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The Falling Leaf

Mr. RAJIV MANI was walking through the park full of trees, plants, and flowers. The dried leaves of the plants were crushed mercilessly under his feet. The crumbling sound of them repeated with late intervals at every foot step of him was enough evidence that he was very old. However that he was walking with out the aid of a stick was a compliment to his fitness even at the wrong side of 80. Even at that age he was regular with his jogging and other stretching exercises that made him straight for his age and his sharp eyes with out glasses were probing the birds and flowers in admiration. For that matter Mr. MANI was never tired of watching the nature, animals and surroundings with child like curiosity. Some times he used to pick up the dropped flowers or leaves and examine them minutely with the interest of a botany student. There was no dearth of seat in that park at that odd hour. That was the only 2 hours of time Mr. Mani prefers to visit that park in day time as all other time it used to bristle with children playing varieties of games, cradle, see-saw and other facilities. All the 8 benches in that park used to be on great demand. Also by nature Mr. Mani prefers solitude and silence to plunge in to his ocean of thoughts.

His life partner is left alone at the house conveniently to take rest and recover from the frequent bouts of asthma she suffers from. That suits both of them as when she is active during other hours he may be of company to her. All the time Mrs.LAKSHMI MANI used to predict that Mr. Mani was sure to out live her and that was repeatedly stressed for more than a decade. But Mr.Mani was having some intuition to the contrary to happen and was even worried at the misfortune of his wife left alone. After all having lived for nearly 6 decades together the left out partner is bound to feel the sudden vacuum in life. Only in rarest of rare cases both of the couple leave the world together or with narrow difference of time and all other cases we can visualize the mental torture of existing alone. Though Mr. Mani had not told his fear to his better half he made all the arrangements for her living alone. But again financial security is not every thing with old couple when they actually crave for genuine affection and emotional bondage. Here also the old couple was blessed with loving, affectionate and caring children and grand children. But 2 of his children had already become grand parents themselves with 2 of his grand sons having chosen to settle at AUSTRALIA and AMERICA.

To go back to our story the old man RAJIV MANI was analyzing all the pros and cons of his and his wife’s deaths in different orders. All on a sudden he was also wondering the purpose of their living in this world with out any motivation and purpose. Just at that time a dried up leaf was dropping down near by. Actually it was floating merrily in the atmosphere and getting tossed in different directions as per the blow of the wind. It appeared to him that it was actually enjoying its journey after getting parted from the tree to which it belonged for a considerable time. At last that dry leaf landed on his lap-perhaps finding a correct companion, who is but a dried man for all practical purposes except lacking the wisdom of that dried and fragile leaf that realizes its non utility for the main tree. Once upon a time it was also in shining green colour attached firmly with the stem of the branch of the tree. But it was doing a great job in different ways for its parent tree and mankind. It was joining all other forces of the tree in absorbing the sun’s rays and did wonderful chemistry with the water it got from the roots and was mainly responsible in producing the flower, fruit and seed. Even the budding leaves that were ultimately replacing the present leaf were the hard labour generated by this fallen leaf in day and night contributing its own breath for the tree along with hundreds of his brother and sister leaves. But a stage has come that the budding leaves have grown thicker and stronger and also the stem of the parent leaf has become old and dried and hence the leaf also has become yellowish. It cannot continue the job of manufacturing chlorophyll any more. It is also very weak that he cannot resist hard wind to protect the branch from falling. But that dried leaf could get solace from the thought that its own progeny of leaves could continue the services done by it all along. It accepted the caressing of a mild wind with rejoices and parted from the tree to reach the earth. But still it has got a role to play if not to the tree but to the mankind as a fuel or on putrification with soil as a manure to another growing plant.

In a fraction of a second only Mr. Rajiv Mani got enchantment from the dried leaf on his lap and now he was very clear from the cloudy mind all along. He realized that it was in his choice to fall as a dried leaf or make their life worth living by extending service to the humanity in their own limited way. After all they are not dried up leaves incapable of contributing anything unless they are in coma or dead as his asthma ridden wife is also still a fertile leaf with her multilinguistic talents and quick wits. The shrewd minded MANI had already made mental plans and devices to translate all his knowledge on earthly matters to helpless children and he was very confident that his life partner would give able and enough support. Like a dried leaf let us drop naturally and smoothly and never contemplate death until it reaches of its own at the appropriate time. As long as the mind is not dried even the lying man on a bed could be called “a fertile leaf” and not “A FALLING LEAF”. This time Mr. RAJIV MANI was walking youthfully like a man possessed with vibrant energy and a distant vision.

BY J.PANCHAPAGESAN FLAT-11,130 GILL NAGAR EXTN STREET CHOOLAIMEDU CHENNAI PH-044 23744963 EMAIL id- jpanchapagesan@yahoo.co.in