Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Inspiration Live...


Born as an angel on the tenth day of December, when the maple leaves were basking and shining in the glory of the balmy sun, she spreads her radiance all around, inviting smiles from whoever looks at her.
So cherubic is her countenance that one forgets about all the worries of the world on witnessing this friendly child, but, soon their smiles are turned into expressions of sympathy and pity…..
And that is when they see that although God had carved her out of His finest moulds, destiny had something else in store for her. It was during her birth that control over her nerves was lost, resulting in partial disfigurement of her limbs and mild mental retardation.
Yes, she is my first cousin who is five years younger to me and is full of life, to say the least. So unique is my emotional connect with her that despite the lack of regular communication all these years, we are unquestionably fond of each other.
This, I realized over the past two years since I have been putting up with my uncle’s family, where I get to see a splendid harmony that the members have succeeded in striking with an aim to lead a normal life.
Many names as she has, Cherry is what we call her out of love, although each one of us has different salutations that express our adoration towards her, and she responds to all of them with twinkling eyes !
If she happens to meet you once, she will never forget you and will talk about you often enquiring about your next visit.
I often become the subject of her wrath when I don’t speak to her immediately after I’ve reached home after a long day at work. But, anger is fleeting for her. So, as soon as you go near her or hold her hands and whisper in soft polite notes, she is all smiles in no time !
And if you want to please her beyond ordinary, just gift her a beautiful pen and a writing pad, or a CD of her favorite numbers or a nice story-book. That’s all she ever demands as a child.
I find it a way of expressing my gratitude to God for making difficult times easier for me here, by attributing the possibility to her presence.
There have been times when I have had a heavy heart but unable to share it with anyone, when I sit beside her for a couple of minutes, the heaviness takes a swift ride to some other lands. Its divine intervention that she enjoys the same songs that bear meaning to me, has the same taste for food, things and people and there is a parallel link in our thoughts which we can both identify with and sometimes talking through eyes is enough.
It makes me proud to have the same frequency of thoughts as hers and in the same I find solace amongst all the turbulence that surrounds me.
Educated till tenth grade in the Sophia Opportunity High School, beyond which her impairments ceased to support her in becoming one of us in this competitive world, fate decided to keep her away from malice, lest she becomes too civilized to sustain her purity and goodness. It had been a journey full of photographic memories for her where the school staff had not only been exceptionally cooperative and understanding but also provided her some of the most beautiful moments of her life like winning a race, or performing the Rainbow Dance or getting featured in the annual school magazine !
Substituting and filling for this lack of any standard training, fatherly guidance and wisdom rushed to her rescue. Her enlightenment is often astonishing as to how easily she can distinguish the good from the bad which men of sound wisdom can’t. She can comprehend and converse in almost five languages leave apart her excellent communication through gestures, expressions and body language. She is sensitive towards human pain and gets hurt by harsh words easily.
If I’m not being exaggerative, she is adept at typing and documenting data with such expertise that you might want to avail of her services now and then. Possessing an excellent grasping power, she is ever keen to learn new activities.
Painting the world fairer with her challenging survival, she is a storehouse of inspiration in the daily humdrum of my life in which we often fail to see beyond the inadequacies….