SUNSHINE ON GREEN FIELDS

SUNSHINE ON GREEN FIELDS

The mellow winter sunshine lit up a very small but happy party- a grandmother and her little granddaughter, frolicking about gaily in the lush green fields. The grandmother tried calling her several times to come near and sit quietly but all in vain- the little one enjoyed herself too much in the lap of nature. Her grandmother let her play for a while and then she started opening the tiffin boxes one by one with a smile- she has brought her grandchild to these fields nearby their house for a little homely picnic, bringing along titbits which the girl liked to savour. As soon as that delicious aroma wafted to the child, she automatically came running, curious what grandma had in store. Grandma knew this trick to make her naughty grandchild listen to her. She made the child sit quietly, wash her hands well and then have the food. While they were at their meal, a cow came towards them, grazing slowly. The little girl was frightened and clung to her grandma. She stroked the child’s head softly and said in an affectionate voice- “It doesn’t harm anybody my dear. It’ll move away on its own once it has its share of the grass. We are having our fill, we should allow it the same as well”. The child believed that to be entirely fair and hugged her grandma tight. They made the afternoon happy with their love and laughter.

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    Quite a few years have passed since. The little girl is not little anymore, rather she has one of her own. Her job and her marriage to a NRI have brought her to America, several miles away from her small hometown in India. Her separation from her grandma had been a very painful one and just the next year had brought about their permanent separation. Those soft afternoon hours spent with her grandma- those afternoons of picnics, stories and boundless affection kept coming back to her as her sweetest childhood memories. After her grandma’s death, she could not visit her hometown again- the very thought of those familiar sights without that familiar face in their midst, weighed down her spirits. She only knew that her parents had sold away their old house and moved to a flat elsewhere. Cloistered in her comfortable office, she suddenly thought that it was high time that her daughter, Anita, visited her hometown. She has been born in America and was growing up, totally ignorant of her Indian roots. She chalked out a plan of visiting her hometown with her family and talked the matter over with her husband. Unfortunately, he was not able to manage any leave from his office but he heartily encouraged his wife to take the trip with Anita.

    Accordingly, she flew to India next month with Anita and put up in her parents’ house. The following two days passed in absolute bliss- all were equally excited to be united and her parents were ecstatic about seeing their only grandchild for the first time. The third day, she decided that she would take Anita to visit the place of her childhood home and the fields where she had left all her heart behind, the place about which she has told so much to Anita. As she advanced, she felt an excitement surging through her veins- an excitement which she had seldom felt since those carefree childhood days. She started talking to Anita endlessly about her childhood home and the memories attached to it till she made her daughter as excited as herself. But when she reached the spot, she stood aghast- their home had been reconstructed into an apartment and the green fields nearby seemed to have been whisked away by some invisible hand- a big sprawling shopping mall stood there, without any visible speck of green. Anita was quite confused to see her mother’s shocked expression and her mother was too speechless to explain anything to her then. Anita would never understand the loss she had just suffered within her- she had lost her grandma, now even the place containing her memories were transformed beyond recognition. At that moment, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a solitary cow beside the road. It seemed to her that it was the same cow which had once stumbled upon one of her picnics with her grandma. It appeared to raise its big eyes towards her and say- “I have never harmed any one of you. I was contented with a patch of grass, why did you all rob me even of that? Don’t I at least have the right to have my fill?” She knew that they had been unfair to it, yet she could not meet its questioning eyes, she lacked an appropriate answer.

                                                                                        

                                                                                   - Anisha Sen

                                                                                     St. Stephen's College, Delhi.