Sketchstory No. 26 - 'The Stray Bird Flies Home' by Ruchira Banerjee

As she sat on her favourite rocking chair, the smell of jasmine wafted to her nose. The soft musings of the breeze filled her with happiness as always. The drops of rain falling on her face were like blessings of abundance from the Universe. This portion of the balcony has always been her own slice of heaven in this place which has become her second home, soon to become her first, a few years from now.

Breeze, winds always brought out the wild side of her; which she always lets loose when she spends her vacation in the hills in this beautiful homestay. This sojourn of hers in the lap of mother nature always fills her with a sense of calm which nowadays she manages to carry within her even when she goes back to the plains. Duty had always beckoned to her and she has been fulfilling them. Though nowadays, she has started fulfilling her duty towards herself as well.

A warm hand on her shoulder made her turn around with a smile. He stood there with a tray in his hands, smiling; as she had found him in the fields 5 years ago. Her mountain man, Eklavya, the one she had been waiting lifetimes for, the one who made an entry into her life when she had given up all hope. She had gone for a trek in the fields of cinnamon plantation in the mountains and had been savouring the smell of the plants with eyes closed. When she opened them she had found herself looking into those deep smiling eyes. Chance meetings they say have a way of turning your life around. They continued to bump into each other and the bud of affection blossomed into a fragrant flower of love; not the heady intoxicating variety but, the one which soothes and calms one's being.

‘Aushika …. Tea time'. As they sipped the fragrant tea in silence, she wondered, how did she, who used to talk nineteen to the dozen, manage to spend hours with him in total silence. They understood each other with a glance. They never tried to impose their wishes or lifestyles on each other but somehow they merged gradually. She had never tried to coax him to leave his life here and settle in the plains with her. Some relationships are beyond those boundaries. She always comes back after her stint in the plains into his welcoming arms. Eklavya's teacher is mother nature and the compassion she sees in him often moves her to tears.

The confluence of two streams of life on the basis of their soul's eternal connection.

The rain was pouring down now with full force and the breeze was slowly shaping up to a strong wind. When she was young, the wind had been her companion. Her wild emotions reflected in its force. When she used to throw open the windows of her room and run out into the balcony during the Norwesters during her teenage years, much to her mother’s chagrin, she felt liberated and light headed. The sound of the wind always seems like a thousand temple bells calling out to her. Mother nature doing her ‘lasya’. When she had first read ‘Stray Birds' written by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, she had felt like one of those stray birds wanting to return home.

Now as they both stood in the balcony, with her head resting on his shoulders, she knew that she had come home, that God has been benevolent to her. 

That thought brought a twinkle in her eyes and she turned around to find an answering twinkle in his warm ones.

Home is where the heart is.