Blossoms in rainy days

Rain had mostly been a nuisance in her life, lately. Muddy roads, getting to office in wet clothes and with the arrival of the monsoons, carrying an umbrella had become a necessity. It’s amusing, how things change with time. During her high school days, in the convent, how she used to die to splatter water & intentionally miss to carry the umbrella, just to walk home getting wet in the rain. How blissful those days were!

With work getting more hectic, day by day, life has more or less turned into a routine now. She wished, if her life would take turns too, like the turnstiles against which she swiped in her id cards every day .Today has been just another busy day. Since there was no time for a detailed lunch, she grabbed a fruit bowl from food court & walked towards her cubicle. As she walked, she quickly picked up pieces of apple and popped inside her mouth. Then she took pineapple and then came watermelon. The seeds of watermelon got caught inside her mouth. She took the seeds out of her mouth and tossed them at the side, into the soil & swiftly took steps towards her cubicle.

                                                                     ***

2 days later, on a lazy Monday morning.

With a cup of hot coffee in her hands, she looked out of the glass window beside her desk. It had rained heavily, in the past 2 days. Was weather lovely today, or was it because she had some leisure time today, for a change! It was now she perceived how magnificent& graceful the campus looked, in rainy days. She had a beautiful scenic view from her cubicle. Just as her eyes strayed, she spotted the watermelon seed she had spit out, 2 days back. To her awe, it had germinated into a tiny sapling with two little leaves. The rain has done its magic, yet again, she contemplated. She was fascinated like a young girl, catching the sight of it. She smiled, at herself, and at the rare moment of her childlike innocence.

The next day, she remembered to have a look at the plantlet, on her way to the cubicle. It had grown a bit more than it was the previous day. She carefully laid some soil from the side over the sapling for support. As it gets tendrils, I would need to place a branch or a cane for the plant to creep over, she thought. As a child, she was always affectionate towards having a garden on her own. But as one grew older, the heartier dreams dwindle.

She was 8.

In her garden bloomed cosmos flowers,

marigold

and little roses in pink.

One day a tomato plant germinated

In her garden.

And then it grew into a plant.

One day it bore the fruit.

She adored the little tomato like a just-born-baby.

It’s miraculous how every little girl has a mother in her. To love unconditionally is only what motherhood is acquainted with. She contemplated, reminiscing her juvenile days.

The next Monday.

It was a bright sunny day.  She walked past the food court towards the plantlet. She was curious to see how it would’ve got tendrils, by now. Walking down the path, she realized that the plant wasn’t there. So were the other weeds that grew beside her. The gardener had trimmed off the plant along with the other weeds. Agonized, she realized how effortless it was to, to get dreams shattered, and lives stagnant and, how happiness lied, in the simplest of the things.

Satirically, she smiled at the thought how proud she always felt about the campus being kept spick-and-span, devoid of dust and weeds. Devoid of life and joy.

                            

Dreams of her

I wonder if I could ever be free. No strings attached.

I wish I could go on walks alone,

late at nights and

eat omlette from the roadside vendors.

I wish I could travel alone to places I’ve never heard about,

and take pictures.

If I could get wet in the rain,

And get tanned under the sun,

And walk barefoot,

And my hair open.

I wish I could wear skirts with red flowers on it.

If I could stay on tree houses,

And stay awake all night listening to the music of the nature.

I wish I could swim in cold waters,

If I could fish and cook.

I wish.

I wish I could one day go,

To the land where I belong.

The scent of the first rain.

If this rain could soak me though my skin,

and I could absorb the rain like the earth,

and I could be in love, like the rain & the earth,

then I could have celebrated your arrival,

and in those nights when we made love,

a divine fragrance would have been born,

-the scent of the first rain.

Kannadi Valaiyal

Summer. The Gulmohar tree was at its supreme radiance, with its red flowers. Murugan was overwhelmed by the view outside the jail gate. Partly, by the Gulmohar flowers. There was not even a faint smile on his lips. He was numb! Seven years of imprisonment was one for a lifetime. But he was happy, extremely. When he thought about Malarvizhi, he wanted to kiss her forehead and embrace her, tightly and tell her how much he was waiting for this moment. As he sat in the bus, memories flashed back in his mind. After he was in jail, he had never seen his daughter, Malarvizhi, not even once. She was just 8 years old, then. He just had a vague image of her, in his mind. Never did he write to her, or tried meeting her, not once in these 7 years. A deep sense of regret rose within him. He consoled himself that she would surely forgive him, for that. The bus reached its last stop. It was dusk. He got down from bus and walked towards a shop. He wanted to buy glass bangles for her, green ones! He recollected how she used to ask him to get green bangles for her, when she was little, at the temple fairs. He held the bangles wrapped in newspaper, and walked ahead. Everything had changed, the lanes, the roads. Unfamiliarity all around. He reached the tiled house. That was the only thing that hadn’t changed much. Except for some parts of the wall which was covered with moss. He knocked the door. He could hear the tinkling of anklets towards the door. He could see her through the glass pane of the window. She had grown beautiful, like her mother. He found it difficult to look at her, through the window pane. He felt remorseful. How could he face her? Forgival from her was way too far, he couldn’t forgive himself. After all he was a murderer.-of her mother. Glass bangles slipped from his hands. They broke. Her favorite, pachai kannadi valaiyal! They broke. So did he. 

