Beautiful, That is the word that comes to my mind when I step in this park. It’s a collage, a collage of life. You can see all the phases and all the stages of life in this small piece of land. And then like in a collage there are the main pictures based on the main theme and there are small fillers, the beautifiers, hinting towards the same theme and adding to the beauty of the collage. The fillers here are the flowers and the trees, the grass which is so green and so full of life. The flowers; so pretty and so fragrant. The trees so tall and old and so shady. The squirrels so active and naughty. And the rail road which passes on the other side of the park and this brick paved road on this side. These two give it all an old European town kind a look. These are also the two fillers. And then there is the main theme, Life. Human life all over the place.
Look at that little kid in a stroller, dressed in pink. Color of her cheeks matches the color of her dress. Her smile and her innocence is the source where the flowers took their lessons from. She, the innocence personified is sitting there silently teaching all those who want to learn.
Those four kids between the ages of 4 and 6 are the dreams of days to come. Look at the agility they have. Look at the charm and the beauty that radiates from them. They are naughty and they are so active. I don’t know if they learnt something from the squirrels or the squirrels learnt something from them. Lets go closer and listen to what all they are talking about. Can you hear them, they are so imaginative. I am sure Newton and Einstein were none other than those people who managed to keep the kid in them alive. They were those who didn’t let this childhood imagination die while they were growing up.
Funny is the way in which that little girl in the flowery dress is following the butterfly. She is not interested in catching it. She just wants to be like the butterfly, flying from one flower to another. She is chasing the butterfly and taking her lessons from it. I am sure one day she will fly.
And look at that bunch of college kids sitting in that corner. They are in the stage between growing ups and grown ups. All in late teens or early twenties, touching hands while exchanging books, and exchanging smiles and exchanging looks. They have certain promise in their eyes. The dreams are still there, but less imaginative and more bent towards the “Logic”.
Today there is a big event in the open lawn of the chapel next door. This lawn is though attached to the big park but as the land rules apply, it is a part of the Church property. And there these two beautiful people are getting married there. All the guests and the God, dressed as nature and various entities, are the witness to the promises these two people are making for their life together. The whole event looks somewhat divine, may be the natural vicinity and some what obvious presence of the hidden (yet omni present) God is making it divine.
And then look at those young couples, some holding hands with each other and others holding grudges against each other, walking on the brick paved path in the middle of the park. You can see the fear in some eyes here, and promise in others. Strange mix of love and hate in some and a very few with indifference. Some have a big question hidden in their heart, but that is showing on their faces too, “will we be able to make it all the way?”
And there are the proud parents of those kids. Parents with pride and hope in their eyes. The imagination of their children every now and then is amusing them and some times embarrassing them too. But most of them are proud and happy and hopeful yet afraid. Go closer to them and you can hear their hearts murmuring, “God make my baby the best.” And so there you can see the pride and jealousy, the age-old friend of pride.
And on the benches you see a few executives in their business suits, with the ties loose around their necks. There are some waiters and other workers too, in their work cloths. All of them seem to be tired. And all of them has the same thing written on their faces, “ Just a little more and I can make it happen. But I am tired and hope for a miracle.” May be for some the miracle is just around the corner, waiting there and for others it is a little farther.
The other class of people here, the old people. Mostly they have one word mentioned on them, in bold fonts, “Accomplishment” A job well done for years, raised good children, had a successful marriage that stayed till now in-spite of all ups and downs, and will stay till the end. Have lived so far, Accomplishment!!! A job, a relation, parenthood, happiness, lived a life and still lively, lived with grace through good and bad times, promises fulfilled, Accomplishments!!!!! They are perhaps tired, yet content. The journey that started with the innocence, dreams and imagination as a kid, went through joy and fears, promises, love, hate and envy and pride and a lot more has reached to this stage, the stage of Accomplishment. A bag full of accomplishments is what they carry.
I am so immersed in the scene; it is so alive in front of my eyes. I have never seen a collage so full of life. And now the train is passing on the tracks on other side of the park. The kids are waiving to the train. Parents watching the kids. Few college students sneaking a special touch or a kiss while others are busy watching the train. The young newly wed couple looks at the train and the kids and think of their own childhood, which was just yesterday. The old ones looking at the train remember so many stories. They smile but won’t share the stories with anyone. They look at their partner and wink.
