"...I want to be a doctor."

I reached the countryside.

I sensed a strange feeling like I was supposed to be there.

After feeling like a vagabond for a month, I felt as I am home.

My folks were arguing over farms and lands.

The chaos is surrounded by the sweet smell of soil.

The breeze made my hair danced in the air.

I found a way to get away from the talk.

What another way could be than cycling to small roads?

I did it all the time in the city.

I loved to find new ways on my two wheels.

I asked for permission with some authority to my grandma,

Because I was not ready to take no for an answer.

She said, “do not go too far and take ‘Rimjhim’ with you.”

It was out of the question that I will go alone.

I was brand-new and unaware of this village.

I adored that girl.

She was passionate, thoughtful, and knowledgeable.

I could see the simplicity in that girl’s eyes.

She was my navigator and tour guide,

We rode to the station.

She asked, “didi, Do want to go to the shakti’s temple nearby.”

I said, “I would not miss it for the world.”

I rode fast as the day was going to end soon.

She passionately chanted, “people often came here to offer sincere prayers,

Asked for wishes that almost come true.”

The second I reached; I saw dozens of eyes gazed at me.

I figured my appearance and dresses were assumed to be blamed.

After further ado, I walked inside the temple.

Touching the steps, paying admiration as my culture suggested,

As my mother would have asked me to do.

I was grateful and certainly could feel the void consummate inside me.

The serene that temple gave me, I doubt anyone ever could give me.

After my prayer ritual ended, I opened my eye,

But that girl was still praying.

I was curious.

I asked shamelessly, “what did you ask God.”

She said, “I want to say, but then it won’t come true.”

I was persistent. “What is it? Tell me.”

She was hesitating but finally mumbled in a deep pitch.

“I want to be a doctor.”

She said I want to help people in my village,

So that no one dies of cancer as my ‘dadi’ did.

I could see her heart-melting.

As if she found her desire to be born.

I crave to say the right things, but instead, I was silent.

I never found the right words.

She continued I will study hard, will try to get a scholarship.

I was mesmerized by how she had everything figured out at such an age.

The sky chose to turn darker.

We were running late,

 but can I return without praying for ‘Rimjhim’ to become a doctor?

That day connected me to the earth, sky, and a beautiful heart.

                                                                                                           ~rosh