New Me Within Power Of Orison For The New Dawn

This story is about Riya, my neighbor, who is a sweet, docile yet chirpy girl aged six years old. Whenever I meet her, she with her usual inquisitiveness asks me questions that leave me perplexed. This time I have a very special story to share which has deeply affected me as an individual and my relationship with Riya too. She often visits home and I always enjoy her being around, her liveliness and nevertheless to say her company which is the best.

However, moving on it was a few days before when the lockdown was yet to be announced I met her. She with her conventional pandora box of questions started asking me "didi I can see that we humans are harming nature too much what if the nature in return punishes us." The question was very simple yet I was totally bewildered and couldn't give any reply to her question. I tried to ignore it but Riya didn't let that happen. After some time while replying to her question I assured her by saying that "Riya, nature is very kind and won't punish us." She was listening carefully and didn't utter a word but the vexation was clearly visible on her face.

       

Soon after this, the lockdown was announced. During this period, I witnessed unlike other children of her age Riya used to often sit near the window with a gloomy face looking at the sky, chirruping birds, breezy winds, bare lane roads, green leafy trees and lastly she used to wave at me in case I would sit and gaze at the window like her. In the lockdown itself one fine day she called me up and said "didi long ago I had asked you that if nature punishes us then what will happen." She while adding to it continued "didi look now nature has punished us as we are shut inside our homes. I can't play with my friends, can't go to school, also can't go shopping with mom and dad, and so on." Her list was endless and I pacified her by saying, "Riya everything will be normal again, just wait for some time." To which Riya replied "didi I am waiting for that day which is yet not visible to me and will be referred to as a "New Normal Dawn"." While listening to this I became both numb and speechless towards the comprehension of this young mind as I had nothing to say. She further said, "didi I will pray to Mother Nature to forgive us for our mistakes and help us to recover from this situation as fast as possible." Her questions and witty replies shook me and I couldn't sleep over them as I was pondering over that how finely and beautifully she could read, observe and capture everything; which I was constantly ignoring and taking in for granted since a very long time and even today also. I too prayed to the Almighty to forgive me for my mistakes done with Nature and hope to see the pleasant dawn as apprehended and put in words by Riya soon. Lastly, after praying to witness this new dawn I realized that the novice me was the one who had started believing in the importance of prayer which I earlier considered trivial thus paving the way for a change.