The red rose.

Picture credit: www.floralartcenter.com

O my Luve's like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve's like the melodie

That’s sweetly play'd in tune.

......

......

And fare thee well, my only Luve

And fare thee well, a while!

And I will come again, my Luve,

Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.

                                                               - Robert Burns

       

       I had been to a very beautiful exhibition of flower plants. The flower exhibition was a treat to the eyes. I enjoyed walking amidst so many beautiful flowers. As I was about to walk out of the exhibition, a red rose plant caught my sight. Losing my heart to her sheer cuteness, I picked her up. Admiring the beauty she induced in me, I complimented her - "You carry a graceful charm around you." She smiled back. It was a smile that could light up any one, any day, any time!

    "You picked me for your loved one?" She asked.

    "Not actually, I felt planting you in my garden would plant love in my heart."

   "That is sweet of you. But I take pride and pleasure in being gifted to someone very loved, very special indeed."

    "Why is that so?"

    "Because that is my destiny."

    "How can you be so sure of your destiny?"

    "My birth signified it to me."

    "I don't understand. Can we get into the details?"

    "OK, I will tell you a story. A story which is the only treasure I possess....

         

                 ...Not very long ago, down in the south, among the clouds was born a cloud of lion-heart. He stood out among his peers for his intellect was above par. He declined to accept anything that was not aptly reasoned. As he grew up, he nourished the ambition - the ambition of many young clouds - to crown the Himalayas, the Himalayas who stood tallest in the world and whose might was just beyond challenge!  

       He soared into the air, to great heights never believed by the clouds, they could ever attain. He set out to the north, to crown the great Himalayas. The journey towards the Himalayas was not anything less than a highly risky adventure. The whole generation of clouds there, wished him success on the dream mission. A set of followers ran to catch up with his trail and report back about his progress. All clouds turned up, as he passed over them, to catch a glimpse of the 'cloud extraordinaire' 

       Passing over the Deccan plateau, he caught the glimpse of the cloudless earth just once. And what caught his sight turned out to be the watershed of the journey. The beauty of the Sahyadris was mesmerizing. It was not the lush green western side but the rain shadow on the eastern side that had captured his attention. He flew down a bit to get a clear picture of the area, where no cloud wandered.

       The dry land was looking up expectantly. Though dry, she had a soothing aura which the cloud had never experienced. She was thirsty for years. She too was earth and upon earth had to grow trees, turn green, blossom flowers, bear fruits and sustain life. But the lack of rain had deprived her of any scenic beauty. All low flying clouds were stopped by the Ghats and the western side always got rain depriving the eastern lady any chance of quenching her thirst. No high flying cloud had ever stopped by. But this time, one of the biggest had. 

        Could he rain upon her? She would have loved to have him rain on her. But she knew all high flying clouds were gifted the ability to fly high so that they could crown the high mountains. So, she did not expect him to rain upon her. If expected, it would be unfair on him because he would be branded a failure, who could not bear with the hardships of the journey to the top of the world. But, the cloud for the first time lost sight of reason. He knew not why he had looked down. It was beyond his intellect to make out why he had stooped low. For the first time ever he felt that the ambition which had occupied his heart all through his life was fed upon him rather than being born in there. In the lion heart was born a picture, the first picture to be born out of his own imagination, the picture of a beautiful red rose that grew in the eastern earth and was being rained upon. Abandoning all reason, legacy and myth the cloud decided to turn into rain and discover the joy of flowing down into earth! 

        When the lion hearted cloud and the barren eastern land abandoned their individual identities to make a green piece of wet land, I - the red rose was born. They lost the 'I' and 'you' to submerge in the 'we'. My birth signified the emergence of a feeling they called 'love'...

               ....And the first picture that was born in my heart was the beauty of a drizzle flowing down the mountains. That is why I believe my destiny is to be gifted, from him who realizes he is not the cloud, but the rain to the earth upon whom he decides to rain."

          After listening to her story, I promised the red rose I would put her into the hands of the cloud who had found the rain within him or to the earth who would be the cradle of life. That is the reason I offer this cute little red rose to you my friend.