Resolution of a different kind

Neeraj Khullar

Neeraj Khullar

At 6 am on Sunday, both my conscious and subconscious mind told me that I was required to maintain a certain discipline as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced Janata Curfew. I sipped my morning tea. It was refreshing as pin-drop silence was all I could sense. A lone stray dog came from the street and dug some mud for his afternoon nap in the corner of my mini garden. My brain was tense and heavy, and I seemed to be in no mood to chase him away.

I sat in silence, observing the flowers swaying in the gentle wind — their fragrance better than my Elizabeth Arden perfume. A pigeon came close by to pick a twig for the nest it was trying to build in my veranda. I had discouraged it earlier, but saluted its determination on this 25th consecutive day. I let it pick a few more twigs, and allowed it to make some obnoxious sounds.

By the time I relieved some stress through exercise, it was 8 am. I had already had an argument with my spouse about flouting house rules regarding the placement of newspapers. I went back to my garden, and for the first time heard some beetles. Their annoying sounds seemed like melody today. Some birds joined in, their chirping grew louder and better than the tweets on my phone. A neighbour whom I had never seen before smiled and I reciprocated.

I went back to prepare breakfast but came back with my third cup of tea. News, television, emails and messages, all were done by 10 am, and my mind was still heavy. My only solace seemed to be my mini garden, even in the scorching sun of noon.

A squirrel, who had been trying to unsuccessfully hide in my air-conditioner cover for the past two weeks, came by confidently. It stared at me and sensing no resistance, entered its new home which it had been trying to forcibly occupy for days. My heart said a big ‘thank you’ to the squirrel, to have given me the opportunity to provide it with shelter.

The flowers, the pigeon, the dog, the birds and the squirrel had no social network, but they were still happily busy. I had a moderately big one, but felt lonely. I realised that what I called my mini garden was, indeed, larger than life. I made my New Year resolution — to give total freedom to my garden friends to build nests, make homes, dig or dirty my garden and fly unhindered. My New Year starts now!