THE CARDINAL SIN

                                                       The Balm

The small oval piece of lawn centred her in the middle.The  grass looked   anaemic green with a tinge of yellow in it.The intertwining soft blades merged into  one another turning into a soft mesh of expanse. Soni felt  a strange empathy with it.She had put her chair in the middle of the lawn  but suddenly she felt that she was trampling on it.She tried to lift her feet a little higher to lessen the area of pressure on it.One leg she pulled up and the other she left dangling.She could sense that the movements had quietened their imperceptible hobnobbing. In the margins of this small oval lawn she could see some plants growing haphazardly but  with wild abandon.She had never taken notice of them.She bent closer and wanted to touch them but  felt hesitant.They grew on weak and dusty  stems and the major parts  were  taken by the more hefty leaves which had already wilted and drooping loose.She could see some more plants which grew some indecipherable flowers.she was never good at remembering the names of the flowers though being a science student.Whatever she learned she learned by rote.Her greatest achievement was when she could recognize the cruciferous family while passing through some park or such places .She would feel empowered wit h the knowledge and hoped to remember some more families which never happened.There was a history behind how she recognized the cruciferous family.Her mother used to cook  the leaves of the plant of this family and one more plant of this family served the purpose of making her hair grow luxuriously.And she would generally send Soni  to procure them when she was a small girl. She even remembered the name of the plant which was some holly hock.But here she was the same ignorant on-looker of the flora before her.But it was in the utmost seclusion and suddenly she got immersed in this neglected corner of her house.She came out of the vacuous air of some lofty world. She took the chair away and sat on the edge of this small oval lawn.

.She peered at the plants at close quarters.She felt a sudden  stillness in them.She too became quiet.But she wanted to touch them.They winced at her.They huddled together more in the coolness  of the shady patches.But she persisted and slowly started removing the stray clods of earth which had cluttered their delicate and wiry stems.She also felt like pruning their leaves.She did it very carefully.The beautiful small wild and weedy flowers glistened in the subdued light of the sun.The small mint leaves reflected their dark green hue.She dared not pluck them but bent to smell them.She saw a small white blossom and from it was hanging a small finger like thing.She went closer and oh God it was a green chilly.So it  was revelation after revelation.The cleaning and pruning tamed them and they swayed joyously with her.

It was the domain of her maid.While entering the gate she would take time in reaching inside the house.Soni would always wonder what kept her lingering on and sometimes getting suspicious she would check but only finding her leaning over  the plants looking at them with an engaging look pruning and clearing and in the process feeling their touch.Their loving and mute yielding might have acted as a balm to her old and aching heart which might be going through the myriad ignominies of her daily living.Soni took a deep sigh and with a loving gaze left the scene.