A Friend of Nature

It was seven in the clock when a ray of light brought me out of my dreams. The beautiful golden beach of Poovar shined in between the Arabian Sea and Karelian backwaters. From my balcony it seemed like, sun-spreading its spark all around the blue sky, hence I stepped out of my room to have a closer view of this beautiful nature.

We reached Poovar the previous night and our hotel was constructed parallel to backwaters, where an open garden restaurant floating on the backwater was built. A broken, messy play park with ‘no entry’ board was placed in corner of that restaurant, I found it weird but I ignored and moved in and sat with legs immersed in cold water…… shiver passed through my body. The shrill sound of birds, the smell of water and a cold breeze made my morning pleasant.

A few minutes later a sweet, fair, little, dimple cheeks girl wearing a monkey cap sat beside me. She smiled at me and our conversation began……….

Her name was Prakriti while talking a stinky smell flew inside my nose, hence I asked her to shift, but she caught my hand and asked, “Will you be my friend forever?” That question surprised me! Yet I replied in YES……. As I answered she removed her cap. I covered my nose with both hands because she had no right jaw, it was operated and removed. It smelled like a dead rat.

“As people look at my face their sweetness disappears….. I have no friends. In school, my classmate is instructed to be away from me, by their parents. As they might suffer this disease ” Said the girl, I hugged her tightly and a tear rolled down my eye. Because her sweet words eradicated that bitter smell…………

I promised to spend every minute with her till the time I am in Poovar. We chatted, played and did every little thing of her choice, people and hotel staff were starring at us but we cared a damn. Even time didn’t bother us until she asked me to drop her home which was behind my hotel.

While walking she told, “Tonight I will shift to my granny’s place….. Hence we wouldn’t be able to meet further, but if you miss me then take a glance at this nature or have a chat with any animals or bird because they never differentiate like a human in creator’s creation, they are my best friend”

With a final hug, I dropped her at her bungalow's gate and returned to my room. At 2.00 pm I submitted my room key in reception for cleaning, as we were heading for lunch. Suddenly that girl’s photo with a garland caught my attention and another photo of an aged lady was hanging beside her……

Shooooooocked………. my legs were shivering………. I got the reason, why people were staring at me……… for that moment my eyes were widely stuck on photo………

On enquiring, I learned that she was the daughter of a hotel owner who died with mouth cancer and the old lady was her grandmother. The park was her favorite place hence it had that no entry board.

I spend the rest of my day in a fever; I didn’t know what it was? My dream or reality? But next morning I woke with a lesson she taught me…….. ‘It’s good to be a selfless animal rather than a selfish human.’