Copy paste from Sujata's blog. I found this post on my cavalier surfing. Ironically it was a perfect timing for my nostalgia for my close friends.
Staying at home in the evenings while the rest of the neighbourhood kids played outside. I remember the sounds of children outside under the crimson sky, and me listening to mother telling me a story.. of a leaf and a mud ball, who were the greatest of friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“The mud ball was simply… mud coloured, fat and podgy and the leaf was light emerald green, delicate and pretty. And yet they cared a lot for each other.
They played together, laughed together, even danced together.. the leaf dancing gracefully and elegantly while the mud ball would flop around, trying hard to stay in step with his graceful friend.
Their affection made the forces of nature very jealous indeed.
The wind bragged “I am the most powerful one ! I shall blow hard and make the leaf fly away with me. That would be the end of this friendship.”
And so the wind blew as hard as it could.
The leaf started flying helplessly in the powerful gust and screamed for help. The mud ball panicked for a second, then suddenly thought of an idea. He jumped and sat on the leaf. The wind blew all he could, but could not separate the two friends.
Upon seeing this, the rain said “Now let me try – I shall melt this mud ball in seconds.”
And so the skies opened up and it rained heavily. The mud ball started dissolving in the rain and screamed. Suddenly he felt something covering him. It was gentle leaf who was lying on top of him and whispering “No one can harm you…. And no one can separate us.”
The rain poured and poured, but could do no harm.
The forces of nature got very angry indeed. They decided to unite together.
The rain and the wind came down in powerful gusts together. In a matter of seconds, the mud ball dissolved and disappeared in the earth… and the leaf blew far, far away.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My mother closed the book with a sigh. I looked at her with big eyes “Then what happened ?”
“Nothing.” She said.
“Didn’t they try to look for each other ?” I asked, my little heart breaking.
“Even if they tried, they would never have succeeded in finding each othere. The mud ball had ceased to exist. The leaf had blown too far away.”
My little world crumbled. For the first time, I realized that in my picture-perfect world, there exists… irreversible, irrevocable loss.
After that little poignant moment, every time I looked at a fallen leaf blowing in the autumn breeze, I wondered if it was searching for a lost friend, who would never be found again.
Looking back at my life, I have lived and relived many such moments when I have lost a friend due to well.. so many causes (read, wind) and always felt a poignant sadness, knowing that this is the end of that beautiful relationship I had been blessed with.
At the same time, it has made me value all those friends and family members who have been by my side and never left me, never said goodbye, no matter how much teh winds blew, no matter how much the rains poured.
Here’s to all fallen leaves and mud balls…. Life is too short. Stay by each other’s side. Let the winds blow. Let the rains pour on. Never say goodbye.
Staying at home in the evenings while the rest of the neighbourhood kids played outside. I remember the sounds of children outside under the crimson sky, and me listening to mother telling me a story.. of a leaf and a mud ball, who were the greatest of friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“The mud ball was simply… mud coloured, fat and podgy and the leaf was light emerald green, delicate and pretty. And yet they cared a lot for each other.
They played together, laughed together, even danced together.. the leaf dancing gracefully and elegantly while the mud ball would flop around, trying hard to stay in step with his graceful friend.
Their affection made the forces of nature very jealous indeed.
The wind bragged “I am the most powerful one ! I shall blow hard and make the leaf fly away with me. That would be the end of this friendship.”
And so the wind blew as hard as it could.
The leaf started flying helplessly in the powerful gust and screamed for help. The mud ball panicked for a second, then suddenly thought of an idea. He jumped and sat on the leaf. The wind blew all he could, but could not separate the two friends.
Upon seeing this, the rain said “Now let me try – I shall melt this mud ball in seconds.”
And so the skies opened up and it rained heavily. The mud ball started dissolving in the rain and screamed. Suddenly he felt something covering him. It was gentle leaf who was lying on top of him and whispering “No one can harm you…. And no one can separate us.”
The rain poured and poured, but could do no harm.
The forces of nature got very angry indeed. They decided to unite together.
The rain and the wind came down in powerful gusts together. In a matter of seconds, the mud ball dissolved and disappeared in the earth… and the leaf blew far, far away.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My mother closed the book with a sigh. I looked at her with big eyes “Then what happened ?”
“Nothing.” She said.
“Didn’t they try to look for each other ?” I asked, my little heart breaking.
“Even if they tried, they would never have succeeded in finding each othere. The mud ball had ceased to exist. The leaf had blown too far away.”
My little world crumbled. For the first time, I realized that in my picture-perfect world, there exists… irreversible, irrevocable loss.
After that little poignant moment, every time I looked at a fallen leaf blowing in the autumn breeze, I wondered if it was searching for a lost friend, who would never be found again.
Looking back at my life, I have lived and relived many such moments when I have lost a friend due to well.. so many causes (read, wind) and always felt a poignant sadness, knowing that this is the end of that beautiful relationship I had been blessed with.
At the same time, it has made me value all those friends and family members who have been by my side and never left me, never said goodbye, no matter how much teh winds blew, no matter how much the rains poured.
Here’s to all fallen leaves and mud balls…. Life is too short. Stay by each other’s side. Let the winds blow. Let the rains pour on. Never say goodbye.
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