Unbeknownst to him, the lack of serious responsibility was the primary reason for his almost-happiness. He was happy, but not quite. If that makes sense?!

After visiting his birth country, and lived the ‘chaos’ there, he felt he had to escape it; but not back to his adopted home country, because he had escaped that too and was not ready to dare a return, assuming a return was in fact available.

So. He was in-between. Somewhere in-between. Literally and figuratively. He had landed in a place physically just about half-way between the two countries—between his adopted home country, and birth country… between the two homes he escaped… a foreign land, where responsibilities did not exist for him.

And how did he end up there? Well. As they say… often it is the Universe conspiring to assist us in finding our way, and so it was with Sandeep. Yes, it was the Universe, with its numerous tools and agents, who pushed Sandeep into this foreign land, attempting to help him find desire and motivation, some footing, some genuine “Yes, I belong. Yes, I want to do. Yes, I want to work… Yes, I want to contribute.”

Of course this foreign land had people and buildings and plants and food and rain, and work to do… life, along with responsibilities. Yet, through some logic that does not make sense to the human mind, the agents chose a serene spot, a village, on a mountain’s side, with spectacular scenery.

“Sandeep, stay with us, study with us,” a new friend in that village pleaded. “There is much to discover and learn in these mountains. This is a good place for you. It is quiet, self-sufficient…”

The words fell on almost-deaf ears. He heard, but did not react. Choosing, and committing, were too much for our star, never mind discovering or learning.

The agents the Universe had hired were approaching their fed-up point. They’d had it. They tried and tried, but had not managed to reach Sandeep’s soul and liberate its drama, its life-force. Perhaps all that surrounded Sandeep’s soul was too thick to penetrate with the ‘usual’ tool. And so, the agents decided to resort to the next ‘go-to’ tool: an opposite, a mirror image… the exact opposite. They would employ the perfect symmetry. Sandeep would say, ‘come,’ the opposite would demand, ‘go.’ Sandeep would think sleep, the opposite would insist on song and dance.

An opposite, in a foreign land, with a foreign language. How could such a combo do anyone any good?

Madness, us on Earth might think; but, perhaps those agents could see more than the human eye, and mind, could. Perhaps, as they say, there was a method to this madness.

Just as the new friend was pleading again, with the words not quite finding their destination, the opposite happened to pass by, drawing Sandeep’s full attention.

At last, an agent thought, full attention.

The curiosity was overpowering, even for this timid and bored star. It was how opposites work… like magnets pulling at each others’s strings and buttons, forcing the shields down and revealing something from the inside.

“Excuse me.” He said reflexively. “Umm, I’m Sandeep.”

And so, the opposite thought, and wanted to reply, but instead simply said, “Okay… hello.”

For Sandeep, the curiosity was so overpowering that he suddenly felt a deep desire to talk, to this person. But talking, communicating… connecting, leads to drama, and the opposite was averse to drama, and avoided it at all cost.

“Should we…” Sandeep tried to suggest.

The response was the same, more or less.

Sandeep’s insides could not take it, could not be contained. He went around the village, seeking someone to talk to, someone with an ear, someone who could at least be a stand-in for the opposite. This went on for days such that he became so familiar with the village, with its alleys and vegetable gardens that he considered becoming a tour guide. But, alas, the visitors and tourists came for hikes, and the village was only a village, albeit a medieval village with much history to tell.

Our star was going to explode. The walking was not enough. The village was quaint and lovely but the agents intended it all—the setting, the opposite—only as a step.

Something had to be done. Sandeep had to do something to avoid losing it. There was finally life, desire, motivation, oozing through from within, shattering one or two of his walls.

“I know what I want.” It was a whisper at first. Then, “I know what I want.” A scream near the village’s historic church. “I know what I want.” Another scream.

But it was not true. This star was still clueless. Having a couple of those walls shattered, he felt alive. Some life force was finally flowing through his veins and reaching his mind, and he mistook this feeling as knowing exactly what he wanted. He still did not know where, what, how… he did know, however, that he wanted.

Drama, life, had found him.

The agents released the equivalent of a sigh, before moving on to the next steps for this one star.

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