Jatin had come to visit his relatives in a town which was located near hilly region. The area around the house had a decent amount of greenery compared to the metropolitan city where Jatin lived. He was fondly reminded by the elders in the house how once there were many more trees and birds around and how the houses back then were full of beautiful flowering plants.
Jatin stepped out for a walk, and thought how there were relatively more houses now than what he had been told of past, and as the taste of preceding generations changed there were more artificial decorations than the flowering plants which were greatly adored once.
The road he walked on had been present for a very long time there. In the year 1940, Mr Purab was walking down the same road with his small niece Nalini. Nalini had lost both her parents when she was infant. Mr Purab had decided to take care of her.
Nalini was very fond of flowers, she rejoiced at the first sight of them. If she saw them from far, she would run off towards them, followed by the worried adult who would accompany her. The rare sight of vehicles on road back then meant the roads were relatively much safer for little children.
“I want to grow a plant and it will have many flowers,” Nalini announced one day. Mr Purab smiled and said, “Next time the gardener comes by, ask him to help you plant a seed in the garden.” Mr Purab forgot about this small conversation until one day Nalini told him, “I planted a seed today, the gardener said it will have many beautiful flowers.” Mr Purab looked at her and said, “well you better take good care of it.”
Much to Nalini’s dismay, the seed would not grow, so Mr Purab got a rose plant planted in the garden and told Nalini that it was her seed that had grown. Malini’s happiness knew no bounds. She told everyone she met about her seed growing into a rose plant. However, Nalini was a little disappointed how the rose plant never produced the number flowers she had expected it to; and the roses were certainly very different in colour from the description of the flowers the gardener had given her.
Time passed on, Mr Purab and his family shifted away, but they didn’t sell the house. It was given out on rent, but the garden was left undisturbed apart from some occasional maintenance. Some members of the family returned many years later.
In the present, Jatin came across a beautiful Indian laburnum or a Golden Shower Tree. It was in a garden adjoining an old house. He noticed an old lady with a walking stick standing near the tree staring at its flowers. She was speaking something but nobody was around. Jatin walked closer and asked, “Do you need any help?” The old lady turned towards him, still lost in her thoughts and said, “He said…… he did say it will have many beautiful flowers… and it did…” and she smiled.
Early Morning Memories 