Lines, Sections, Boxes and Circles

We, as human beings, have a tendency to plan out everything in life. A planner becomes an important part of our world and we start believing everything the planner tells us, every single day. Fate watches from the side while we fall into our own trap. It is when we think we are in absolute control that the planner strikes back.

I

Ahmed’s life was divided into lines, sections and boxes.

He had a clear division between business and personal activities, a wide margin divided the two. The events of the former half spilled onto the latter half most of the times.

Then there were all these boxes. Boxes full of useless questions like—how were you today? A) Aggressive B) Emphatic C) Defeated and so on. Most people made flowers in these boxes while talking on the phone or scribbled dates of restaurant delivery numbers in that space. Not Ahmed! Each night, before turning in for bed, he would think over his entire day and write in the boxes. Not only that, he even evaluated his responses at the end of each week in the ‘Personality Scorecard’. This he would do every Sunday morning.

The lines, sections and boxes in Ahmed’s life were not devoid of colors. In fact, there was a lot of red, green and blue everywhere. These colors classified his life into three categories; red symbolized importance and urgency, green was a sign of accomplishment and completion and blue represented a problem. Ahmed hated the color blue, totally.

There was a small rectangular box that was a bane for him. Each day he also had to answer this one question, “Did you make anyone feel special today?” Initially Ahmed did try answering this question but with the passage of time this space got hijacked by blue, green and yellow post-it notes. Now all he reads is, “Did you (important: Call IT for problem) today?”


These lines, sections and boxes have become an integral part of Ahmed’s life. So much so that he actually divides everything around him in lines, sections and boxes.

And that is where the problem begins.

It is a trait common to all mankind that whenever they feel strongly about something, they shun every other view that does not match theirs.

That is what Ahmed did too. He was extremely possessive and proud about his lines, sections and boxes. He detested all those who were ill organized, irresponsible, ill planned and casual about life in general. He considered all people whose lives were empty of lines, sections and boxes as barbaric. But as most people around him belonged to this category (including his lovely wife), he kept this consideration to himself alone.

But if there was one thing Ahmed could not stand, it was circles.

Circles are wonderful. Unlike lines, sections and boxes; circles are round and this very shape lends them a candid and friendly air. They can be big, small, perfectly round or slightly oval. The best thing about circles is that they represent nothing and yet, everything! Circles are sometimes balloons, balls or candy. If they don’t exist in a physical form, they assume an abstract personality like the ‘circle of life’. Circles are flexible unlike lines, sections and boxes. This was the reason Ahmed hated circles, and his twin, Yousuf.

Yousuf’s entire life was a huge circle. A very huge circle! And with every passing day, it seemed to grow a teeny bit more. It was an abstract circle i.e., it did not have a physical form. Yet you could feel the energy of his circle as soon as you met him. You see, every circle has a core that defines it, shapes its personality and lends it positive or negative energy. Energy that is barely present in lines, sections and boxes.

Lines, sections, boxes and circles- are these geometric shapes only or is there something more to them?

They are geometric shapes only.

Or are they?

I

Ahmed hated it when Maria put something on the table next to his bed. He picked up the flower vase and put it on the dresser.

“They won’t bite you, you know”. The sarcasm in Maria’s voice was chilling.

“You know I don’t like clutter, especially on my side table”. He avoided looking at her and sat down with his planner.

“Do you know I like flowers?” She picked up the vase and walked out of the room.

His eyes trailed after her. He had not planned on having an argument with her and ending his day on a bitter note. He opened up his planner and started writing. Maria walked into the room and got into bed.

He turned back the pages for reference and stopped at the page marked July 9th. He smiled as he removed the red sticker to put on the green one. It was then that he saw what he had scribbled on the left hand corner of the page some time ago – ‘our wedding anniversary’.

9th July had marked their sixth anniversary but there were no celebrations. He had flown out to Lahore on the 8th and returned on the evening of the 10th. His busy schedule had not even permitted him to call her. No wonder Yousuf had been so reprimanding when that had talked in the morning. How he hated Yousuf! If it had not been for his wild goose chase in the US, Maria would have been Yousuf’s wife.

“I’m turning off the light. Put your lamp on”.

Maria’s voice broke his chain of thoughts. He turned on the lamp and looked at his wife. A feeling of guilt swept over him. She was so beautiful. Her brunette hair fell in waves around her pretty face. He used to play with her locks every night but all that seemed so long ago. His eyes moved over her small but curvy frame and he felt a knot in his stomach. He wanted to reach out and caress her, to fell her warmth and lose himself in her soft arms. He put his planner away.

“I’m so sorry love.” He whispered in her ear as his hand moved over her body. “I am such a jerk aren’t I, forgetting our anniversary!”

He felt her body shudder under his touch. He smiled as she turned to look at him and before she could complain, he put his lips on her.

The planner fell down with a loud thud, springing them apart. He looked at the time. It was almost one.

“It’s late”, he murmured as he turned to pick up the planner.

“Yes. Good night?” There was a note of hopeful desperation in her voice.

“Good night love. I have a very busy day planned out for tomorrow”. He kissed her on the cheek, turned off the lamp and turned over.

The lines, sections and boxes came first - always.