Shadow
‘He followed me like a shadow’,
I read somewhere in a crime thriller. That set me thinking. A shadow requires,
at the minimum, a source of light, an object and a screen / surface to ‘catch’
the shadow. If you are observing a shadow, at any point of time, you are aware
of one of these three and looking at all the three is very nearly impossible.
If you are not a part, even as an observer, still shadows could be there, say
for example, the occurrence of Eclipses.
What do you say about a
shadow of someone, where there is no object? Can you call that a ghost? Are
ghosts real or are shadows real? Both have no ‘body’. They are fleeting,
moving, changing? If you are not aware of a shadow, does it still exist? Are shadows always black? Can’t they be
colourful, as in dreams?
In the first sentence, if you
substitute, He with Death, scenario changes at once. Death is ALWAYS following everyone
who is alive. It is behind you, chasing. When he would overtake and turn you into
a ghost, nobody knows. Isn’t that intriguing? The source of light consumes you,
vaporises you into nothing and DEATH alone remains!
Shadow is a negative word
containing ‘sad’ in it. To get rid of your own shadow, either you must be in
total darkness or be totally immersed in very bright light, so bright that even
if a shadow is formed it gets overwritten by the light!
