The Intersect

Shashank sat up in bed with a jerk. He reached for his phone to check the time, gently rubbing his eyes. It was only 2 am. The same images all over again. He turned and saw that his wife Sarita seemed to be sleeping soundly. He lay still for 20 more minutes, wondering what was going on with him. He finally gave up, walked gently across the floor and turned the internet router on. He reached for his iPad, balanced it on his lap and went to Google. He opened the page he was looking for in Wikipedia. At first sight, it did not seem alarming but there were no clear answers. He was just about to close the page on “recurring dreams”, when he heard a whisper “Shashank, may I know what is going on?”

Taken aback, he blurted “It can be handled”.

“What can be handled? What are you talking about?” demanded Sarita.

He sighed and then launched into the details of what had been happening since the last couple of months.

“I have been seeing very similar dreams of myself, you, our family and friends in various different settings since a couple of months now. Only I do not recognize any of the places.  The houses, cities, dresses all seem different” he said.

“The same dream again and again?” asked Sarita

“Well not exactly the same events. But mostly the same people in different settings, dressed differently…….”

“Are these dreams frightening?”

“Not really” he replied. “But I can’t understand what is going on”.

“It is the middle of the night. Leave this now”.

“Ok.., he replied. He looked up hallucinations on Wikipedia before putting the iPad away.

After tossing and turning for some time, he fell asleep. The next time he woke, he saw it was only 5:30 am. He had had one more dream of the same kind. Irritated, he woke up and walked over to the balcony. As he looked out, the city was still asleep. He wondered to himself ‘What is going on?’. After a few minutes Sarita joined him.

“Another dream sequence”, she asked.

“Yes” he nodded unhappily. “This time I saw Rishi in the dream as well”. Rishi was one of his office colleagues.

“Since we are up early, we might as well go out for a walk” suggested Sarita.

Shashank readily agreed. Thankfully it was a Saturday and he was not going in to work. It would have been difficult with hardly any sleep all night. They walked for around 45 minutes and returned. Shashank felt much better.

The dream sequences kept preying on Shashank’s mind, and he was restless. Sensing his mood, Sarita spoke to him “Why is this bothering you so much? After all it is only a dream”

“But why the same people? Also the dresses all of us are wearing and the places, buildings are all so different!”, Shashank exclaimed.

“Who all do you see in these dreams?”

“Well, mostly all of relatives. You, our children, sister, and parents, all of them” Shashank said.

“But they all look different you said?” Sarita asked.

Shashank hesitated, “It is difficult to explain. The places are different, dresses are different, and there are some weird looking vehicles. In today’s dream I saw myself shaking hands with an elephant!”

“Let us give it some time. Else we will go to somebody”

“It has been persisting for some time now”, Shashank admitted. “Also these thoughts and one or two flashes come up during the day as well”.

As Shashank scratched his head, a thought came to his mind ‘What can be the next step? It probably means visiting a doctor, but what kind. Psychiatrist, Psychologist? He was trying to think what the difference between the two was’.

It was a bad day. He tried to distract himself by doing some reading, but it helped only a little. As the sun set in the evening, he was apprehensive on what the night now held for him. However, probably as a result of poor sleep the previous night, he fell asleep very quickly. The next he knew someone was ringing the bell.

“Who can it be in the middle of the night?” Shashank muttered.

“It is not the middle of the night. It is 6:15 am” said Sarita.

“Which is like the middle of the night on a Sunday morning” he said and continued walking towards the front door.

He opened the door and found Rishi standing there smiling.

“Are you not ready?” he asked.

“Ready for what?” Shashank asked him puzzled.

“We were to go out for a jog. Don’t you remember?” Rishi asked.

“Come on in” he told Rishi. “Did I really say we can go out for a jog today?” Shashank asked.

“Of course, we discussed this last week, don’t you remember?” Rishi asked

“Hmmm….I really don’t remember. I guess I forgot”, Shashank said flopping down on the sofa.

Shashank thought ‘Nothing is going right. Now looks like my memory is going for a toss as well’

“You look quite unwell. What is the matter?” asked Rishi.

Shashank hesitated not sure what he should say. Sarita walked over beside him and whispered “Rishi is a friend. I think you can tell him about it…”

There was a period of quiet while Shashank thought over what to tell Rishi. Finally he thought Sarita was right. Rishi would keep it to himself, and he did have a gift for some out of the way thinking which might help in this case.

Shashank repeated the dream experiences to Rishi which he had told Sarita in detail only yesterday. Rishi’s curiosity was clearly aroused.

He said “So you see images of people in various different settings?”

Shashank replied “It is mostly relatives and people I know. Yes, different dresses, flying cars, taller trees, very clear water…..almost a dream version of Earth! Any idea what is going on?”

Rishi looked at him calmly and said thoughtfully “Let me put it this way - what you have experienced is not unique.”

“Oh, you mean you know others who have experienced something like this?!” Shashank exclaimed excitedly.

“Yes, I surely do” said Rishi.

“And what happened to them?” Shashank asked.

“What do you mean what happened to them?”

“Well, I mean to ask how they got themselves treated.” Shashank clarified.

Rishi sighed and spoke “They did not get themselves treated. They only understood the truth of what they were experiencing”

“What do you mean?” Shashank asked.

At this point Sarita looked at Rishi and spoke softly “Have you had dreams like this yourself, Rishi?”

Rishi looked at both of them and said “Yes, I have”.

Shashank stared at Rishi stunned. It took him a few moments to gather his thoughts.

He finally asked “What is this then?”

“Shashank, you need to find the truth for yourself”, said Rishi.

Shashank got up and started pacing the floor. This was too much to take, his head felt totally muddled.

Sarita asked Rishi “There is at least according to you, nothing abnormal in having an experience like this?”

