THOSE WHO TRULY LOVE YOU ,ARE ALWAYS WITH YOU

                                          

Those who truly love you are always with you.

They are with you in the sunshine, quietly feeling proud that you are in the light. Never do they want to see darkness around you. Your joy is their light, your laughter their prayer. When you shine, they do not envy your brightness; they stand a little behind, as if shielding your light from the wind, lest it should flicker.

They are there in the rain, not to scold you for being drenched, but to stand in the storm long before you arrive, waiting at the corner wherefrom you will surely pass. They know the roads you take, the turns you forget, the storms you walk into without looking. They know you forgot to carry your umbrella. You always do. You walk into life as if you are invincible, as if youth and hurry will protect you.You may forget your safety , but they  never forget it  Never.

They stand there with trembling hands, with an old umbrella that has seen many monsoons, holding it not for themselves but for you. And when you finally come ,  late, distracted ,  they tilt the umbrella  completely towards you. Your shoulder stays dry. Theirs gets soaked to the bone. They shiver in the cold, water running down their sleeves, but they smile. That strange, contented smile, because your being dry matters more than their own drenching. They would rather be wet a thousand times than see you catch a cold once.

And they bring you home, not to see what you have brought for them, not to weigh your pockets or your success, but to see what they can serve you. They do not eat. They just sit opposite you and watch you eat to your fill what they prepared with love, with those hands that now ache, that tremble a little while serving. Each morsel you take is their festival. Your appetite is their achievement. They feel full when you are full.

You may not remember their birthday. You may forget the date, forget to call, lost in your own world. But they will be the first to bless you, with tears glistening in their eyes, with a voice that breaks with love: "Jeevem sharadah shatam"  "May you live a hundred autumns". And they mean every word, a hundred times over.

They are designed only to offer: love without a ledger, compassion without condition, shelter when the world is harsh, support when your knees give way, and a warmth that asks for nothing in return. Never, ever shall they demand. They were never made to demand.

If you have one such soul around you, look around. You need no rituals and  no pilgrimages. The divine is already sitting in your room, in that old chair. Just smile and hug them, tightly, while you still can.

For we are not here permanently. Parting is the order. And one day that umbrella will be folded forever, that chair opposite your plate will be empty, the kitchen will not smell of what you loved, and you will realise, with a pain that will tear your chest, that you were loved far, far more than you ever knew.

(Avtar Mota)

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.