A Little Bit of Paradise!

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March 18, 2010 by Preeks

A very important declaration:
I, Ms. Preeti, hereby declare, I discovered paradise. On Earth. In my Colony. Somewhere between the main gate and my Block. A few meters from the nearest Guard Post. A few feet from my daily route. A stone’s throw from where I walk everyday. A mental block away from observing my surroundings!

Point is: I discovered a little bit of paradise. Now, I didn’t know what I was supposed to do with this discovery. I was thinking on the lines of a patent, maybe? But a bit of google search and a teaspoon of common sense taught me better. We decided to blog about it and let out the secret.

It all happened, one fine day, two weeks ago, during my return journey after a long tiring day at work. The usual bumpy, bus ride across the stinking Yamuna did zilch to lift up the spirits. To make matters worse, I was kicked out of the Auto at the Colony gate itself (as usual), because the Driver did not see himself getting too many customers inside. I tried convincing him that I would be traveling back first thing in the morning and that he just had to wait some 12-13 hours, but somehow he wasn’t buying my argument. So, grumbling, I dragged myself through the by lanes.
Everything was normal. The guard did not wish me. The birds were not chirping. The boys smoking cigarettes did not stop on seeing me. I was not offered a lift.
Then, suddenly, something changed. A whiff of some magical perfume crossed my nose. I ignored it, because I thought it was a figment of my imagination. But, I slowed down my pace nonetheless. Like a curious dog, I sniffed in the air. Have you noticed, when you try sniffing too hard, the nose stops smelling anything altogether? That’s precisely what happened. But instinct told me to turn my direction and sniff again. And then, the wind blew and there it was. The scent of heaven!
Even as I tried locating the source, the smell was so intoxicating, I could feel the blood rushing to my head.  Finally, after a lot of exploration, I found the source. It was from a tree, hidden in oblivion, lost in a camouflage. bent with the weight of some astoundingly good smelling flowers, silently dispersing into the air a smell as beautiful as it could get! I was so ecstatic, I felt like hugging the tree. It’s too bad I cannot upload all sensory forms here, but I so wish I could. If you can imagine this, think about a hybrid of Jasmine (Or Malli, as we call it) and Raat Ki Rani (or Cestrum Nocturnum). Either of these flowers themselves, are enough to make you stop dead in your tracks. Can you imagine a hybrid? Oh My God, it is just stupendous!
Suddenly, the world seemed like a changed place. I thought I saw the Guard nod and give a semblance of a smile in my direction, the birds started singing, the boys threw their cigarettes down,. I was smiling, the long day at work did not seem all that bad, the Auto wallah seemed to have had a point in not dropping me home. Oh hell, I was even ready to accept the Yamuna was not smelling! That perfume was acting like a drug, intoxicating me. The pleasantness of the flower was growing on me.
For the next few days, I voluntarily got off the Auto at the Gate and walked all the way home, stopped at that hidden tree and stood there in a trance for a few minutes, sniffing and sniffing to my heart’s content. It was never enough! I was not the only one. People walking by would unknowingly change their track to walk a bt closer to this tree. Magical it was!
Then, one day, the smell did not greet me from a distance. The tree was there, but there were no flowers. My paradise had been robbed off its beauty. The tree stood bare, the perfumed splendour was missing. After a remorseful search on Google, I learnt about seasonal trees and seasonal flowering.
I was so dismayed, I stopped taking that route. My Paradise had become Paradise Lost, all in a Week’s time.
The good part, though, is that, I decided to find a message in all of this. That rare occasion when I dole out social messages – That being, if being observant for one day showed me a glimpse of heaven, can you imagine the joy of living an observant life? The beauty of life, lies in the small nuances that go unnoticed. The fun is, in being wide-eyed and looking for these nuances!
I am not an advocate of high drama Global Warming summits and Greenathons on TV, but here’s what I do know: God was not mean enough not to throw in a little bit of paradise on earth. If we don’t learn to appreciate them now, we won’t even get the opportunity to see them.

Signing out,
Go Green Now Preeti