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A Withered Rose

I returned to office on the morning of March 18th, 2019 after a week’s absence. Returning from where and what is reserved for entirely another blog post, sticking to the morning scene.

The morning (at home I mean) began quite innocuously, with no clue what so ever of what might unfold later, as is so common with life. And for somebody like me, who is quite open to the unexpected and won’t usually be taken by surprise, this was.. Surprising, to say the least. Meeting an auto or a cab driver who has previously dropped me once or twice wouldn’t even have me bat an eyelid, forget feeling surprised. Perhaps, running into a friend I haven’t met in ages? Wouldn’t. Meeting someone who is a relative of a very close friend of mine, while attempting to catch an auto? Nope. Been there, done that. What about realising en route to office that I have no Ola money or Cash, and that I have to call someone once I get to work to pay off the driver? Well, today I knew I had cash.

What about entering office, and surprise surprise, finding my favourite manager in the whole world, from a previous company I  worked for, having joined my current company? Okay, this would be very special but still, not unexpected, simply for the fact that it is something I have wished for a million times (and yet, it doesn’t seem to happen). Sigh. Talk about wishful thinking.

As it goes in the nature of things, there’s a clause I want to add here, for two reasons. One, it might seem that it is an illusion, the thought of a perfect manager. That is simply not true. At least not for me. Having worked with someone who fits that bill perfectly has been my life’s boon. And two, when you have met someone exceptionally amazing in the very first job, it is almost impossible for anyone to match up to those standards, and that becomes a dreary truth one has to live by, on a daily basis. Anyway, I digress.

Coming back, add a situation or two about having a choice to save someone’s life while on my way to work, or turn a blind eye and get to work (where I would choose the former in an attempt to save my soul), or having to take leave for the sake of a friend who needs an ear more than the office needs work finished, suffice it to say that there is simply nothing left that could leave me astonished. I’ve got it all covered. What else can possibly happen?

That’s where I was wrong.

The HR could leave a rose on my desk on International Women’s day, and that rose can wither in a week, by the time I got to see it. And it could hypothetically (only, yes) become the most unexpected encounter I ever thought possible. But what happens when the hypothetically unimaginable stuff turns real? It calls for being baffled!

I hadn’t thought of this possibility at all.

I wondered why nobody around me had picked up the rose and sprinkled water on it, so that it could have lasted a few more days. I wondered why nobody just took it for themselves, since everyone knew that I was going to be away for a whole good week. I wondered even more, as to why the housekeeping staff who are ever so punctual in tidying up my desk every weekend, had left the rose as is- to wither and die. And hadn’t even thrown it away, even after it had withered. It had been left lying on my desk, rather unceremoniously, when all it actually deserved was attention, and some watering.

And then I belatedly realised, it was a rose meant for me, given as a gift. It wasn’t anybody else’s to care for, or water, or take home for themselves, or let it wither- for it wasn’t theirs in the first place. A whole lot like love, one that is yours and yours alone, to do what you like with it. Some hold it well and show it off, some accept and tolerate it, some reject and don’t give the attention and care it deserves. Some have a glow that they never had without it (no pun intended!), some cherish and protect it like it’s the one thing they’ve been waiting for all along.

But what about the love that you’ve been so used to receiving that you are blind to it, almost? The friends that are there for you on every bad day, parents who make it their life’s intention to make your every wish a reality- no matter how difficult it is for them to understand why is it that you wish what you wish for, and that rare friend who sits by you in silence when you’re troubled, and you’re all fine ten minutes later? What about the ones with whom you can laugh your heart out at the silliest of things, and the ones with whom there is absolutely no judgment? Isn’t it all wholly, solely yours, and only yours? Of course it is. The equation you have with a special person, a best friend, family, and close people is yours, and only yours; impossible to be the same with another, in your place.

Coming back to my desk.. I was distraught to see a withered rose lying there, one that I would have definitely cherished if I were around when it was given.. But belatedly realised, it is only flowers that wither, never love!

PC: Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels

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