A (Dry) Gold Flower and an Interaction
‘Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May’, Art by John William Waterhouse
Last night’s rain has almost washed away the summer blues. It doesn’t look like May. May probably plans to swap its nature with July; although I don’t think they do have any kindness to tolerate this newly found acquaintance. It seems that May would promise to bring back its heat wave soon. Nevertheless, it’s nice to experience decent breezes in summer, and of course my desk has high hopes from this weather. It needs a proper cleaning tour. I pulled out the junk drawer. One by one, I picked up some overused erasers, some ancient pencils, a sibling pair of staplers (one big and one tiny), a packet of calligraphy pens, a tiny set of flash cards, some used and unused highlighters, a set of washi tapes, and then...a transparent purse. The dry Kachnar flower (Bauhinia variegata) was giving me a glance like an old ganny, who remembered how I almost lost her once.
That day, when I was picking up my large suitcase and bags from the baggage carousel, this tiny purse somehow slipped from my black tote. I did not realise. While carelessly looking at my phone to see the status of my cab booking, I rushed with my luggage trolley. I could see the exit gate but a loud call stopped my almost completed, tiring ‘airport-marathon’.
“Hello, excuse me! Black bag, white shirt...white... your purse... your flower...purse!”
I turned. A woman in a blue saree was running towards me, waving her right hand with the transparent purse. She came a pretty long way to stop me. She was panting. She handed me the purse. I almost stammered, “Thank you so much. I actually didn’t hear you...sorry...I mean...”
She replied me with a bright smile, “Oh! That’s alright. It’s indeed a crowded place!”
“I could have never expected anyone to do so. It’s so nice of you.”
She hesitated, “Its Kachnar, right?
And then she continued, “You know, we call it gold flower. I believe... it brings fortune. So... I didn’t want anybody to lose it! Best of Luck.”
I looked at her astonishingly. I had lost words. She turned back and walked away rather slowly. And then I said quite loudly, “Good luck...to you too!”
She gave me a soft glance and we exchanged genuine smiles.
Today, when I remember her, I can see her pure smile. She was courteous, kind and also empathetic to understand my emotion for that flower. She perhaps could sense my hurry, or genuinely she felt how I would feel after realising myself as a brute lax. It was her simple yet gladdening gesture that made my journey unforgettable. Nowadays, numerous snippets flow on social media about the different attitude-complexities in public places. We perhaps miss the world where some polite skills would nurture our days with gratitude and happiness. It does not take much in order to make someone’s day joyous. It is a pure accomplishment. Etiquette and good manners cannot stay hidden with the burden of our pandemic-influenced new companions—depression, anxiety, awkward mood swings, and so on. They cannot take everything from us. Even if these new companions continuously try to create the bubble of self-depriving assurances, a small good talk or a little shelter of politeness can change the perspective like the sudden whirl of a jammed wheel. Psychotherapist Piero Ferrucci says about kindness, “It is the warmth, the attention, the care, the contact we all yearn for.”
We all in any manner wish to live in a place where we can feel that ambience of kindness from our surroundings. I cannot forget that lady only because of her caring attribute towards a stranger. She perhaps initiated the most waited Carpe Diem! A gold flower suddenly became a bonny part of my world. Now, I also call these Kachnar flowers gold flowers. I feel, whenever I see it I find ‘Ina’, as the power of kindness. Right now, this dry gold flower is on my right palm. I whisper, “Precious!”
(In Sanskrit Ina (इन).—a. means determined or anything that is powerful.)