THE FLOATING DIARY (Short Story Journal – 19): PIGS AND ROSES

In the early part of my youth, like every fledgling youth, I too aspired to become an explorer and wished to traverse the wide world, away from home. Then I leant about Pigs and Roses! Yes, weird as it might sound, the phrase carries a message that moved me to the core and I must note it down here in this journal. There are so many simple realizations in life that come so unexpectedly, yet their placement is just perfect to share our lives. So did the Pigs and Roses!

After I completed my first job, I got totally engrossed in the daily duties so that it drained me out of all my energies. I sincerely needed a holiday and an urge to break free from the monotony grasped me! I told Baba, “I want to break away from this monotony of life! Baba, I want to become an explorer, I want to see the wide world and not remain caged within the four walls of my office cubicle!”

The result was a complete surprise. Baba arranged for a fully sponsored solo vacation for me to the exciting hills of Shillong and the adjacent Kaziranga National Park! Shillong is a hill station in northeast India and capital of the state of Meghalaya. It’s known for the manicured gardens and beautiful mountains that come alive with the abundance of flora and fauna. Spread across the floodplains of the Brahmaputra River, Kaziranga forests, wetlands and grasslands are home to tigers, elephants and the world’s largest population of Indian one-horned rhinoceroses.

I was floored by the gesture and looked at Baba. He only said, “Go ahead son. Go and see the wide world. And what can be a better place to start than this picturesque journey I have booked for you!”

I took a leave for seven days and started my trip. Before leaving, I told Maa and Aunt Padma that I wanted to take up the career of “Travel Writer” and would soon begin my quest for taking it up professionally. Mumbai was not the only place I wished to live in. I wanted to spend the prime of my life hunting for adventure, before settling down within the peaceful quarters of home again! The two ladies gave me scornful looks clubbed with a dash of melancholy while Baba smiled and winked at me, secretly.

The first three days were completely ethereal as I traversed through the wide and wild woods of the hills around Shillong. I visited emote places, watched enigmatic waterfalls, drank coconut water while sitting over a cliff, ate wild gooseberries and did whatever my heart desired. I was all alone, but my heart was filled with thrill. The gloom of office workload vanished completely.

On the fourth day I reached Kaziranga and checked into the “Wildlife Bungalow”, outside the main gate of the National Park. It was a decent hotel with a beautiful garden of roses right behind it. My room’s balcony overlooked the garden and I was happy about it. The next morning, early at dawn, I went on a guided tour within the forest and was totally ecstatic with the experience. After returning from the trip, I went over to the dining area for breakfast. The dining hall was adjacent to the garden and I occupied a small table on the patio for eating my breakfast. At a distance, the gardener, a young boy in his late teens, was working around a rose bush. I smiled at him and he responded back evenly.

I asked, “Hi, the rose garden is beautiful. What is your name?”

The young boy came near the patio, sat on the floor at a corner and replied, “My name is Suraj. I am the son of the gardener here. My Baba, Raghunath, is the official gardener here. He is not well today, so I am doing his job.”

“What do you do other than gardening Suraj?” I asked enthusiastically.

“I have completed my studies till matriculation. Now I shall assist my Baba and follow his footsteps!” answered Suraj.

“Don’t you want to take up higher studies? Why don’t you try for scholarship and relocate to the big cities? You can get good education there, learn and become more successful. You can see the wide world. Don’t you wish to do so?” I blurted.

Suraj looked at me momentarily and replied, “Sir, I do want to do everything that you mentioned, but then, don’t you know about Pigs and Roses?”

I want taken aback a bit by his weird words and asked, “What is that? What do you mean?”

Suraj pointed his finger towards the far end of the garden and my eyes followed it. A pig was fiddling with a rose bush and I was perplexed about what Suraj wanted to say. He continued, “Sir, look at that pig and look at that rose! Everything that you said about seeing the wide world and relocating to the big city… is like that ROSE! Our lives and dreams are like the ROSES with their beautiful colors and fragrance.”

I listened silently while Suraj continued, “And, I and like that PIG! What is the pig doing? What can a pig do? The beauty of the roses and their fragrances are immaterial to the pigs! It will simply eat the roses!”

I was speechless on realizing what Suraj was saying so simply, “Pursuing the dream you say, I would become the pig! I would simply eat the roses…”

Saying this, Suraj took leave and went away quickly to finish his work. Yet, the magnanimity of his words kept echoing around the chambers of my heart! His simple words were so true. They were so much valid for me as well. All this while I had been chasing a dream to leave my family behind and becoming a vagabond. What would I become? A PIG! And eat up the ROSES, the beautiful family that god had given me! I would waste the valuable time that I can spend with Baba, Maa and Aunt Padma. They are the real roses of my life, and I cannot eat this gift up like the pig.

I returned back from my vacation, joined office and my work with a rejuvenated energy. One evening I related the story of PIGS and ROSES to Baba and he said, “Son, you have learnt a great lesson in life. Never forget this story and whenever you get distracted, simply remember the simple words of Suraj and they would give you back your energy.”

Indeed, Pigs and Roses taught me how beautiful life is and I shall always remember it.