OF ONE ROSY DAY

‘The love that lasts the longest is the love that is never returned.’
- William Somerset Maugham.


Once upon a time, there was a young man who was in love with a woman. So far, so good. Also, clean. The woman was everything he ever aspired for. Even though, initially, he chose to maintain a distance; he knew a lot about her invisible veil and a smile that hid her inner-most anxieties, this made him go weak, week after week.

Meet Baharul Islam, the man who lived. He lived in our lake of thoughts which bridged him from a ‘Flower-boy’ to ‘Lover-boy’. And how he wished to become a ‘Play-boy’, which was (is) Patrick’s luxury. But that’s another story, another post.

Now, they had a history. Not Baharul and Patrick, but Baharul and Rihanna. So, like stated, they shared a history which was complex and complicated. They were never together but for him, the meaning of togetherness simply implied stealing a glance. That completed his day. There have also been occasions when Amanda or Samantha would try to cover Rihanna from our lead-man. But that never stopped him. From sending mails or text messages, nothing stopped him. That was the confidence he carried, until the day when he carried a ‘Flower Bouquet’. And, this is where it all comes in to effect.

The morning seemed all right. Nothing spectacular, nothing speculative. Anticipating a pivotal lecture, all the people in the classroom were submerged in a break. Getting in to specifics, Terence was just observing and Patrick was showing off his maroon sweat-pants. Vincent and Monica were discussing the adverse affects of feminism, while Amanda and Miranda were tying ‘Friendship bands’ on each other’s wrists. Nancy was on the phone. She, sometimes, would place her phone inside her rear pocket and sit on the table. And suddenly, Baharul was seen with his very close friend, Hitesh Iplani, holding a bouquet of flowers. And yes, it looked as though Baharul had presented the flowers to Hitesh.

To cut everyone some slack, the huge bouquet was for Rihanna from Baharul. Some thought he was asking her out, some thought he was insane, some believed he was a gardener. And like they say, truth is a strange mechanism. Baharul, in fact, had got the flowers for the purpose of asking for forgiveness for some shit he had committed earlier.

Nancy thought it was cute, especially the cards with every single flower in the bouquet; Amanda made fun and also displayed it to some people outside the batch; Monica thought it was mark of a new era and Miranda was just in love with her ‘Friendship band’.

Furthermore, to Baharul’s justification, he could have got her one effing flower but he thought Rihanna would throw the single flower back at him, in rage, which would hurt him. Therefore, he brought the entire bouquet, he was sure she wouldn’t be able to lift the heavy bouquet.

Now that the incident has outgrown for over four odd years, it would be safe to say that the emotion was right but not the expression. The bouquet would be a collective consciousness of all the people present there but in absolute totality; it will remain an occasion when flowers spoke to him more than written words.

Let’s simply remember Mark Twain in his saying, ‘Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.’