UNDER THE UMBRELLA!

The rain-lover! Rain aptly defines him! That evening, it was raining and he was feeling good! As he was coming straight from the office, he had his black suit, tie on and they were all getting wet by the fringe rain drops falling on them. But the rain-lover was feeling great! While he was walking slowly by the pavement, he heard from his back, ‘Sir, Ap Credit Card use karte hain kya? (Do you use credit cards?). The rain-lover, touched with an edgy irritation, looked back and saw a thin guy standing right behind him with an old umbrella! 

The first thing the rain-lover noticed about him was the color of the umbrella; it’s too old to be black anymore! It was one of those types which you keep for years, use both in rain and heat, just in case you need it (if at all)! Under that old umbrella, it was a 21/22 years old guy; dressed in simple trouser and shirt… the lower part shirt was put inside the black trouser. 

The shirt was old and the trouser was new, evident that he doesn’t have the habit (or capacity) to dress up smartly. Moreover, the belt he was wearing, its locket was saying that it was actually bought from the side walking vendor, a ‘cheap’ one! Before the rain-lover could observe the guy properly, the guy repeated his question, ‘Sir. Do you use credit cards?’ He replied, ‘Yeah, I do. Why?’ ‘Actually, I’ve a great scheme!’ he boy replied. Being a part of the corporate, our rain-lover was well aware about all these airy promotional schemes and without any hint of hesitation, said straight on the boy’s face, ‘Oh! I don’t need it!’ The boy’s eyes were till now fixed at the rain-lover, and the moment he heard the negative reply, his eyes were depressed. Yet, he tried a bit more, ‘Actually, this scheme is really fantastic! It’ll help you in…..’ While he was trying so heard, our rain-lover could make out that the guy had lost all his hope, and was just trying to carry a formal assuring dialogue on, which, even he also knew that, will end with just another cold SORRY! 

The rain-lover brought an icy smile in his eyes and said, ‘Boy, I don’t need it.’ ‘Oh!’ was all that the guy could utter and, with a lowered head, tried to leave the place. His shoulders were dropped, and our rain-lover could see that his black trouser, perhaps the only new thing, was having small white spots at the back. Evidently, the spots came out of the watery mud coming out from the street through his legs! God knows what happened with the rain-lover. He raised his voice, ‘Hey, listen….’ The boy looked back with a smile, a smile that had a lot of hope! The rain-lover approached him, smiled, gently put the umbrella away, put his right hand over the guy’s shoulder and dragged, ‘Kitna kaam karega? Chal yaar, khana khate hain!’ (How much will you work mate. Let’s eat something!) The rain-lover could make out that the guy was too shocked to say yes or no, he tried to smile… smile didn’t come out, only a gasp of air came out with an unpracticed gesture! The rain-lover was holding his hand tightly, and straight entered into the Subway restaurant. 

The guy’s eyes were so big, it was clear that perhaps it was the first time he had entered there… They took a table. The guy wasn’t saying anything, the rain-lover was talking. After 5 minutes, the rain-lover realised that he had shocked the guy so hard that he can’t speak now, so he cracked a joke. Though the joke wasn’t that great one, still the shock inside and the uneasy atmosphere outside made the guy laugh really loud. Eyes turned back from the tables nearby, those eyes changed their expressions, the guy noticed those expressions and shrunk, the rain-lover noticed that and cracked another joke! The guy was having a gentle smile now! He also cracked another joke. Then the guy said, ‘You want to watch something, I’ll show you something really nice!’ He put his hand inside the pocket, brought out a pack of playing cards and went on showing one after another magic tricks! He was so very good at that the amused rain-lover went on watching… he could see it all in his face, the eyes of a guy who came from small town to the city with a dream to be a successful man, to support his family, to touch his dreams, the guy who is a fighter, who is fighting and fighting, he could see the pain, the sweat, the rare achievement’s pride, the burden, the cost cutting walks, the cost cutting attire, the cost cutting meals, the cost cutting life! He was seeing a fighter who knows only one word as a motto of his life - Fight!!! The fighter was the magician then, happily showing tricks! What a rarely beautiful smile he had on his face! After one beautiful trick, the boy looked up and heard 3-4 people from nearby tables clapping! He shined another diamond smile! The rain-lover went on watching. The food came, the guy was so careful about unwrapping it, the care he was giving even to the tissue paper was something really noticeable! He went ahead with his careful gesture and a careless smile!!! 

After the food, they smiled and said good night to each other… the rain-lover was walking happily under the rain; suddenly he was touched on his shoulder from someone behind. He looked back and saw the guy breathing heavily, he must have ran a bit to catch him… The rain lover asked, ‘What?’ The guy smiled and hugged him tightly… The rain lover also hugged him, patted on his shoulder. His heart was so full inside the arms of a fighter, under the old umbrella held by the fighter!!! He was a born rain-lover, but this time, for a change, he loved to be under an umbrella. After all, it was a Fighter’s Umbrella!

DEAR FRIENDS, ARE WE TOO TIED UP? WHERE ARE WE RUSHING TOWARDS? I BELIEVE, WE’RE INSIDE AN ENDLESS CHAIN. SO THE RAIN-LOVER PREFERED TO PAUSE, LOOK AROUND AND TO SAY ‘HI’ TO THE ANGELS AROUND! MY FRIEND, DO YOU ALSO…..?