All so pretty, all so alive, all so beautiful. My tea is about to finish and the lady at the counter of the café is staring at me. May be because I am sitting here for quite some time now. I will get a double shot of espresso, with a little cream on the top. That will be my tribute to another filler in this collage, The Café. And to yet another filler, Me!!
Look at that little kid in a stroller, dressed in pink. Color of her cheeks matches the color of her dress. Her smile and her innocence is the source where the flowers took their lessons from. She, the innocence personified is sitting there silently teaching all those who want to learn.
Those four kids between the ages of 4 and 6 are the dreams of days to come. Look at the agility they have. Look at the charm and the beauty that radiates from them. They are naughty and they are so active. I don’t know if they learnt something from the squirrels or the squirrels learnt something from them. Lets go closer and listen to what all they are talking about. Can you hear them, they are so imaginative. I am sure Newton and Einstein were none other than those people who managed to keep the kid in them alive. They were those who didn’t let this childhood imagination die while they were growing up.
Funny is the way in which that little girl in the flowery dress is following the butterfly. She is not interested in catching it. She just wants to be like the butterfly, flying from one flower to another. She is chasing the butterfly and taking her lessons from it. I am sure one day she will fly.
And look at that bunch of college kids sitting in that corner. They are in the stage between growing ups and grown ups. All in late teens or early twenties, touching hands while exchanging books, and exchanging smiles and exchanging looks. They have certain promise in their eyes. The dreams are still there, but less imaginative and more bent towards the “Logic”.
Today there is a big event in the open lawn of the chapel next door. This lawn is though attached to the big park but as the land rules apply, it is a part of the Church property. And there these two beautiful people are getting married there. All the guests and the God, dressed as nature and various entities, are the witness to the promises these two people are making for their life together. The whole event looks somewhat divine, may be the natural vicinity and some what obvious presence of the hidden (yet omni present) God is making it divine.
And then look at those young couples, some holding hands with each other and others holding grudges against each other, walking on the brick paved path in the middle of the park. You can see the fear in some eyes here, and promise in others. Strange mix of love and hate in some and a very few with indifference. Some have a big question hidden in their heart, but that is showing on their faces too, “will we be able to make it all the way?”
And there are the proud parents of those kids. Parents with pride and hope in their eyes. The imagination of their children every now and then is amusing them and some times embarrassing them too. But most of them are proud and happy and hopeful yet afraid. Go closer to them and you can hear their hearts murmuring, “God make my baby the best.” And so there you can see the pride and jealousy, the age-old friend of pride.
And on the benches you see a few executives in their business suits, with the ties loose around their necks. There are some waiters and other workers too, in their work cloths. All of them seem to be tired. And all of them has the same thing written on their faces, “ Just a little more and I can make it happen. But I am tired and hope for a miracle.” May be for some the miracle is just around the corner, waiting there and for others it is a little farther.
The other class of people here, the old people. Mostly they have one word mentioned on them, in bold fonts, “Accomplishment” A job well done for years, raised good children, had a successful marriage that stayed till now in-spite of all ups and downs, and will stay till the end. Have lived so far, Accomplishment!!! A job, a relation, parenthood, happiness, lived a life and still lively, lived with grace through good and bad times, promises fulfilled, Accomplishments!!!!! They are perhaps tired, yet content. The journey that started with the innocence, dreams and imagination as a kid, went through joy and fears, promises, love, hate and envy and pride and a lot more has reached to this stage, the stage of Accomplishment. A bag full of accomplishments is what they carry.
I am so immersed in the scene; it is so alive in front of my eyes. I have never seen a collage so full of life. And now the train is passing on the tracks on other side of the park. The kids are waiving to the train. Parents watching the kids. Few college students sneaking a special touch or a kiss while others are busy watching the train. The young newly wed couple looks at the train and the kids and think of their own childhood, which was just yesterday. The old ones looking at the train remember so many stories. They smile but won’t share the stories with anyone. They look at their partner and wink.
All so pretty, all so alive, all so beautiful. My tea is about to finish and the lady at the counter of the café is staring at me. May be because I am sitting here for quite some time now. I will get a double shot of espresso, with a little cream on the top. That will be my tribute to another filler in this collage, The Café. And to yet another filler, Me!!
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