The Valley Of Stars

THE VALLEY OF STARS

The dawn was breaking and the first rays of the early morning sun were filtering in through the
window. The warmth of the sun rays falling on Chotu’s face gently woke him up. He softly
rubbed his eyes and thought over the lovely dream he had last night.

He got out of his bed and walked up to the neem tree just outside his hut. His little sister was
sitting in the verandah, playing with the scarf around her neck. She smiled at him and he smiled
back. His mother was making Chapatis on Chulha for his father so that he could take them
along to the field.

Chotu went to the village well, took out a bucket of water. He brushed his teeth with the neem
stick he had just broken and had a quick bath. He heard his mother calling him to have bread
and tea. He rushed back home and as he sat down near his mother, he heard a thumping on
the door. He opened the door to see his goat kid looking at him enquiringly with her marble like
eyes, as if asking, “Aren’t we going for a walk today?”

It had rained last night, Chotu and Pari started walking on their usual path. The fresh wind was
blowing; all the leaves were looking fresh and happy. There on the bend of the path, he noticed
a beautiful and bright yellow flower, the kind he had never seen before. He stood there and
was over-whelmed by the spell that the flower was casting on him. He was mesmerized by the
beauty of the valley around. Suddenly he noticed dark clouds looming large on the horizon. He
was plunged into a pensive mood as it occurred to him that the flower-the bright yellow, delicate
and happy looking flower-might not be able to withstand the rain and the storm.

For the next few days Chotu could not go for his morning strolls as he had to work with his
father. He often thought of the solitary yellow flower, wondering what might have happened
to it in the rain storm. One whole week passed and he could no longer ignore Pari’s doleful
eyes, begging him to take her for a stroll. Soon they were walking merrily on their favourite
path. No sooner did they come close to the valley; he was amazed to see the view that unfolded
before his eyes. The valley was full of flowers bright yellow, dancing in the gentle breeze
blowing. Chotu noticed that even Pari had that amazed look in her eyes, with her head tilted as
if exclaiming and announcing with joy her excitement at the beautiful site which looked as if all
the stars had descended down on the earth.

The mild breeze blowing through the valley was making the flowers sway gaily. Chotu’s heart
filled with joy when he realized that not only had that lone yellow flower survived the storm, but
millions more like it had sprouted to give it company. Mother Nature had brought forth new life
on earth. There was certainly a message for all of us to learn from that little flower. Chotu was
awed at the divine beauty of nature that was spread all around. There was a twinkle in his eyes
as knew it was surely a special day in his life.{/justify}

{/right}{/justify}