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.

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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.