03/01/2024
🌅☘️Nature lessons on relationships: Long post alert.
I got a small curry plant from the nursery and potted it in the balcony garden. The plant very slowly grew up and was thriving well- It's leaves were healthy and had very nice aroma, which contributed to some yummy tadkas in our kitchen. The wind in the balcony blew against the plant and the leaves danced and played around gleefully.
One fine morning, I saw a small green shoot in the pot. Could be a w**d, or some seed from my kitchen waste!
I let it be, giving it time to reveal itself up over the soil. (I anyways find it very difficult to uproot any plant. This feeble heart of mine!).
The new plant grew up extremely rapidly, taller each day. Both the curry plant and new one were growing in the same pot and were doing seemingly good.
The wind still played around and the leaves danced to the tunes. Looked like the two plants were coexisting happily, sharing food and water and joy.
The new plant shrivelled even if there was a slight delay in watering, thereby demanding attention. And this benefitted the curry plant also which wasn't as demanding, but got its share of nutrition because of this new kid on the pot! And the new one rapidly gained its glory and greens as soon as it was watered.
I had to travel in and out of the city for some days. When I was back and settled, and was tending my garden, I had a close look at this curry plant after a long interval. What had happened was quite amusing!
The new plant was now all grown up and spreading even more in gay abandon. It looked happy and cheerful, but what happened to the curry plant!
It has lost its sheen, its silent playful self. The leaves no longer danced with the wind because not many were left. The new plant had overgrown and assumed the territory. The curry plant lost itself to a flashy, young soul which ran all over and took over the place. A silent death was happening each day, without anyone realising. The faster, the louder, the vivacious one was winning and the silent provider was giving in slowly without anyone noticing!
I did uproot the new plant, which now clearly manifested itself as a w**d. But as I was uprooting it, this episode taught me something invaluable about human relationships.
Do we humans also not at times let such gay w**ds enter our lives and slowly let them take control, all under the name of LOVE! And yeah! Like this one, not all w**ds are completely bad. Some have good purpose, but Nature... Eh!
It looks like love at the start since its fresh, high on energy and just fills the air. And we start coexisting. Happily sharing spaces. And before we know it, we lend our energies to this love, so much so that there is none left for us! This love takes so much of us and we- the silent caretakers, give our all. After all that's what we know about love- Sacrifice, Giving in, sharing and letting the other party bloom and shine.
And this is where we all die! To different degrees, in different ways. And we continue to move along life with a wound- A wound that sometimes leads to a scar or sometimes a closed, guarded heart, making us less vulnerable and more protective of ourselves.
Ah! But ain't that what stops love!
What is love without vulnerability and how can a vulnerable heart not be broken! Quite contradictory!
But love does find its way, Always! In all its vulnerability and all its resilience. Courage leads the way with vulnerability being the tool to clear off the hurdles. And what travels on this path is Love- Love that seeks none, welcomes everyone and is one with everything. Love that is all pervading, all vulnerable and ever accepting. And yes! It's never a fast road. It's sloww. Very slow! You can definitely miss it or not have the patience for it :)
Love never rushes. Weeds do!
Love never demands attention. Weeds do!
Love softly flows, nourishes and holds the self together and even when the world is not able to see, it still beams and gleams in it's own glory. For time is the best evidence of love.
The outside lights are sometimes too flashy for this gleam to be visible, but as the flashes subside, the real light becomes evident- This light is the light of love, which is always on and which always shines neither disheartened nor marred by the glitz, for it knows it's worth and it's role.
