Greening Up by Sreelekha Chatterjee
“First, the graceful violet,” the anchor intones at the school function, starting with the first colour of the VIBGYOR. Shruti’s classmate walks up the stage dressed in a violet frock. She smiles and waits at one corner.
“Next, the elegant indigo.” A fellow pupil in an indigo gown joins the previous one.
“Now, the charming blue.” Another peer in a blue dress follows them.
Succeeding the former students is Shruti’s turn. Her five-year-old heart pounds in her chest, accompanied by a multitude of flies bustling about her ears.
“And, here comes the lovely green.” A sonorous voice announces.
Shruti lumbers onto the center of the stage, fidgeting with her green, frilled frock. Her teachers, seniors, principal—the audience—have their eyes fixed on her, unusually quiet. On the brink of tearing up, she recalls her mother’s words, “Remember all that is green, and you’ll know how to act.”
It’s the beginning of spring, and the fields are adorned with an abundance of green. Her mind ambles effortlessly down memory lane, reminiscing the mustard fields spread over miles embellished by attractive, bright-yellow flowers, amid the soft emerald, gently swaying in the wind. The entire earth dons a marvelous jade; fresh, salubrious leaves sprout along with the buds and flowers. Trees jubilant in the intoxicating breeze of the season prance, unified by delightfully chirping birds—familiar, yet nameless, to her world of consciousness. For a moment she forgets her assembled spectators, as she is mesmerized by the profound presence of the heavenly verdure moving towards her, steadily increasing in volume, like a flower embowered in its parent leaves.
Bathed in that blissful charm, she bows. A stream of applause transports her back to the audience in the room. Her eyes water, but now they embrace the tears of joy.
About the Author:
Sreelekha Chatterjee’s short stories have been published in various magazines and journals like Flash Fiction North, Friday Flash Fiction, Borderless, The Green Shoe Sanctuary, Usawa Literary Review, The Wise Owl, Different Truths, Storizen, Five Minutes, 101 Words, BUBBLE, Indian Periodical, The Chakkar, The Hooghly Review, Bulb Culture Collective, Prachya Review, Creative Flight, Literary Cocktail Magazine, and have been included in numerous print and online anthologies such as Fate (Bitterleaf Books, UK), Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul series (Westland Ltd, India), Wisdom of Our Mothers (Familia Books, USA), and several others. She lives in New Delhi, India.
