In company of a Rose..

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A symbol of love and a common element across Valentine’s Day wallpapers; A rose may have given life to many love stories in this way. But this is not in any mushy context. I’m specifically talking about a rose I received when I was least expecting it. I looked closely at it, brushed those soft petals over my palm, and thought to myself: If I had a chance, I would shrink myself into a miniature version of me and take a nap inside it.

It was a hot summer afternoon. It had only been 8 days since my internship started. I was rushing to office. Heat and traffic were in good coordination. It looked like they had planned this in advance. It was starting to look like a bad day, and a bad hair day in addition. I reached office. I signed the register and wrote my not-so-ideal entry time with some shame on my face. As I was about to enter the office, the clerk at the reception handed over a rose and a chocolate saying, “Happy Women’s Day”. I replied with a smile on my tired face, “Thank you”. Long live the HR team for this little surprise.

I walked up to my desk. I placed the rose beside the laptop. I did not want to restrain it from fresh air by keeping it in my drawer. In the company of this rose, the day began to look good.  If you may wonder, why was this rose so special to me? In the first place, it was not given to me; it was given to us, the womankind, making us realize how each one of us is beautiful, special, and deserves equal respect for our existence.

Every woman in my life is like that rose. Life has handed over a bunch of such roses who have helped me bloom. We’ve had our problems dwelling in each other’s garden. Together we’ve plucked out each problem from its root.  We’ve learned to hold our petals together and stand tall facing the sky. If the soft petals are mistaken for tenderness, we’ve thorns to our defence. We’ve risen collectively and individually in the company of roses.

This chain of positive thoughts was now becoming intense. In this refreshing breeze of delight, unwrapping the chocolate, I took a bite, thereby celebrating the joy of womanhood.