CHILD

Short Story with Moral Lesson – CHILD

Once upon a time there was a rose plant.  She was a beautiful and a happy plant. People who  passedby  loved  to see and smell the flowers of the plant. Everybody admired her and praised her. After a while the praise and admiration of the people became very  usual for her and   she  wanted  to do some thing more fulfilling  in life . She prayed to god asking for help. God appeared and gave her a seed. She was very  delighted .  She planted the seed, watered it and took care of it. Her joy knew no bounds when she saw a small sapling coming out of it.

“That is my baby.”  She thought. The   sapling grew in to a beautiful rose plant  .

The mother plant immensely enjoyed taking care of it and loved to see it growing and flowering. She loved the shape,  colour and fragrance of the baby  plant. It became her world. She enjoyed  the presence of the baby very much.  She laughed when the baby laughed and cried when the baby cried. She was happy when the baby was happy and was sad when the baby was sad.  She  forgot her own existence.  She forgot that she was a plant, and that  her nature was to flower.

She became oblivious of the people praising her, the sun that helped her to make food,  the rain drops that helped her to grow healthy. Nothing mattered to her except the baby.  She found immense joy in her baby’s smile. Everything about the baby was some thing great and extraordinary for her. She felt that that the baby was the most wonderful thing in this world and she was the best mother. She thought the she and the baby were one and the same. All the time   she  could’nt  think of anything except the baby and she could not  be anything else but  mother. Being anything other than the mother was impossible and unthinkable for her.

The baby plant was joyful, always smiling, playing, laughing and jumping. She was blissful playing with breeze , swaying from side to side and playing with birds and butterflies. She enjoyed the sunshine , the clouds and the rain drops that fell on her. But the mother enjoyed just looking at her baby. With mothers love she grew healthy and beautiful and was flowering very well . She was a happy child. All the passersby enjoyed the sight, colour and fragrance of the baby plant. The mother plant was very proud of her baby.

Everything was fine until the mother saw a huge banyan tree. She thought –

‘my baby should grow as Strong as the banyan tree’.

She told the baby “  Why can’t you be like banyan tree, tall and strong?”

The baby was taken aback. All these days she was thinking she was  fine and  perfect and loved to be herself. Mother always loved her and accepted her as she was.

“ Am I not alright?” She asked the mother.

“You should try to grow tall and strong like banyan tree.”  Said the mother.

The baby didn’t  know  what to say. She didn’t know how to grow like a banyan tree. She was sad for some time and then forgot about it and started playing and laughing. But the mother started pestering her everyday to grow strong like a banyan tree. The baby didn’t know how to do that. Gradually she  became very dull and stopped flowering. Neither she could grow as strong as the banyan  tree nor she could retain the beauty and aroma of a rose plant.

She stopped smiling,playing and enjoying things.  She  could’nt even enjoy the sunshine and the rain drops falling on her.  She did not jump and play with the breeze. She ignored the birds and butterflies that came to play with her.  Seeing her, mother tree felt worried.

“Why my baby has become so dull?”  She started asking all the other trees around.

“ You are nagging her every day to grow stronger. Let her be her self. She will be fine.” They advised.

“Am I nagging her!  Is it wrong to ask her to improve her self and become better . I do everything for her  own good. After all she is my baby.” She thought.

“NO. She is not”, A voice came from above.

“What! She is not mine !” she trembled.

“Do you remember I gave you the seed .  I just sent her through you. She is my child”.

Now she recollected  what happened longtime back.  She realized how foolish she was.  How she troubled the baby plant asking her to be what she is not forgetting that she was a gift of God.

“What should I do now? “ She asked  anxiously .

“All that she needs is your love and acceptance.”  Said the  divine voice.

The mother realized her mistake. She started discussing with the trees around her.

“Remember how you used to be before the baby was born! If you remain happy , strong ,enjoy things and give joy to others by flowering your baby may learn from you and get those qualities. But she can never become a banyan tree. When the child needs your help, be there for her, but  don’t  hold on to her. Give her some space to grow . Just remember  that  you are a tree, a part of nature, a creation of the almighty, a piece of god  and also a mother.”

She felt as if the whole universe was telling her, the god is telling her  not to forget her own roots and  her own existence.  In fact a part   of  her own self uttered these words.

She stopped pestering the baby.  She started loving her, praising her and accepting her just the way she was. The baby plant again grew healthy, cheerful, colourful and vibrant and started being herself and so was the mother.  The mother also recollected how she was and how she was giving joy to everybody around her. Both the mother and the child decided to be themselves  ,and respect and love each other.They remained not only mother and child but also best friends forever.

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