The Broken flowerpot

Neil walked with a backpack held in his right hand. He was in his usual office formal clothes and he hurried towards his car. Neil’s car was parked right outside the apartment building which he had done earlier in the morning, when he had driven out to get it a fill of CNG.



Neil opened the rear door and placed the bag on the back seat and then he proceeded towards the driver seat. Just then, something fell behind him, it was an earthen flower pot. The pot had broken, with its pieces spreading out and the soil inside that remained scattered on the ground. There was a remnant of a dry plant signifying that the pot was left unattended for sometime.



Neil looked up and spotted the window from which it had fallen.



‘If the car was a bit to the right or I was still keeping the bag then..’ Neil thought



The year had begun and Neil had great expectations from this one. He was saving up money and finding resources to start his own work, which was an online based news channel. Neil had been news anchor for seven years and after much thoughtful brainstorming he made up his mind to start his own channel online.



Neil had been in the field for quite some time and had talked to people who would love to associate with him, some on a part time basis while others full time.



As Neil had been thinking about how the year would be, the flower pot fell and some people might take it as a sign, an ill omen. Etc, I mean I have seen people who would associate any form of superficial meaning with otherwise very normal occurrences but our Neil here wasn’t one… or was he.



Neil looked at the broken pot and started thinking about the job he had right now. He didn’t have much to worry about, he had to maintain the expected performance, work(mostly) within official fixed hours, and receive his salary on a certain day every month. Life was sorted.



“You have got it wrong kid” Neil heard a familiar voice; it was his late paternal grandfather. Neil’s grandfather was in the army, and was very strong spirited, the bigger the challenge one undertook, the more impressed he would be and he wanted Neil to become the one who would thwart aur challenges. Neil’s grandfather passed away before Neil had started his professional life but Neil always kept thinking about what he would say to the point he was able to imagine him in front of his eyes.



“What?” asked Neil



“The job thing,” said Neil’s grandfather, “It feels like the easier choice, but if you back down now, you will be letting go of anything that you want to do of your own and it will become a big ‘What if I had’ of your life.”



Neil nodded his head and smiled, “Thank you grandpa. The coming months would certainly be the most challenging. But I won’t give up.”




“Good. Talk to me whenever you need,” said Neil’s grandfather as he stood watching Neil driving away while he himself faded away.

Written by Anuran Chatterji

Hey, Connect with Us:)

• WordPress
• Instagram