I Was Scared Stiff

I have seen or read about the beautiful places that are located in India. Kashmir is a heaven on earth with its bracing climate and scenic beauty. Bombay, the gateway of India, is a natural harbour with beautiful surroundings. Chandigarh, a union territory, is the most well laid out city of India and speaks volumes for the skill of the French designer who planned it. The Taj at Agra is the most beautiful Tomb which symbolises eternal love. But I have not seen a more beautiful place than the Mughal Gardens at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.

The Mughal Gardens at the Rashtrapati Bhawan were laid out by the British and are a replica of the Nishat or Shalimar gardens in Srinagar. The gardens are opened to the public in the month of February only. They are called Mughal Gardens because they were designed after the Mughal style.

It was the month of February. I was sitting with my friends in my drawing room. We were discussing all the beautiful places we had visited. All of a sudden one of us spoke about the beauty of the Mughal Gardens. We decided to visit the place on Sunday next.

On Sunday we went there by bus. There ‘was already a great rush of people. Men, women and children were moving up and down on gravel paths which encircled the garden. The grass was so soft that it looked like a carpet of velvet. There was symmetry of the grassy plots. The flower beds were a treat for the eyes. There were flowers of various hues and shapes. The rose, the jasmine and the marigold were filling the air with their sweet fragrance. In the centre of the garden there was a pond having multi-coloured fish, a charming spectacle indeed. Fountains and water channels running across the garden added to this feast of flowers.

The visitors to the gardens are not allowed to sit on the grass. That is why every visitor moves from one part of the garden to the other looking at the flowers which grow there in abundance. The tall eucalyptus growing here and there beautify the whole scene.

The Mughal Gardens are indeed a thing of beauty and a joy forever. We went around slowly watching the flowers with wonder. It took us about two hours to go round the whole place. It was the most beautiful place that we had seen. The place haunts my mind and I find myself revisiting the garden in dreams.

The magnificent, black, velvet sky oozed dignified beauty as the pale moon sailed through the clouds and the tingling stars celebrated their existence, before falling in the great ocean and slowly being drifted away by the angry waves. The erotic sighing of the wind echoed loudly and clearly in my bedroom where I was lying in my bed and I was on my own.

I had nothing exciting to keep me busy, so I decided to pay a visit to my attic. The first thing that caught my eye as soon as I entered the room was my favourite teddy bear, a simple present from an old best friend, Maria. She gave it to me as a birthday present many years ago.

At that particular moment many memories from my childhood started parading in front of my eyes. I was transferred back, years ago when I was only eleven years old. I was the luckiest person having Maria, as my best friend. Her most striking characteristic was her delicate chin, which marked out her unique charm.

We were together all day, sharing all the marvellous experiences, and dealing with all the obstacles. We both promised to each other that no one and nothing could separate us from being together. Unfortunately that promise broke, with all the spellbound moments we had enjoyed together in a single day. That day is still deeply ingrained in me, entangled in my heart, and reminds me of all the bloody scenes I witnessed…

We were heading towards the supermarket on foot. Suddenly our eyes caught a strange thing lying on the ground. It was a small black tube with some strange symbols marked on it. Without a second thought, Maria dashed and picked up that mysterious tube from the ground and started playing with it. She decided to take it with her, but she did not know that her decision would make her break our sacred promise.

The disaster came some minutes later. She was behind me singing our favourite song but unfortunately she never managed to finish it. A horrible bang interrupted her angelic voice and gave an end to our…