In that wonderful sleep I dreamt that a man with a beard and a blue piece of cloth wrapped on his head took my hand and led me to two big doors.  Although I could not see the man’s face, he appeared to radiating grace and elegance.  With his hands he pushed open the doors. A ball of white light immediately engulfed me and with a jerk lifted me a few feet out of my body. 

The jerking movement woke me up. I was breathing slowly and deeply. I felt light and joyful. To my joy, I realized I was still hovering slightly above my body. I had heard several times from the village pundits that the soul was an entity distinct from the body, but I had given it as much thought as I suspect they did.  But that day, in an instant my life changed.  I cannot express the relief I felt at the thought that this deformed and rotten body was not I.

Since then, my life had revolved around getting that sensation back. I have tried all the methods that I have heard about to gain that light feeling. But even though I have become still inside, and can listen to me, and nature more easily, that wonderful feeling never graced me. Most of my days were still spent drowned in thought and depression.

That day I felt different. I couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard I tried.  Finally at dawn, I got out of bed and looked out of the window. The sun had just risen making everything golden. The birds and the wind were joyfully singing songs of love. I stood there for a long time bathing in freshness. For the first time in about twelve years I decided to go for a walk during daylight. I had been an avid walker at one time, but the look of horror on a boy’s face when he’d accidentally seen me, kept me locked inside since. But that day, all of it just didn't seem to matter. I felt a trace of life in me. I spent the whole day seeped in nature, waiting for something to happen. 

At the end of the day, I was more surprised than disappointed that nothing had happened. I lay on my bed and dozed off. In my dream, the same man with a blue turban appeared again. This time he held me by my hand and took me to the river. He signaled me to go into the water. I went in. I looked at my reflection in the water and with a shock realized that I had been cured.