The Confabulating Rose!!

Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies. It feels so relaxing to touch the earthen soil.. smell it's fragnance and see beautiful pods turn into blossoms!! I got this hobby from my mother, who also shares an equal liking since her childhood. The later months of the year usually have these festive vibes in abundance. And why shouldn't they? Majority of the festivals arrive at this time of the year. Office not being an exception to these vibes, had a week planned for the families of employees, to witness the work environment and culture. Every year they arrange for some super cool activities for kids and adults. This year too I went with my friends to see the activities. To my surprise, I saw people walking out with small saplings.. saplings of aloe vera and saplings of mogra.. Now I knew..that I had to take one of these home.. And I did.. The aloe vera sapling had its own small cylindrical pool of wet soil. One more addition to my plant family. How delighted I was!! But, to take it home via train was a task though! Still I managed to take it somehow and my mom was delighted too.. That smile of hers when she saw the plant was amazing!! The aloe vera plant had worked it's magic!! The only thing that I regretted was that I didn't know I could take the mogra plant too with me.. Nevertheless, I had one last day to visit the event..;) Human beings are so greedy I tell you.. :D

Last days in any matter have their own importance. Lots of families had flocked the event and as expected the queue for saplings seemed like never ending. One sapling per employee was the mandate, however my friend offered to take one plant for me. Such friends are hard to find.. ;) I inquired about the saplings and found out that they were giving out Rose and Hibiscus. I already have a beautiful rose plant in my house but an extra one is always welcomed you know. :P The last day my arms were aching because of carrying the aloe vera plant the earlier day. I got my two saplings and there I was all ready to take them home. But my excitement to take them home turned into worry as I saw that trains were too crowded. I left one train and hoped for the next one to be less crowded. But to my dismay, the next one was crowded too. I got into the first class since getting into second class seemed impossible at that moment and in that congestion, I requested a woman to keep the plants safe on the upper deck of the compartment, away from the tussle. Now here it gets interesting.. the train was about to arrive on the platform, so I held the two plants close to me. However, while getting down from the compartment, one pod from the shoeflower plant broke and fell down due to somebody, accidentally falling over it.. I looked at the pod and gasped!! I couldn't save it from the ambush!! I cursed myself for not taking care of it enough and could only imagine the pain the plant must have gone through when its pod broke off!! I gathered my senses and made a sort of barrier with my elbows to guard them from the people on the bridge. But my arms were giving in due to the heavy weight of the saplings. I was losing my balance while climbing the bridge as people were rushing on the bridge to get to the either ends simultaneously! But then, a young woman.. maybe of the same age as me.. saw me struggling to keep the saplings intact.. She took one of my saplings in her hand and walked besides me ensuring no harm happens to it. I was so overwhelmed with her helping me.. I said to her... Thankyou... with a big smile.. This city and it's people are so unique and loving I tell you! Mumbaikars have a heart of gold.. :) While walking up the stairs she asked me looking at the sapling, Which sapling is it? I said the one with you is rose and the one with me is hibiscus.. She said nice and smiled at me!! Post climbing the stairs, I again said a 'Thankyou sooo much' to her to which she said Welcome... and left for her further route. I hastily came towards the other platform to catch another train!

As I waited for the train to arrive, two women came towards the ladies compartment.. one of them had the same rose plant as me... She looked at me and my plants and smiled...I smiled back. We both knew the source of our plants.. The train arrived and I onboarded it with a lightning speed to avoid any further mishap. This train was crowded too.. Luckily I got the so called seat... The FOURTH SEAT! I rested the two saplings on my lap.. On the opposite seats were a few Muslim women heading to their destinations.. One of the women in her late 60s asked me.. Which plant is it... I said this one's rose..and this one's a shoeflower.. She glanced at them and nodded in anticipation. A few moments later she asked me.. 'Don't you get these plants in your area? ' I said I can buy such plants in my area but these ones I have got from my office.' She laughed 'Oh I see.. if you are getting them for free then why not?' I laughed too.. After all who doesn't like free good stuff? She had a grand daughter with her who looked nothing less than an angel.. So beautiful child! The small kid saw the plants and tried to pounce on them.. but her grandmother swiftly obstructed her actions. And while doing so she told me to keep the saplings at a distance from her grand daughter for good. I asked the lady the name of her grand daughter. She said 'Ana'. I called out to the child a few times and she looked at me with curiosity.. Some of the passengers were intently gazing at our conversation as to what a Hindu and Muslim are talking and smiling about.. I could see a few faces judging us from a distance. My station was about to arrive and so I got up..the old lady waived me good bye and asked Ana to waive me a good bye too.. I gave Ana a flying kiss and headed towards the compartment door to alight. I got down on the platform and felt so delighted because while conversing, we were indirectly spreading the message of universal brotherhood. A value upon which our nation's foundation is built upon. Though different in various aspects and complete strangers to each other, these people broke the barriers of communication gap and displayed the qualities of what a human being truly stands for! After all no one is born with a tag! It's the company of people we follow that makes us what we become! To be able to see and treat each other as a human being first..one simply doesn't need a religion..a caste..a race..a creed..or a gender..All it takes is One Simple Act of KINDNESS.. One Simple Act of LOVE!!