By J.Jeleena
A young girl who was in her twenties stampeded throughout the garden, searching for someone. She halted when she saw that person, her lips tugging up into a cheerful smile. “Granny! There you are. I have been searching for you quite some time,” she shouted, pranced over towards that older woman. She saw her grandma in her usual attire, a weathered straw hat shading her face and a pair of well-worn gloves adorning her hands, pulling the weeds.
“Oh dear! Bring over that scythe on your way; it was near that mango tree,” the woman instructed, continuing her work. “Here, granny. Do you need any other things?” her granddaughter asked, observing her grandma’s work. “No Jade.” After that small conversation, silence enveloped them, but that would break off occasionally by the sighs of the younger.
“Your tricks won. Now tell me, why are you sighing as if you sent your lover to war?” The young girl whined at her grandma’s question. “Alright! Tell me, what did your mother do this time?” she asked Jade. She knew very well that her daughter would always be the one behind her granddaughter's sighs. "Granny, you are really the epitome of patience. But I don’t know how my mother is a stark contrast to you. She is always nagging me: ‘Jade, sit like a woman should be’ ‘Jade, don’t chew loudly’, ‘Jade, braid your hairs’, Jade this, Jade that, blah! Blah! Blah! Even now she nags at me about how I should dress up.” Her grandma only laughed at her tirade. “Grandma! Don’t laugh,” she pouted; her protest fell on deaf ears. On seeing her grandma’s unrestrained laughter, she too followed her.
“Honey, your mother only got her beautiful looks from her; other than that, she is an exact replica of your grandfather." He too was full of principles, like your mother,” she spoke, as the distant ageing memory played behind her eyes.
“To be frank, I am so worse than your mother. I was always short-tempered and a rebellious girl during my childhood days. But my father, your great-grandfather, taught me the realities of the world through gardening.” She said, observing her granddaughter’s face; her brows were furrowed and her hand was fiddling with her ring. She would do that when she was thinking about something.
“Wah! I can’t imagine yourself being the rugged girl,” she said, lumbering around. Suddenly, she gleamed into mischievous “Ah~ now I know the reason behind her tempers; it was from you, I think. Granny, it was so wrong of you to accuse my poor late grandfather,” she mocked her in a sing-song voice. “Hey, I told you it was during my childhood days, not after my marriage. No wonder, why does your mother always call you dumb?” she tutted. The tables have turned now; it was her turn to whine at the older woman.
“Come on. You don’t have to exaggerate. It’s simple—only three processes: plant it, water it, and nurture it. Voila! We will have the result. How can you learn about the realities of the world through this? You are so silly, grandma,” she teased, but her grandma’s lips morphed into a thin line, and her face was filled with a knowing smile.
“Alright, why don’t you prove me? You said it was simple; then show me. If you win, I will tell you my secret baking recipe.” On hearing about the baking recipe, she imagined all her grandma’s tasty cookies and cakes. Whenever she asked her about the recipe, she would refuse to tell her. So, she accepted her grandmother’s deal. If it were for that recipe, she would do anything. “Some advice from me before you start this: No matter what happens, never quit, never give up. Do your best, dear.”
That day itself, she bought some seeds and planted them in their garden. Each and every day, she would water it on a three-time basis. Every morning, the first thing she would do after she woke was to look at the place where she had planted her seeds. To her effort, she found nothing, nada, nil. She flopped on the couch beside her grandma and said, “Granny, I surrender. You are really great. I accept my defeat.” Her dramatic attitude spiked a chortle from the older woman.
“Alright, tell me, Jade. What did you actually do?” the older woman asked her. “I bought the finest seeds from the shop and planted them near our mango tree. I watered it three times. My friends told me they would talk to their plants. I did all those embarrassing things. But they are so ungrateful, they didn’t even sprout,” she scowled, her face fluctuating into all sorts of emotions.
“Your processes are correct, but your way of nurturing was wrong, sweetie,” she said softly, her hands clasping her granddaughter’s calloused and wrinkled hands and comforting her. “So, you lose, huh?” she poked the younger girl. Her grandma’s silly attempt really did refresh her dampened soul.
“If you are ready to learn, I can show the correct way,” the older woman asked, looking down at the young girl, whose head rested comfortably on her lap. “Really! Will you really teach me? I thought you would refuse me like the baking recipe process,” she questioned in shock, her voice filled with amazement. “Yes! Yes. I will teach you. You have to do it on your own, but you are not alone this time. I got your back,” she said to her.
Once again, she bought the seeds from the shop and planted them. This time, she started with her advice. “Water is essential for plants. But you should not use too much water, dear. If you use too much of it, the seed will decay before it sprouts. Use the right amount of it.” After that advice, she reduced the amount of water for the seeds. As a result, it started to show its development a few days prior. On one fine morning, she saw the small green sprouts, and when she saw that, she started to jump around like a happy bunny. “Emotions and Feelings.”
