(Part two continued....)

A typical Friday for Sneha varies depending on her work load. Recently, after joining the cognitive lab at the University of Minnesota, she has become busy with her ‘Dream Research Project’. Her enthusiasm in the field of cognitive science can be seen through her keen devotion to the project she is working on lately. She completely forgot to add Manav on Facebook that Friday because she was so much absorbed with her ‘dream data analyses. “Do you have any kind of claustrophobia?” Sneha asked her volunteer who was ready to be part of the dream experiment. “No,” replied her subject. Before putting her subject inside the fMRI machine, Sneha checked his past medical history and gave green signal to the radiologist to turn on the fMRI machine. The subject was slowly put inside the fMRI machine and Sneha started monitoring the computer screen. The subject soon went to deep sleep and Sneha started analyzing the data. “Quite interesting,” Sneha talked with herself.

When Sneha returned to her apartment it was already 11:00 PM. Kali, her pet dog, was so excited about Sneha’s return. She jumped into Sneha’s lap and started licking her face. “Stop it Kali, you are making my face wet,” Sneha told Kali but Kali won’t stop, as her excitement was beyond her control. Kali was only 6 months when Sneha adopted her from the UCLA Animal Care Center. She will be 7 years old next year. “ल खाऊ,” Sneha gave Kali her food and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. “भोक त तेती लागेको छैन, के खाने होला,” she murmured with herself. She took out the gallon of milk, poured into the glass, and put it inside the microwave. A warm cup of milk at night can easily take you to sleep. Yawn after yawn, Sneha cuddled inside her blanket and felt asleep.

Manav is not a morning person. His appetite for sleep increases even more during Saturdays. However, his behavior was not rational that Saturday. He was up early and there was a reason for it. Strong unfulfilled desires won’t let us sleep and Manav’s desires were so strong that he could hardly sleep the required eight hours of sleep that Friday night! Manav got up, opened his laptop, and checked his Facebook just to find that Sneha has still not added him! “I should have asked her phone number in the parking lot,” he lamented. Sneha’s cute smile and soft voice was still revolving around Manav’s head. He was behaving as if he had tasted some kind of divine nectar in the Whole Foods parking lot which he was seeking more. The vivid image of Sneha’s red kurtha and salwar with blue dupatta which she was wearing that day was rotating around Manav’s mental eye! In the kitchen, in the bathroom, in the living room, in the basement, everywhere he went, Sneha’s vivid image followed him like shadow follows oneself. The impressions that Sneha left on Manav’s mind was not an ordinary kind. He had never felt like this before. In a sense, Manav was an iron and Sneha was a magnet. When iron gets close to a magnet, it gets attracted by that magnet and even get charged! Similarly, Manav’s mind was charged with Sneha’s impressions.

We usually like many things in life but when we are asked why we like those things we cannot answer it easily. We normally say we like things because it gives satisfaction. We never try to find out why a particular something gives satisfaction (though temporary) and not the others. Why something attracts us at all? It turns out that we unconsciously tend to like things or persons which consists of qualities which we lack in ourselves. We desire particular things or persons because we feel that we lack those qualities and we seek union with it. In hope of getting permanent happiness through objects or persons outside we seek connection with those things or persons. Sneha possessed those qualities which Manav lacked in himself. Though Manav was not aware of it consciously, his inner self was aware of those deep desires which Manav longed for years. The presence of Sneha merely resurfaced those deep hidden desires which Manav was entertaining for years.