I was going out yesterday and as I waited for the security guard to open the main gate for my car, I looked at the garden casually and a plant caught my attention. There it was, thriving happily and the sight of it made me grin in disbelief! There is a story behind it.
That plant was part of my home till about a few months ago. Every day, I would water the plant, clean and caress its leaves gently. When the colour palette changed, creating different shades of pink and white, it received extra admiration from me and I could sense its happiness reciprocate when the leaves started the slow dance with the flirtatious wind! (And we think only human beings love attention!)
I was away from my home for long time due to my mother's illness few months back. With heavy heart, I had to hand over all my plants to the gardener of the building. When I returned, the plant was in terrible condition. The building was undergoing renovation and the plant had suffered heavily. All other plants except this one were doing fine. I was in tears to watch its leaves and roots dried up. The gardener had shifted it to the bigger terracotta pot and it was obvious that he had done everything possible to revive it. Then, last month, a worker mishandled it while shifting the plant and the terracotta pot broke. At that point, I gave up on it, thinking, that was the end of the story. The final blow! I felt sad thinking about how I would never be able to touch its tender green and pink leaves again.
I am so overwhelmed that it is NOT the end of the story. Ever since the pot broke and half the roots spread to the soil and regained life, traversing through cracks and crevices, it has survived and grown remarkably, bursting with vitality and vigour! Now it has a new structure to anchor and areas for the root to expand and grow. It looks magnificent and it is difficult to believe that it was struggling for life just about a few weeks ago. I have observed every stage of its bloom since.
Yesterday, it dawned on me - one can't grow in a small or broken pot forever. If we continue like that, we would end up dead. If we have to realize the potential of our life, we must be conscious and aware of our respective "pots" where we exist. Most of the times, we meander through our daily existence in a haze of isolation barely recognizing the need of our true spirit.
The plant at the garden has taught me many things. When I tried to put myself in its shoes (roots) or whatever, it made me look at things from Nature's vantage point. Suddenly, Nature looks very different. I feel I am very much part of the web of Nature and not an outsider. This plant is a mirror in which I can see myself in a slightly different way. And as much it is a story about a plant that survived, it is also a story about human desire.
If I have potential to grow I must be willing to change and adept. I always believe change is for good and it is high time to change from my cracked pot existence!
"You don't get to choose how you are going to die or when. You can only decide how you are going to live. Now. " - Johm Baez
Are you living in a small cracked pot ?
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