Short Story : Realisation

It was a sunny winter morning, an ideal day to go out for a long drive, Rehana thought to herself. She decided to go for shopping. After all it was the beginning of the month and she felt rich once again. She could not wait to spend her salary. Rehana was a girl who loved to spend money buying new clothes and accessories. She had never seen the hardships of life and always thought life is a bed of roses. Her parents offered everything she wanted. She was a spoilt child who loved to enjoy life at the fullest. She took her car keys, put on her favorite music and zoomed towards her favourite shopping haunt.

She was having an awesome time while driving and actually enjoying her own company. The traffic was sparse and the Sun was bright. There was hardly anyone on the road.The yellow mustard fields on both side of the road were swaying with the gentle breeze blowing across. Her car zoomed towards the destination while she sang the song which played on the radio. Suddenly she noticed someone in her rear view mirror, She stopped the car with a slight jerk and looked back, A middle aged lady was waving her hand and asking for a lift. Rehana noticed her hands, Her hands were the most beautiful hands she ever seen. The lady was wearing a fiery hot crimson red colour nail polish which made her hands look most beautiful.Rehana could not resist staring at her hands. It seemed that she got hypnotized by the colour .

Without giving a second thought she decided to give her a lift. There was something special about the lady which made Rehana inquisitive. She wanted to know her better. Rehana paused the music and started chit chatting with the lady. The conversation started with the appreciation of her nail polish. “I love the colour of your nail polish. I am a big time shopaholic and I love looking good but I have never found a colour like this. You have an awesome choice in fashion. Are you a model?”

The lady smiled and said “don’t go by my appearance.I hardly know anything about fashion. I run a home that provides accommodation to the destitute young girls and this nail polish has been gifted to me by one of those girls on my birthday. These girls work day and night to earn some amount for their day to day living. They saved some amount to celebrate my birthday. I am a widow and I lost interest in fashion ever since I lost my better half. I have put this colour just to see a smile on their faces.”

After two hours, the lady asked Rehana to stop the car. She had arrived at her destination. “Well ! this is were I live with the other girls.Thank you so much for the lift. Do you want to come in for a cup of tea?” the lady asked Rehana. Rehana could not stop herself and decided to visit the place. She had never ever seen such a place. That one visit was enough to change Rehana’s entire outlook. She was amazed to see the young girls living their life blissfully.They didn’t have any branded clothes or expensive gadgets but they were content without them. All they wanted was love,care and affection which money could not buy. Rehana’s eyes filled with tears and she decided to donate some amount which she had decided to spend on shopping.She had never experienced the happiness of charity and doing something for others. It was a much better experience than buying branded clothes and eating in expensive restaurants. She had a coffee and decided to leave.

As she stepped out of the place and about to open the door of her car, the lady called her from behind. She turned around. “Here is a small gift for you from me and from my girls. Hope you will like it“, the lady handed her a small packet. She opened the packet in the car and tears of joy rolled from her eyes. It was the same colour nail polish which Rehana had liked. Along with the packet was a small card which said “whenever you use the nail polish, it will remind you of us.Our blessings are always with you. Though we have nothing to offer you, but whenever you feel low and need a friend, never hesitate to come to us.”