Nothing could lift me up from bed after the sudden and violent collapse of my life on the other side. It was that day of the year when my grand dad is remembered and made happy in heaven by rituals, so is the belief of my family.
The kind of person that I'm made to be, doesn't let me be involved in such things. I'm too consumed and corrupted by my own life to let anything nice come into it. This corruption was brought about by one person. And little did I know, my heart would be filled with happiness because of him.
I was late by almost half hour. My family gave up on me. They know I exist in a world that's so different and so distant from them, yet we call ourselves a happy family operating under one roof! Such is life, that's understood. I always travel back to my days of looking out of the window with such innocence and running about a house with a huge hall and garden. Happiness existed even between the gaps of the laid tiles. Everything broke. Snapped. At the cost of revenge and ego. Life is now confined to something smaller, in terms of space. But never mind, swimming through the toughest tide shows us victory!
Thatha was a great man! Enormous people who flocked at his funeral said it and continued saying it even later. We were seeing him in a ten inch frame. He was smiling at us. Even at 70, he had a character of his own. I remember waking up to the sound of my grandmother crying when her sons brought in the news of his death. She was wailing. It's been 11 years now. A lot has happened after that - both good and bad!
The story of the candle unfolds when it's kept next to the ten inch frame. It was short and round - nothing new to the family, ofcourse. A beautiful candle in light blue that had written text printed on it, in silver. A rare one of such sorts! The texts were erasing with time but it was still visible and gave it a special look. You seldom find such things at a store near you! I had to actually wipe off the dust that rested itself comfortably on the surface of it. It was that old and it hadn't been cleaned for a long time now. Arguments were passed over why such a huge candle was kept next to a frame so small. It didn't matter to me. I wanted to keep this. This was a gift to me... from a person so dear to me whom I know my family doesn't care about anymore, nor does he care about my family anymore. Revenge and ego and all that nonsense... I had other options to pick. But this was the one that made it's way up there, next to thatha! Like he asked for it and got it!
I lit it with such care and it built a beauty of it's own in no time! Breezy afternoon, curtains swirl, the pleasant wind touches the face gently... and that gentle touch is enough to shoo the flame away, but no... it wouldn't go off. The very sight of seeing the candle lit there, gave me so much satisfaction. To see that a gift from a friend whom my family loathes and vice versa has brought in light and peace to the house with a stout light blue candle. And it's beautiful! What more can I ask for today?
And after a while, unknowingly the sweet fragrance spread, still lingering all around the house. Never knew the candle was scented, and even if it was, little did I know the scent would exist even after five years ....
A gift filled with love.... five years ago.... waited for the right time to be put for use....
The scent is still filling the room... and the flame is still on...
And my grandfather is still smiling...!
God bless everyone on this occassion!
----
Meghana Karthik
The kind of person that I'm made to be, doesn't let me be involved in such things. I'm too consumed and corrupted by my own life to let anything nice come into it. This corruption was brought about by one person. And little did I know, my heart would be filled with happiness because of him.
I was late by almost half hour. My family gave up on me. They know I exist in a world that's so different and so distant from them, yet we call ourselves a happy family operating under one roof! Such is life, that's understood. I always travel back to my days of looking out of the window with such innocence and running about a house with a huge hall and garden. Happiness existed even between the gaps of the laid tiles. Everything broke. Snapped. At the cost of revenge and ego. Life is now confined to something smaller, in terms of space. But never mind, swimming through the toughest tide shows us victory!
Thatha was a great man! Enormous people who flocked at his funeral said it and continued saying it even later. We were seeing him in a ten inch frame. He was smiling at us. Even at 70, he had a character of his own. I remember waking up to the sound of my grandmother crying when her sons brought in the news of his death. She was wailing. It's been 11 years now. A lot has happened after that - both good and bad!
The story of the candle unfolds when it's kept next to the ten inch frame. It was short and round - nothing new to the family, ofcourse. A beautiful candle in light blue that had written text printed on it, in silver. A rare one of such sorts! The texts were erasing with time but it was still visible and gave it a special look. You seldom find such things at a store near you! I had to actually wipe off the dust that rested itself comfortably on the surface of it. It was that old and it hadn't been cleaned for a long time now. Arguments were passed over why such a huge candle was kept next to a frame so small. It didn't matter to me. I wanted to keep this. This was a gift to me... from a person so dear to me whom I know my family doesn't care about anymore, nor does he care about my family anymore. Revenge and ego and all that nonsense... I had other options to pick. But this was the one that made it's way up there, next to thatha! Like he asked for it and got it!
I lit it with such care and it built a beauty of it's own in no time! Breezy afternoon, curtains swirl, the pleasant wind touches the face gently... and that gentle touch is enough to shoo the flame away, but no... it wouldn't go off. The very sight of seeing the candle lit there, gave me so much satisfaction. To see that a gift from a friend whom my family loathes and vice versa has brought in light and peace to the house with a stout light blue candle. And it's beautiful! What more can I ask for today?
And after a while, unknowingly the sweet fragrance spread, still lingering all around the house. Never knew the candle was scented, and even if it was, little did I know the scent would exist even after five years ....
A gift filled with love.... five years ago.... waited for the right time to be put for use....
The scent is still filling the room... and the flame is still on...
And my grandfather is still smiling...!
God bless everyone on this occassion!
----
Meghana Karthik
No comments:
Post a Comment