The bells…

Sound…. A five word wonder, an echo of all things around us. Each sound in the world has its own tale to open to us. The rustle of the leaves, the flutter of a butterflies wings and trickling of the dew drops in a silent desolate wood. Ever heard the clamour of the traffic, so loud, so busy, that it becomes difficult to distinguish one sound from the other. The chiming of the church bells in the silent night….taking you away to a far- away land.

Human relations are a lot like these sounds, each having its own tale to tell, with its complexity and difficult to be described in mere words. These sounds can be heard, yet to explain it to a person, words fall short. Not because, you are unaware of the nuances a relation has, but its notes are so evolved and complex that each aspect has a new facet, to be honed and developed.

It was the due to the sound of her laughter, bright and beautiful like the chiming bells, soothing that her grandpa called her bells. Probably the best friend she could ever have, the soulmate who not only was a great story-teller but the partner in her smallest crimes: a child’s heaven. More than her parents it was him she grew up to be close to. A beautiful friendship grew between them, that which defies time, an age.

He was the one she went to when she had her first heartbreak, he was there to support her as she struggled to make a mark in her profession. He stood and watched teary eyed as the man of her dream whisked her away into a new world. She got so engrossed in her life gradually that she didn’t even realise that the tme when her grandpa, her best friend was about to go drew near. And then he was gone.

Her life moved on, each day a new experience, each relation a new blessing. But now no one called her bells. Her life though perfect, was a void in itself, that which could not be filled up by any other relation. And then she discovered  the most beautiful experience of being a mother. This was the time that she started missing her grandpa even more. She felt that this was one transition in her life that she wanted her best friend, her grandpa to be around her.

Time passed and the void lived on.

Until one day, when suddenly amused by the antics of her 3 year old son she laughed out aloud, and her son pulled her hand and said,

“Mommy, you sound just like the church bells.’’