'Soft' Talks

It was a few days since we have moved to this new flat.we were on the 7th floor.I was standing by the window in my new room.i gazed at the beautiful scenery far away as the breeze played with my hair.. the blue mountains ,the green  tree tops...,Multi storyed buildings seemed to divide the serene sky into square shaped pieces which appeared so near to me..i saw the clouds simply sailing around..Below i could see the busy road..cars,buses,rickshaws and people rushing past..All in a hurry.But why?.Im in the midst of a city.i told myself.. I missed my village..my house..it's vast terrace..where we used to play ..watch the stars and make out different constellations in the night sky.and set off fire crackers during Diwali.The courtyard adorned by the mango flowers in summer..The jackfruit tree which happily gave off a low branch for us to tie the swing..my garden..my dear dear jasmine flowers.. i wonder if the little xmas tree has grown so tall ..how beautifully we decorated it each xmas during our school days..now festivals are celebrated infront of television only..We are busy..no time..we have to move on..we have to survive in  this highly comepetitive world..we have to live..But tell me,What's life?

A grey coloured pigeon came near my window.I smiled at her..and she came nearer to me as if she understood the 'universal language'..These days fewer humans understand that..i was wondering whethr to  touch it's rounded head.and caress it's soft feathers.i havnt touched a pigeon or any other bird in my life because i was afraid of those sharp beaks..

"Hey,Soft,what r u doing there?scaring the pigeon away?" It was Rish,my younger brother..He rushed into my room..The pigeon flew away.."oh..it's gone" i said sadly.".Dont worry  softu ,it will come again" he said fondly..Now U mayb wondering who this soft is ..Well,its my nick name at home..Full name is Soft Kutty..'Kutty' is a malayalam word which means child..So i have this English-malayalam combo pet name all for myself..unique..When asked  about the reason why they named me so,my mom said,"it was  bcs wen u were born u were an extremely soft baby"..i wondered whethr all other babies were hard when they were born..!!Sometimes these parents are so silly..!!So i had this name..and it's many versions came into existance over a period of years-sometimes people call me softy,softu,sometimes some old ladies in my village find it hard to pronounce "f",so they skip it and call me sot or sottu..or very fondly "sottootty..." Shreya is a name only used for academic purposes and among the friendship circle in school and college..and gradually i got used to it..when u have a pet name at home,somehow,u seem to love it more than ur original name..

Rish was staring at my cupboard.."is it not difficult to carry all these with u,each time we shift our house.?".He pointed to my gift boxes..Those greeting cards,letters,small,small  gifts,crafts,bouquet,flowers,dolls etc etc.".i love to keep them with me always"..he gave me a weird look.."what for?" They are memories,dear bro..they r the remnants of past..they remind u of people who gifted u those things,happy moments forever to be treasured..We cannot go back in time..but we can preserve the past..it's memories

He seemed not to understand a thing..well,what will u do to them after ur marriage? he asked playfully.."Well,i will make a glass cupboard and arrange them in my new house.."i said proudly..Oh..But my future brother-in law wont tolerate such stupidities."..he laughed..i wondered abt this male-dominated society.."No.No.He will agree ..After all he is my future husband ryt?" i winked at him.."God,save that poor man"..He laughed and ran as i chased him with the mosquito bat...