Together!

 

As Anu woke up for the alarm, she quickly put it off, lest it should disturb his sleep. She let him sleep, and kept looking at him. She loved doing it. She loved to sleep placing her head on his chest, like a kid. That was what she liked the most about Vineeth. He treated her like his baby. Infact they treated each other like they were kids, of each other.

The alarm rang again. This time it was him who woke up. He carefully held her head and placed it on the pillow, without waking her up. In sleep, he held a feeble grip on his hand. He gently kissed her forehead and moved out of the bed. He freshened up and got ready. He occasionally glanced at her. She was still sleeping. As always! He grasped his laptop and the car keys and moved towards the main door. Before that he caressed her hair and kissed her on her lips. He looked back. Yes she was still sleeping. As always! Without making much noise, he closed the door of the flat. But she heard it. She knew that he had left. She knew that he loved her. But she cried every time he left. She knew that hope was a lie. Yet, she loved him. As always! She haphazardly gathered the bedspread, covered herself and moved towards the bathroom. She wanted to have a shower, but she didn’t want to wash away the touch he left in her. She stood under the shower, unopened. As always!

When Vineeth reached, Radhika was busy preparing breakfast for him. She was particularly angelic, draped in his favorite red saree. He entered the kitchen and hugged her from behind. He loved to see her getting goose bumps when he does that. She was a perfect wife. He thought, while glancing at their wedding photo hung in their drawing room.

He loved both. Anamika as a lover and Radhika as a wife! There was neither excess nor lack of love. It was a perfect blend, like the two eyes. They are independent, yet lack of one makes life miserable. They made his life beautiful, TOGETHER!

25 things about me

1.      I am not a person who learns from past experience and mistakes. I repeat the same mistakes over and over again. In spite of trying a lot on this, I can’t help this happening to me.

2.      I find it really difficult to read a novel or a book completely. My reading is limited to blogs, short stories and newspaper articles (rarely though).

3.      I am a pessimist.

4.      I have frequent mood swings. Silliest things make me happy and smaller things make me sad too.

5.      I share a mutually exclusive relation with everybody in my life. There is nobody who knows EVERY secret of mine.

6.      When I was a kid, I used to sometimes wonder if ‘I’ actually existed or everything was just a fantasy.

7.      I get TOTALLY involved with certain people in my life without thinking about the consequences. This has ALWAYS given me happiness and pain, both at their extremes.

8.      I miserably fail to express my feelings via speech. An ‘hmmm’, a touch or a look of mine convey more than my words.

9.      I am the most confused soul I’ve ever come across. I am confused about possibly anything and everything. Even if I take a decision, I CANNOT stick on to it more than 2 days. I have given up even thinking about New Year resolutions years ago.

10. Most of the problems in my life are because I couldn’t say ‘no’ to people.

11. When I am really upset and seriously can’t do anything to make things better, I sleep! Sleep is one of my powerful stress busters.

12. I really envy people who have got nice hair.

13. After I quarrel with someone, who’s ever mistake it is, I ask sorry first. I SOOOO dislike it when someone is angry with me.

14. I love having a shower in cold water. ANYDAY! Even if it is raining cats and dogs outside.

15. Of the people whom I admire the most, writers, soldiers, doctors and ‘people-who- know-the-art-of-speech’ (probably because I lack it) top the list.

16. I believe that one of the best things that can happen to a woman is motherhood, especially when it is of the man you love.

17. After I was advised to stay away from non-veg, I realized that chicken is my favourite food.

18. I hate History, right from school. Like Big time!!!

19. All this while, I used to think that Infosys is the best thing that happened to me! Now I don’t.

20. Sometimes I can easily figure out what’s going on in my close ones’ minds, even if they don’t utter a word. Apparently, I sometimes fail to comprehend what theirs words speak. Strange! Does this happen with everybody, or am I the only victim??

21. Whenever I come across any number, I have this weird habit of just figuring out its divisibility by 3. :P

22. I procrastinate, at its heights.

23. I love the feeling of anonymity and the liberty which comes along with it.

24. I believe that nights have its own black magic, which makes us dreadfully honest. Don’t many of us wake up in the morning and wonder about how easily we can speak out things which we struggle to, during the day?

25. I am still wondering that I actually completed 24 things about me.*Feeling proud*

Sunshine

From the time I’ve been yours,

I have been preserving myself for you,

From the rains,

From the sunshine,

From the spells.

From the time I’ve been yours,

I’ve been merrily keeping myself ready,

My soul and body untouched,

Like the lilies that wait for the rain, to bloom.

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