruler, and the destroyer, all in one frame.

Just like olden times, perhaps (: