We Valiant Few

You Can Let Go Now

 Born on a Sunday morning, a lifeless mere soul, barely hanging on her tiny heartbeats seems to erode with every passing second. A beautiful baby girl breathing her last, giving way in the ventilator. The door opens, rush enters a boy in his early teens with his numb eyes and hands trembling as he reaches for her. Gently soothing her forehead with tears rolling down his cheeks. After the doctors gave him a red signal, he took the girl in his warm arms hoping that she would open her heavenly eyes for him but in vain. He said his last goodbyes and reaches down to kiss her. As his dry lips press against the cold skin of the offspring the baby bursts into tears. A sheer miracle indeed. She opens her eyes and sets her gaze onto the boy as if she knew she was already in heaven. What could be more beautiful for a boy to hold his sister in his bare arms for the first time. ''You can let go now boy, you can let go'' the nurses said and the boy released her from his grip with tears of immense joy in his eyes.

As the years go by,  the young girl explores her childhood. Buys a bicycle one day to taste what freedom is really like. She didn't know how to ride it. His brother taught her the basics and even welded some training wheels with the cycle for her. Now that she had been practicing for a while, she became confident and felt that she was independent. So one morning she takes the bicycle out of the garage and calls onto his brother so that he could stand testimony to this new skill she had acquired. She gets on the bicycle, the young boy standing right beside her, his hands holding onto the seat. He makes her wear the helmet and starts to push the bicycle not letting go when the little girl suddenly screams out, ''You can let go now brother, you can let go, I know it feels scary but you can let me go now.''

Years flew and the girl now stood in front of her school right across the street with a young boy holding her hands. She moved forward and found her hand still held by his brother. ''Come on Jahan, the road is empty now and I can cross it. You can let go now'' she said. He loosened the grip and her hands slid out of Jahan's. He kept his gaze on her as she disappeared out of his sight and entered the school gate. She stopped, and came back to send him a flying kiss which he so joyfully received. "You can go now'' she said out loud, but the distance made it sound like a mere whisper. He smiled but stayed there for a few more minutes. 

Alas!! Nothing ever remains the same. Months and months passed, and there in that beautiful bold girl is not the same anymore. She goes to the school alone and when she looks back, she finds the pavement empty and no one to wave her goodbye or smile back at her. When she rides a bicycle, she puts on her helmet and waits for some encouraging words from her brother but silence welcomes her. She stands on the shop counter and waits for her brother to pay for her candy bars, but in the end, she has to do it by herself. She runs around the courtyard looking back hoping to see her brother chasing her as he always used to, but the sight returns empty and her smile vanishes instantly. She remains awake till late waiting for her bedtime stories, but it's her mother rather than Jahan who comes to her rescue now. 

"Through imagination man exposes his thoughts to other humans. But for this, he uses a canvas. A canvas already painted with a beautiful and alluring background. A background filled with many platforms where the visitors may gaze at its charm, towering hills and deep valleys, mighty water bodies, massive land segments, and dazzling nature. The canvas was painted and still is being painted by everyone who sets foot on this Earth, every day. This Canvas is the world. Wor-- Fatima?! Why are you not paying attention? I have to warn you that if you continue with this lack of attention and carelessness; we will have to demote you. Don't put any more stress on your mother than she already has. Pay attention now!'' The Arts Teacher blurted out. But did she bother? No!!

"Is it so hard to let go?" she often thought. He was more like a father to her. Her father had always been away from the house performing his duty and she seldom saw him in the house. When he was at home, he slept most of the time and had scarce time to spend with her. Jahan however, always comforted her and didn't let her feel the father's absence and love.

The Doorbell rings and Fatima rushes to the door. She opens it and finds Jahan standing right there in front of her. She can not believe her eyes and she leaps forward finding herself in his brother's arms. "But they said you were gone ...Why didn't you come and greet me all this time? Didn't you miss your little sister after all? First Dad and now you, why don't you love me and mom anymore now?" Fatima exclaimed. "I am always with you Fatima, you can let go now... you can let go.'' With this, she woke only to find out she was dreaming and Jahan was not there with her now. She rubbed her eyes and sat in her bed. She looked out of the window. It was still dark, she sighed and mumbled something with the confidence of being listened to. It had been weeks since they had received Jahan's body wrapped in a flag. To Fatima, until now, the flag was only a piece of cloth hoisted on the building's top but on that day she became aware of its other use. She missed her brother but no one had been there to listen to her. Her mother had been busy with house chores. Neither she did nor she wanted to burden her with her thoughts. After all, she had received more flags than the entire neighbourhood.

