She felt happy around him and comforted him right…
He stood there right beside her, became a mountain when she feared, made a river run through her heart where it was raw and made it bright…
They knew what they wanted and they told each other so, understood the differences that life telecasts on its winter nights show…
Plans they did make for days were to grow bright, but never caged the thoughts for fear it may not take flight
Stay, she said, be there, alright? That thing called love, comes too easy and fills me with fright…
He chuckled and nodded and told her he would, if he ever had to run, he’d catch that hand and scoot…
So they dreamt of what was once forbidden, rewrote their fairy-tale, what was not once in their control was now here to stay…
And smiled, because they had something to keep their souls warm, while the world kept guessing what was the sudden wonder all about.. Mirror images became real and they saw themselves as one, they had it all figured out finally, love’s final lap was re-run…
Sleep had engulfed the entire vicinity into its charms, when suddenly a jerk brought me out of its enchantment and I found myself in the compartment of a train. I looked at my watch in the dim light of a bulb and saw that it was 2:00 am in the morning. The train had halted at a way-side station. I was hungry and ruffled my bag to find a packet of biscuits and immediately started munching on them. After a lot of efforts, I recalled that I was travelling to a remote place in Bengal known as Samarpur, to meet my parents who had already arrived there.
I had a heated argument with my parents before the journey as to what will I do there? I would surely be bored to death. But, my parents turned a deaf ear to all my protests and finally on a pale afternoon under the mellow light of the sun, I found myself in an obscure village named Samarpur. I had made up my mind to hate Samarpur.
The journey from station to home was a short one with winding red roads and thatched huts. There was flourishing greenery all around. After reaching home, I decided to freshen up and take a tour of the village. After some snacks, I left for my tour and came across a way that led to a bifurcation. One leading to the woods and the other to the village hub. I chose the less travelled by and found myself in the midst of dense green population.
The lush green carpet of grass was a happy change for my tired weary eyes. Samarpur wasn’t that bad as I thought it would be. I was looking all around and found the trees all naked. Clearly, autumn had set in too early. I was busy admiring nature when my eyes fell on a tiny speck of green. It shone under the crimson sky. I wanted to go nearer but it was getting dark. I decided to come back again the next day to discover the tiny green speck.
The next day I woke up early and went to the woods again. The tiny green speck was a small leaf on a huge tree. This tiny leaf was brave enough to face the wrath of autumn when all the others could not. This leaf changed it all. It made me a totally different person. A person who is strong enough and ready to face the world.
The brave leaf
My tour ended and I have never been to Samarpur after that. I can never forget the sight of the tiny leaf and even today, the words of William Wordsworth rings in my ears,
