A rendezvous

It was wonderful to see each other again in the fullness of time.

She was a fairly accurate personification of life. You would see in her what you looked for. She would give you what you asked for, if you were polite enough; and often what you needed, peu importe your wishes. And sometimes, if she was playful, she would sing you a tune to dance to.

She made her presence known from quite a distance. She smelled pure; so pure, in fact, that you couldn't breathe in more than very little of her. And her voice... Oh, her voice. It was Sahela Re and Patakha Guddi and Miriam and Blank Space and Lean On - as alike as it was different.

I was going to see her after more than a year.
I walked, moving closer, making a conscious effort to not anticipate what it would be like to see her after I'd broken the unsaid agreement of visiting every summer. But I was only a month late, if at all, wasn't I? Yes, that was it. Of course, I knew she wouldn't be angry or weepy, she hardly ever was. In my list of most-loved-things-about-Her, this came in the top ten.

I had reached... almost. Fifteen more steps and I would be engulfed by her.
I felt the strangely reassuring familiar roughness on my skin, like the hands of a woman hardened because of regular and constant exposure to harsh soap water. It was tender enough to not hurt.

Then I saw her.
She was majestic. Ruling over the shoreline as far as the eye could see. Rocks weathered under her behest. Sands moved on her insistence. Folks earned a living because she presented them with her babies, as food; she knew they were going to be hers one day anyway. The Earth was nothing without her, and she was aware.
And then she saw me.
It was as if she stopped, took a break from her reign, to take a good look at me. The moment was gone is less than a second. Next thing I know, she's running toward me, faster than I ever could. Her happiness evident in the splash with which she embraces me. She lets go quickly but comes back even more quickly. We do this for a little while. Eventually, she settles down, swaying to a rhythm of her own. And I sing her a tune. And it's the most peacefully empowering thing I have done, for her, and for me.

It is time for me to leave.
Au revoir, लवकरच. This is no goodbye.
It was wonderful to see each other again in the fullness of time.