“Of course, I said that already. I have had it myself and so have many others!”

“Is it a past life memory?” asked Sarita.

Rishi hesitated and then turned to Shashank slowly “What do you think?”

Shashank thought over this carefully and then spoke “It does not seem to be. Firstly civilization seems to be more advanced with air borne vehicles for normal people. Also there is the weird aspect of animals co-existing peacefully with humans”

“Hmmm, true. What do you think it could be then?” asked Rishi.

“It is as if all of us have somehow travelled to the future” Shashank exclaimed. “But that is not possible either”.

He tried to rake his brains further but came up with nothing. “The other alternative of course is that I am hallucinating” he said.

Sarita glared at him.

“Well, I have already told you are you not!” said Rishi.

“Rishi, I think my head will burst if I think of this further. You need to help me. What is this?” Shashank said.

Rishi hesitated and spoke “I really cannot. I can only say that you are experiencing what some of us call an Intersect, something which many others are experiencing as well. To find the truth my advice is to do this: 1) Remember Sherlock Holmes’ advice, when one has eliminated the impossible, what remains however improbable must be the truth. 2) Why don’t you try interacting consciously during your experience?”

“What do you mean?” Shashank asked puzzled. “How can I interact with a dream?!”

“Try”, he said “It might be possible. Start with the basics, ask names, places, things like that to whoever you see in your dream and see if you get any replies”

Rishi then stood up. He said “We will have to do our jog some other day I guess. If you have a recurrence let me know if you want me to come along to discuss”.

Shashank thought ‘What could Rishi mean when he asked me to interact with my dream? On the face of it the idea seemed ridiculous. But I did feel better after talking to him; especially that he too has experienced such dreams recently’.

Sarita followed his thought process and said “Take it one at a time. It is apparent there is nothing to worry now”

“I agree” Shashank said. After quite some time he felt strangely at peace and also curious and for the first time hoped that the dreams would recur soon.

A week went by very quietly. The next Saturday night, Shashank saw some flashes. Strangely he did realize that he was in the middle of a dream. He saw some faces. Himself and his wife Sarita seated in a garden among very tall trees. He mouthed the word “Hi” in his mind softly looking at himself and Sarita. As he looked at himself and his wife, he saw both of them smiling at him and saw his image speak up “Hi, we were wondering when you would greet us!”

This was puzzling. This was no dream. What state was he in?

He spoke “Why do you say that? Were you expecting me to speak?”

He saw himself speak “Of course, why else would we contact you?”

Puzzling. It was as if he was speaking to someone else, not himself!

He saw Sarita look up and say “We can understand you are confused. Firstly you are not seeing either yourself or your wife. We are different people though we carry your names. This is going to be difficult for you, so be patient and calm. We are identical manifestations of the same parent soul – which is why we look alike. In order that you not get confused further simply call us Sha & Sa”

Shashank stiffened. However, Rishi’s words came to his mind and he tried to relax.

Sa now spoke “Zim is the eternal soul from which we both come and hence we are alike. In due course you will understand about this. Be patient. We need to use these intersects to exchange thoughts and learn”

Shashank felt the vision now fade. He sat up in bed. He looked to his right and found Sarita stirring. He seemed to have disturbed her. She rubbed her eyes and looked up at him enquiringly. He told her what had happened.
She replied “I know. I experienced the same thing myself as well and actually saw you conversing. So these are not us but other people somewhere else, maybe even a different planet?! Astonishing! That was why Rishi said you must find the truth for yourself”

It was 5:30 am in the morning. They got up and had an early coffee. After an hour or so Shashank called Rishi and he came over in about half an hour.

“So, were you able to interact in your dream?” he asked.

“We were!” Shashank exclaimed.

“Oh” said Rishi “That is great. So, both of you have experienced it!”

Shashank asked Rishi “We could understand we are looking at some other people possibly somewhere else. But you still need to help us understand what this is”

Rishi spoke “You were interacting with people similar to you in another universe. You experienced what we have started referring to as an intersect. There are moments in time when our universes align themselves in a way which makes interaction between beings on both universes possible”

Shashank stared at Rishi trying to make sure he was not joking. “Another universe!” he gasped. He then asked him “But how can there be people who look identical to us in another universe?!”

“Why not?” countered Rishi. “All of us are the result of an initial physical process. No doubt free will gives you a choice of action. If you would have noticed, the universes are not identical. This other universe is not the same as ours. They are much more advanced which you yourself pointed out.”

There was a moment of quiet as Shashank and Sarita came to terms with what Rishi was saying.

Sarita asked “But why only now? And then there may be many more such universes. Will we be able to interact with all of them?”

“Well, nobody knows for sure. What we have understood is that these two universes are aligned only now in such a manner as to allow such intersects to happen. There is a lot more to learn and experience. I think this is only the beginning” replied Rishi.

They went and sat down in the garden, looking out into the glorious morning sky. Shashank thought in his mind ‘I will not in my life know all the truths of God’s creation, but I have learned a new truth today for sure. Is learning not the incremental knowledge of more and more truths? It was overwhelming’

As he turned, he could see that Sarita was moved as well.

He then turned to Rishi and asked him a question which had been preying on my mind “Rishi, as far I can recollect I never agreed to go for a jog last Sunday or am I wrong?”

Rishi hesitated for a split second and then replied “You are right”

“How then did you land up here?” Shashank asked.

“I had a visual experience in which both of us figured. I suspected you might have experienced this as well and hence called Sarita to check if you had an experience like that as well. I came over once she confirmed”

“Oh!” Shashank smiled looking at Sarita. “No wonder you encouraged me to tell Rishi everything!”

They held their hands together, basking in the glory of the multiverse – eager to learn more truths each new day.