Day by day, the small sprout started to grow. Each day, her happiness also grew along with the plant, but after some days, that happiness changed to sadness. The reason was that that small plant stopped its growth and started to turn gloomy brown from its lively green. She complained about it to her grandma. “Granny, I don’t know what is wrong now. I balanced the right amount of water, like you told me. Even if it’s a silly act, I also started to sing for them. Hell! I planted it near my widow this time so that I would look after it all the time, but now it has started to turn brown. I really don’t know what to do. If it goes on like this, it will die,” she rambled, so distressed about it. “Hardships and Struggles.”
“Hold your horses! Young lady. I know you are very serious about this planting, and you are showing your utmost care. I understand. I won’t complain about it, but the place you choose for the plant is not a comfortable one. The place near our window is so rocky that the rocks will not let the plant and its roots grow. So, change the place and see the result,” she explained about her fault to her in a tender way. “Solutions and Keys."
She changed the place. This time, she planted it in the vast, clean area that was under the mango tree. Time flies, the plant starts to regain its energy, and the lively colour of green comes to it. One day, she brought her grandma to the garden to show her hard work and her result. The old woman silently observed the plant, astutely observing the surroundings. She sighed.
“Granny, you are awfully quiet and have sighed.” Jade remarked, looking at the old man for any response. “My plant looks fine, good, and in good shape now. Is there anything wrong with it?” she asked nervously, glancing at her. “Sweetheart, we know it looks good and is growing in a good way, but it’s not healthy. It needs sunlight, not shade. Only water is enough for it to survive. They capture the energy from the sun and use it to convert water and carbon dioxide into carbohydrates. They then use the carbohydrates to grow,” she shared her thoughts with her granddaughter. “Oh! I didn’t know about that; it has so many processes—a lot more than I thought. I am so bad at this,” she mumbled, her grandmother affectionately ruffling her hair as an encouragement. “Wrong decisions.”
“Worry not, my dear. Today it’s just about one small plant; tomorrow you will have the responsibility to look after a whole family. Having ups and downs is part of our lives. Instead of running away from the problem, try to tackle it, seek some help, find a solution and then conquer it.” After hearing the small pep talk from her grandmother, she hugged her and kissed her cheeks to show her gratitude. The fragile woman responded to her gesture by giving her a gentle forehead kiss.
Summer arrived, and with it, a new set of problems. Pests began to invade Jade's garden, feasting on her plants. She researched natural remedies and experimented with different solutions to protect his garden. Some methods worked, while others failed. Through these trials, she learned about problem-solving and the necessity of continual learning and adaptation. “Dealing with Setbacks.”
After that day, she started to research many things and started to take extra care of them. Hours became days, days became weeks, weeks became months, and time flew fast. When the first flower of the plant bloomed, she was on cloud nine. She screamed and ran through the garden like a happy butterfly. She was fascinated by the colour of the flower, the baby pink colour; it was like the blush of a young maiden. She caressed its petals; they were so soft, like a velvet piece of cloth. Her grandmother saw all her granddaughter’s celebrations and emotions from her room; her lips tugged up, and a and a gentle smile adorned her face. “Hardships and Rewards.”
“Granny, did you see that? Finally, I did it!” The young lady hollered and entered her room. "Yes, dear, I also know how happy you are feeling right now. I am so proud of you,” she said, her eyes gleaming with happiness, looking fondly at her.
Despite her best efforts, not every plant thrived. Some withered and died, no matter how much care she gave them. This was a hard pill to swallow, but it taught Jade an invaluable lesson: failure is a natural part of growth. She learned to accept these losses, understanding that they provided important lessons for future success.
Jude was in her grandmother’s room. Both ladies were sitting outside, on their veranda, with pipping tea, basking in the comfort of the longue chair, watching the sunset, and having their grandma and granddaughter moment. “You have to learn one last thing: if there will be happiness, there will be sadness as well, and if there will be life, there will be death as well. Remember, dear, people are like plants in this world. We try our utmost to grow up. Eventually, we will bloom one day in this world, despite all the struggles. But at the end, we will wither away like a flower and return to the place where we came from. And when those times come, I hope you will have the heart to accept reality, my darling,” she spoke. Her warm eyes reflected the hues of the sunset, and the elderly woman patted the younger woman’s knee tenderly. “Of course, grandma,” Jade whispered, her voice strained with an unknown emotion.
She very well knew what her grandmother was trying to say. “I love you, Granny,” she confessed, her arms coiled around her in a tight hug. All she could do was savour the moment for as long as she could. In return, her grandma tightened their hug and bestowed a kiss on her forehead with quivering lips.
By J.Jeleena
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