The true benefactor
He had been tense for days. Oh, how suffocating it was becoming. He felt like sharing his burden with someone so that he could feel a bit at ease. He even tried doing so, many a times but alas! Parambir Kaur writes.
He had been tense for days. Oh, how suffocating it was becoming. He felt like sharing his burden with someone so that he could feel a bit at ease. He even tried doing so, many a times but alas!
It so happened invariably that whenever he started narrating his tale of woe, instead of listening to him, the listener would interrupt, get going about his own concerns and finally walk away without caring to know what he had wanted to share in the first place.
Time hung heavy. He started feeling that everyone wanted to tell their story but no one was interested in listening to his. He would often think, "Wonder when the world came to be so selfish and apathetic? Earlier, people used to be quite sensitive towards other fellow beings; they always liked to be of some help to others and even took pride in it…."
One day, he was feeling so bottled up that just for the sake of some relief, he got out of his room. He started walking towards a nearby park. As soon as he arrived in front of it, he felt as if an old, large, towering, flower-laden tree was beckoning him to come near it. He was startled at first but went towards the tree, all the same.
Upon nearing the tree, he looked askance at it. He felt that by rustling its leaves, the tree was asking him to open up and share his apprehensions. He could not have asked for more. He grabbed the opportunity, stood against the trunk of the tree and started narrating his tale of woe. He saw the tree nod its head, and it also consoled him by placing a thin twig over his shoulders. The tree gave enough proof of having been an attentive listener, for it wanted to share and lessen his burden genuinely.
In fact after ages, it was for the first time that he felt comforted and burden-free for a change. The tree had understood his state of mind and had proved to be his true benefactor. He believed that he could rely upon the tree in future too. He sat down, right there in the lap of nature. The cool breeze soothed his frayed nerves and sleep overpowered him. From an agitated state, he had been quietly transported to a blissful one.