A promise unfulfilled
Last night I saw a dream ..of a litle girl..of her giggles..of her quick steps..of her nameless exuberance radiating a house. I asked for a water jar..she chimed in before her mom could reach the jar..'Maa..I will do it..I will do it..'..she gripped the jar and refilled the water glasses for everyone. For a moment I felt it was true..for a moment I was lost into a paradise of unbelievables. I could stay that way for ever.
I remained spellbound even after consciousness awakened..long after the morning lights started penetrating through the window panes. The purity of innocent zest was deep enough to defeat all the high decibel noises ushering the day. It had been more than 17 years since the girl in my dream ceased to live on the earth. It has been a long time..with many ups and down..with many people entering and leaving..with many exhaustions and rejuvenations. But there is something time doesn't erase, something a heart never feels tired carrying of. The little girl is one. For she was my little sister, the "noor" of my family, darling of the neighbors.
When I was 11, she died of an undiagnosed disease at the age of 5. I promised her to buy a doll, a promise that was never fulfilled. The only thing I could do was to lay my piggy-banked amount beside her burial place. The act of redemption was for me more than her. To buy a doll I would need to go to a nearby town which was about 10-11 miles away. But I never ran those miles.
We hope the loved ones will be around for ever. Sadly many times they come only for a season, only for a reason. Hope is so misplaced sometimes. We postpone something for the next time, next occasion because we hope there will be a next time; not knowing what tomorrow holds. The next time never arrives sometimes.
It is never late to say someone how much you care about, how much you love. But make sure you are doing it today. If that requires running an extra mile, then let's run. Imagine what would be the value of a "Taj Mahal", if in her lifetime, Mamtaj never got a true feeling of Shahjahan's profound love.
We may have seven colors in our heart for someone. But we need a little more than a heart to put them together into a rainbow..to make them visible. And I believe it is worth doing so.