Tender Reminders

A couple of days ago the weather was clement and then the clouds flickered in the sky and poured. I had finished the household chores and so perched on my beloved rocking chair near my favorite window swaying back and forth sipping a cup of coffee and taking pleasure in watching the rain. As rain and puddles are synonymous there were ample of them. I saw a schoolgirl returning from school wearing a raincoat just to save her school bag from getting wet or perhaps to save herself from her mother’s anger. She jumped in the puddles, this amused me. Deep inside me knocked a wish to write a letter to the child inside me. What exactly shall I write? I will write to let her know she can jump as many puddles as she can and cherish it, without caring about the onlookers as all things are temporary. The desire to stop desiring for petty happiness is totally abominable.

Another sip of the coffee and another glance out of the window, I saw a teenage girl climbing a Mango tree in her courtyard to retrieve a strayed kite stuck in one of the branches. I wished to tell the little child in me to never be afraid of doing a thing that gave me fun and the feeling of adventure.  

The honking of a car diverted my attention to the road once again, by now the rain had stopped. A pubescent girl was walking perhaps to tuitions and two men on a bike were troubling her. She had put both her hands firmly around her chest, her school bag was hanging from one shoulder. She looked pensively at the onlookers, nobody came to her rescue. All of a sudden the girl stopped took off her bag in both her hands and flapped it on one of the men. They were both astonished by the girl’s sudden revolutionary action. The girl continuously thrashed them with her bag. Seeing her in action few shopkeepers and eyewitnesses came running and pulled both the men from the bike and beat them up. I thought to tell my little self not to shy away on being harassed. If I don’t help myself then nobody will come to fight my battle. Anything can happen out of the blue, so be prepared to face the challenges, be confident, brave and independent. Let go of the bouts of hesitation and fight for your self-respect and safety.

My coffee was getting neglected so I had another sip of it. The sight of a toddler walking down the road along with her mother, holding a burger in her palms made me curious. The toddler stopped suddenly seeing an old woman begging on the street. She thought for a while and gave the burger to the old lady and continued walking peacefully, while her speechless mother followed her. This incident encouraged me to tell my little self to be kind towards the needy as small things in life are simple yet appear big. Life is infinite and some moments are fragile like bubbles, live those moments.Be a beautiful human being, not just a beautiful girl. Who were all these girls? Were they the little child in me at different stages of life?