Genuinely Fake

I kill plants.

Of course, it’s not something I enjoy doing, or even consciously do, for that matter. It’s just something I’m essentially skilled at.

For as far back as I can remember, we’ve had a small garden, and potted plants at home. They've boasted colourful flowers, seasonal plants, crotons, and herbs. The odd assortment of cacti, even. And I've loved them all. However, although my parents have been good with gardening, I have only been good at causing their quick demise, should I take my non-green thumb anywhere close. The usually resilient cacti have been known to succumb to my fatal charms as well. 

When I got married and moved into a new house, my parents brought with them, a flourishing croton that had been adorning their garden for years. HA! What were they thinking?! It lasted all of three weeks under my loving care. Which was when my husband decided to take over the gardening aspect in our life.

We have our own little 'garden' now, in our first-floor apartment balcony, where potted plants stand in an untidy, haphazard row. We have a random bunch of pretty, green stuff crowning various-sized pots, but I know it’s for him they’ll grow. He’s the one who spends time turning the soil, adding homemade fertilizer, and pulling out offensive weeds. Only, lately, he’s been away, leaving the presumably panic-stricken lot at my mercy. Just pour them some water and they’ll be fine, he tells me. Seriously?! Does he not know me at all?

But I do that. I water them every second morning, religiously, gingerly, praying desperately that they’re green and still standing when he returns. I talk to them too, cajoling, pleading, badgering, and finally threatening them to stay up and just grow, dammit, grow!

Maybe somewhere down the line, their collective survival instinct has won over. Either that or my innate deadly abilities have mellowed. Whatever it is, I’m beginning to notice a difference. The plants don’t exactly flourish under my care, but they don’t book a one-way ticket to plant heaven either. They seem to…hang in there. And I'm grateful for that much.

But I have to admit, that as much as I love God's leafy, green creations, there's one plant type that I favour over all others, for the simple reason that it doesn't have me constantly appealing to higher powers for its longevity.

And that type is, artificial. 

See? Now that's what I'm talking about!

Better Together

“There are dreamers and there are realists in this world. You'd think the dreamers would find the dreamers and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not the opposite is true. You see, the dreamers need the realists to keep them from soaring too close to the sun. And the realists...well, without the dreamers, they might not ever get off the ground.”

- Cameron Tucker, Modern Family S3E9, Punkin’ Chunkin’

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And Jack Johnson, saying it his way.

Depth

I had a birthday earlier this week. I'd been mentally prepared to see it slide into obscurity given that it coincided with Diwali, and that the husband wasn't here to make a big deal of it. I'd had no expectation from the day, and been reluctantly ready to let it go by, without announcement.

But I guess every once in a while, life hands out presents in bounteous, joyful measures, and people surprise you in ways you never expected.

Amid the zillion phone calls wishing me a happy birthday that morning, one friend - more precisely, my brother's friend - wishes me the same, then insists on taking me out to lunch when he hears I have no definite plans for the day. I think he's kidding. Turns out, he's not. And so, I get treated to a fabulous lunch at one of my favourite restaurants in the city, in the company of another friend who joins in too, making the day shine a little brighter! The afternoon spins by with the excitement of shared stories, laughter and a delectable feast, culminating in a celebration involving a very delicious chocolate cake and an enthusiastic, yet slightly out-of-tune birthday song.

After having envisioned reheated leftovers for lunch, had in front of Masterchef reruns on the tube, this could only be described as a dream. And all it took, for the day to turn out differently, was a little thoughtfulness, a generous spirit and some heart.

So it's true. Every once in a while, people will surprise you. They'll step out of that circle of expectation you've drawn around them, and extend beyond the roles you've confined them to, showing you a side to them, that you never knew existed. And in a world that's turning too fast to care, it's moments like these that you'll remember and hold dear, long after even they, have forgotten.