Fallen Flowers

Every morning I see an elderly gentlemen picking up flowers that had fallen under the tree, neatly kept in a basket meant for temple visits. His activity was making me curious.  One fine morning I saw him again, and decided to quench my curiosity.

I asked him, "Uncle, I always see you picking up these freshly fallen flowers from the ground. What do you do with them?"

"I use them to Worship Deities and Gods in my house," he replied calmly.

Now this was new. Haven’t heard anything like this before. So, I asked him again, “Why will you offer fallen flowers, when there are plenty on the plant itself?”

"I am helping these flowers fulfil their purpose, to be with God in their last days. They also have life, they also want to be with God like you and me in our last days, isn’t it," he asked me. I just nodded and he continued.

"People pluck the buds which have not even bloomed, and some only pluck the ones which have just bloomed, not even letting them release their fragrance. Everyone takes what’s beautiful and leaves the plant stripped off its beauty. See, how these plants look like, stripped and deserted."

He continued, "Every flower has a purpose, to be with God. While everyone takes away what's there on the plant, I choose to pick them up from the ground. It’s not their fault that they fall. They also deserve to be with God. You also should try it, you will find peace and happiness in doing it. I found it, that’s why I am doing it. I am too old to support anyone, but I can help these flowers meet their destiny.*

I could only just nod and smile.

With this new inspiration and thought, I decided that I will also try picking up the fallen flowers from my garden for worshipping.

I passed a tree and saw a few flowers had fallen under the tree. As I bent down to pick them up, I heard a voice - “You don’t offer fallen flowers to God”, it was my Mom speaking to me in my head, and then I stopped for a second.

“God is only looking for your emotion and devotion towards him, so anyway go ahead and pick them up”, it was again my Mom speaking to me in my head. 

After much deliberation and looking at both sides, I picked the flowers and put them in my palms. I could feel goose bumps and my heart was racing. It was a very different kind of love I was feeling inside my body for these flowers.  I got the flowers home and washed them and placed them where they deserved, at the feet of God.

This entire experience was overwhelming. I felt good and nice about myself. I felt as if I have saved someone’s life or helped someone come out of misery. I had never felt this level of contentment before with flowers at least. And I felt, I will continue to do this. Pick up those who have fallen down.

In life, we always want to be around nice and beautiful people. We want to see ourselves with people who belong to our stature.  But, the real satisfaction comes when we help someone and make his life better. Be it a human, animal, bird or any other form of Life.

So, why not flowers?

(Author unknown)