Since her childhood, Fatima was a cheerful and lively being with shining eyes and a lovely smile. She was the kind of girl everyone wanted to be acquaintance with. She had a huge social circle and was very cooperative and adjusting. But now, she was entitled to profound grief. Losing her brother was a loss that could not be compensated. Despite having so many people around her, something was missing. She occasionally had the feeling of having no friends and she was terrified by it. She longed for the love, affection, attention, and care which she could not savour or taste anymore. ''Was it too much to ask?'' she often thought.

She opened her diary and started; " Dear Blue, We have come a long way from our primitive ancestors -- the cavemen. We live in plush homes instead of rocky homes, sleep in comfy beds instead of bare rocks, eat gourmet delicacies instead of raw meat and fruits and zoom about in sleek automobiles instead of prowling about barefooted like primates. That's not all, we no longer need to venture out into a hostile unknown world to satiate our curiosity or other needs. It all comes to our doorsteps. The charms of the far-off exotic lands are one click away,. The fulfilment of our wildest desire is only a matter of clicking the right hyperlink. Cut to the violent side of human nature and behold. We don't need to confront our adversaries physically to vanquish them. A smart bomb or a guided missile can do the trick from a thousand miles away without jeopardizing our physical safety or without exposing us to the gory realities of the battlefield. We, humans, are at the threshold of conquering the very fabric of the mundane matter. Yet those bastards dared to face and kill my brother at point-blank. What good did it do to them? They had no heart and probably no children of their own either. Had they did, they would never even think of harming those of others. Why is the man trying to play God at his peril?"

Love is a strong feeling of affection and care for anything in life. As long as it exists, life is like a flowing river. Life revolves around love. And in the case of Fatima, she was devoid of it. Her life had lost its colours and her kaleidoscope had faded. She wondered why a father struggles and works exceedingly hard even beyond his capacity just to make things easier and smooth for his children whom he loves. What does he gain from it? Why does love have to be so important in life and to life? Even though she witnessed animals fighting for their loved ones with anyone even over their lives against all odds of cruelty, she remained steadfast in her approach towards it. She was forgetting love. She read somewhere, ''We are all created out of love, love is our mother.'' Although it pulled at her heartstring, she didn't want to think otherwise.

Usually, the school is a charm for everyone. Though life is tough the memories of moments are interesting. The school life was interesting for her except for that feeling of emptiness that was now gnawing at her very existence. She knew she had to fight this feeling. She knew she had to overcome it at least that was what her mother kept telling her after witnessing how the all-amazing and joyful Fatima was losing to this profound grief. She, therefore, started a search... a search for someone she could trust. She came across about tens of them. Samuel was another Christian, a nerd, yet he was able to engage someone in his conversation to the extent of immersion. Once she got in a conversation with him, he started; ''Away from the concrete jungles, the glitter of screens and the world of infotainment, a part of the real and natural world still exist. I have seen it and it's mesmerizing Fatima. A world that is yet safe from the insatiable avarice of consumerism. A relic of the old that beckons us towards our primordial past and draws us away from our delusional, virtual lives toward our natural beginnings. This is the world that reminds us that we are real flesh and blood and not mere robots. Away from the excess of human greed, it's a world of lofty mountains, sprawling glaciers, rolling grasslands, raging rivers, and mystifying deserts. These parts of our planets are not for the urbane glued to their gadgets. This reality is not for the feeble-hearted, comfort-loving Millennials but for those who take pride in their ancestry and are courageous enough to confront the might of nature yet live in harmony with it.'' She could do nothing but a nod to these facts. She could almost live in those words. But when one day she came across Mayson, she felt at home. She felt as if her search has ended for good. She could only manage to think these words; "Don't ever let go..."