Pale Blue Dots

Three Dimensions of Space

I stand opposite Bengali Sweets in South Extension-1, New Delhi. Where are you? I wonder who else is around? Maybe my flatmates, neighbours, the paan-waalah, the lady who irons our clothes… Jawaharlal Nehru perhaps, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi? If this was a forest in those days, did great Mughal emperors hunt upon this earth? Did the Pandavas walk across this land on their way to Dronacharya’s Guru-gram? Millions of humans inhabit my space.

Four Dimensions of Space-Time

Today, I stand opposite Bengali Sweets in South Extension-1. Where are you? I wonder who else is around? Maybe my flatmates, neighbours, the paan-waalah, the lady who irons our clothes… Not too many people. Only seven billion are on the planet today, a fraction of which live in Delhi, a small percentage of who might be in South Extension-1. A few thousand humans inhabit my time and space.

Countless Dimensions of Perceived Universe

After everything I have been subjected to, and as a result of all my thoughts, emotions and memories, I stand opposite Bengali Sweets in South Extension-1 today. Where are you? I wonder who else is around? There’s nobody here. The streets are empty. You and I cannot be in the same place at the same time in the same state of perception. We see different things, hear different things, feel different things.

We inhabit different worlds. We are all alone.