Weeding...

I woke up pensive today. I was trying to eject some patently unpleasant truths from my mind – those truths that I was not yet ready to accept. I grew quiet and restless and looked out the window to my front lawn. It had rained the previous night and the grass glowed as though lit from within – the soft greens calmed my too-tense mind and I went out to feel the grass on my bare feet.

I love to walk on the damp and springy grass. I love the way it tickles my sensitive toes. I like the cushioning feel of it – it’s a sensory delight. I noticed that a whole lot of little weeds had sprung up in the last few days and so I sat down determined to eradicate them all. While I was on my knees carefully pulling out errant weeds, my maid and little Riya walked by. Riya muttered something to her mom and promptly joined me on the lawn while her mother entered the house.

She watched carefully as I pulled out the stubborn little weeds and then proceeded to mimic my actions perfectly. She couldn’t pull them out by their roots since they were quite tough despite looking deceptively delicate but she picked the right ones to tackle. We worked side by side with an easy camaraderie – I, as usual, lost in thoughts and she, watching me like a hawk. After a while she decided to change tactics – she picked up and disposed of the African Tulip flowers that bespattered the lawn like blobs of orange paint on the vivid green of the grass. 

That was easier and a lot more fun for her – she could run around happily while doing her tasks. Once done with that, she came close to me and put out her tiny hand palm upwards. I looked up at her and smiled and placed the weed I was currently pulling into her hand. She closed her fingers tightly over it and ran to keep it away in the corner. Each time she would do this and come back with a huge grin. Each time I would hand her another plant I pulled out. We both liked the game and my lawn was looking prettier by the minute. 

I spoke to her in Malayalam and she cocked her head at me like a little puppy. I knew she didn’t follow what I said but it was a comfortable routine and we both liked it. Suddenly she squatted next to me and pointed out something that was growing at the edge of the lawn right beside the hedge. It was a long, ethereally delicate mushroom, with a silver stalk and a golden brown dome. She made to pull it out and I stopped her and simply looked at it for a while. How lovely it looked - slim and sparkling with moisture like a precious gem. “That must be what love looks like” I think to myself – for love is hard to describe and yet when you find it you know what it is instantly. I pull it out and hand it to the discard pile. There is a place for everything in life and in my lawn. And just like that my mind grows still and calm like a pond with no ripples at all in it. No more pensiveness – just an all-encompassing acceptance.

Our job done, Riya and I walk back inside together. Tomorrow we will do this again…