CAN YOU DRAW A FLOWER?

Two days ago, my friend,  Mukesh, who lives in the same society where I have my classes and office, called me around 1 noon. “Gerry, have you had your lunch?” he asked me.

“I am about to have it, Mukesh,” I replied.

“Why can’t you come over…? You can have hot Sindhi-kadhi-rice with Aloo-bhindi.”

I left my lunch-box alone in my office and, within two minutes, found myself in Mukesh’s house. Yes, the sweet-dish was the bonus! It was not only a surprise lunch at a friend’s place it was heavenly, too!

As the  lunch was being set on the table, there was this little lady – all of age two years – immersed in colouring on a drawing book with crayons. I had not seen this little angel anytime before in our complex. So, I asked Mukesh, “Who is this little angel?”

“Our new neigbours,” Mukesh explained, “They have just moved in a week ago. As her mother had to go to bank, she has left the little one at our place.”

I immediately bent down to see the little lady’s ‘Master Pieces’. “Wow! So beautiful! “ I exclaimed, “You love drawing and colouring?”

The little one looked at me and nodded to say “Yes”.

“Can I see your drawings? What is this?” I asked with my quriosity.

“Flower,” the little artist replied proudly.

“It is really beautiful, darling,” I ran my hand over the little head.

“Can you draw a flower?” the little princess wanted to know.

“I think, I can,” I said meekly.

The book was placed before me. Half way through my adventure, the little Picasso yelled, “No, you don’t know!”

Then, the two-year-old held my big hand in her tiny one and guided me slowly with her crayon pencil. It took a few glorious – and humbling – minutes to learn the art of drawing a flower from a little art-teacher…

With that, the special lunch turned out to be even special!

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” The least did I expect that I would come back  from my friend Mukesh’s second-floor house, tucking in my heart the true meaning of Jesus’ Beattitude in His famous ‘Sermon on the Mount’. In fact, on another mountain, the Master had thundered at the Satan: “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God!”

The Lord appears in many, many forms. We feel closest to Him, when He appears through a child and a food-giver… That’s why, the dictionary gives us the original meaning of the word ‘Lord’ as - ‘The Bread-giver’…

The One Who nourishes our body, heart and soul!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: Aparna Deshmukh