People have different colours. I never knew that. I could only see the black, brown, and some white in my village. But some people can also be as white as snow. It was one fine spring. All those leaves that once abandoned trees had come back again with a sterner look. My field was colourful and looked more elegant than the colour of the rainbow. It was a home for all kinds of flowers and butterflies. Anyone who passed by my land would stop for a while and admire its beauty with enviousness in their heart. It was simply a colourful carpet to cover this whole earth.
These stunning flowers supported me in every possible way. I was able to make some money by selling these flowers. I could not go to those temples but my flowers easily could. I never thought about what I would be doing with my life. I was all alone, no one liked me but those things never bothered me. In fact, I didn't have time to think. I was busy and lost in my own wilderness of my land, my flowers, and my own small world.
The day was more elegant today, weather pleasant and flowers blooming to their crescendo. I was simply busy with my flowers as always. My concentration on my flowers suddenly broke at once when I heard a weird voice; "Can I please have those flowers?"
I turned around and thrashed on the ground heavily at once and crawled a few steps back. I have never seen anything like that. I was so scared in broad daylight as if I saw a ghost from my grandma's story in real life. Quickly I searched her foot and I found it. It was not tilted backwards. It relieved me as she was not a Kichkandi that I used to listen to in the stories.
But who was she? How could she speak my language? I have seen girls but what kind of girl was she? Totally unusual, so different from anyone I've seen in my entire country. Her face was as white as cold snow. Her eyes were a mixture of brown and blue colour. Her hair was like a field covered with yellow mustard flowers. She wore an odd dress. No girls in my country wore that kind of dress. Several things were going inside my little mind.
"Hey, hey don't get scared. I was just asking for flowers. If you don't want to give, I'll go to another place."
Her sounds, her accents were different but I could understand them.
"I've never seen you here before. Who are you? Where are you from? How do you come here?" I asked so many questions at once. But she remained very calm.
"My name is Miriam Weyermann. I'm from Germany."
"Germany! Where is that? Is it far from here?"
"It's in Europe. It is very far from here."
"Europe! I've never heard of it. How long did you walk to reach here? Why are you here?"
"I'm trying to travel the whole world and I'm here now. Ha, ha, I didn't walk from Germany to your country. I travelled on an aeroplane and went to a different country. I visited India and came here from there."
"Airplane! What is that?"
"You see that big white thing flying in the sky, it is the aeroplane."
"What? Isn't that a big bird? I see that rare strange bird sometimes. Sometimes, when it passes it produces noise. I thought that big bird must be very hungry flying alone in the sky."
"Ha, ha, it's not a bird. It's a machine. People sit inside it and go to a different country. I sat inside it and travelled to many countries."
That totally agitated my mind. How could people sit inside a machine and travel so far? We don't have those things in our country. What she told me was like a story.
"Aren't you afraid to travel alone?"
"Why should I be afraid? I love to explore and I write on different things that I encounter. I'm a writer. I'll write about this place also. I can write about you too if you have something interesting to share with me."
"I'm just a flower boy. My world is my farm and these flowers. I don't have anything called as interesting. I've never been out of this place and I don't know what other places look like."
"What! You've never been out of this place. This world is very beautiful. You should take your time to see this wonderful world. I'm sure you've heard about India, right. It is your neighbouring country."
"You're very brave. I don't know much about that country. But sometimes I hear from people that those dhotis are forcefully capturing our land and I hate that country for doing this illegal act. What brought you here?"
"There are so many temples and mesmerizing places in your country. I came here to write about these things. I saw people worshipping in temples with flowers. I saw your beautiful garden here and I came here for flowers."
"Oh! You want my flowers. Take as much as you want. Which one would you like to have?"
"Give me those red, yellow, and blue ones, please."
I picked some marigold, pansy, and tulip and put them in front of her on the ground. She was quite surprised that I put those flowers on the ground.
"Why did you put those flowers on the ground? You can put it on my hand."
"I can't do that. I am not supposed to touch other people. We are untouchables and we are of lower caste in this entire country. I'm sure you are of high caste."
"What! You can't touch other people. How can that be possible?"
"We are treated in the same way by all the people in this village. We are of lower caste and people treat us like untouchables. So, I can't touch you."
"This is insane. People can't touch people based on their caste. This is absurd and inhumane. We don't have this kind of thing in our country. We are free to go anywhere we like."
"Can you easily go inside the temple?"
"Yes, of course. But we don't have temples there. We have churches and everyone can go inside and pray for everyone."
"What is a church?"
"Your god lives in a temple and my god lives inside a church."
"Are there different gods in different countries?"
"Oh! No. They are all the same. Just their names are different."
"But I'm not even allowed to go inside the temple and I've never seen my god. And I don't want to see him either."
It was very difficult for me to understand her because nobody has ever talked to me like that.
"This is totally crazy. How can people restrict you from worshipping your own god?"
"This is how we are treated in this country. It has been followed for several years. You can take your flowers and ask your questions to that god inside the temple."
"I never knew about these things. I can't do anything about it but I pray that one day you'll be easily able to go inside your temple."
"You're very kind. Please take your flowers."
"Oh! No, I'll not take it until you put it on hand. Nobody is untouchable in this world. Every human being is the same and every god is the same. You're not untouchable for me. You're equally divine and a decent son of god like everyone else in this world. These are all bogus things made by your people to dominate other people."
I was perplexed with her every single word. How can she say those things? The priest of the temple never talked to me in that way. He didn't even allow me to stand around the temple. Was she more powerful than that priest of the temple? She looked so different from our people in this country. Her appearance and thinking were beyond the capacity of any ordinary man. For the first time in my life, I felt like I'm also a human being like other people. She made me realize that everyone is the same and every god is the same. She said that nobody in this world is untouchable.
I put some flowers in her hand.
"You are the kindest person that I've ever met in my life. May you get everything that you want in your life!"
"Thank you. I'm sure that everything will change here also someday. And you should go out of this place to know more about yourself. Soon I'll be in another place, another country."
"Thank you. Have a safe journey."
For the first time, I felt like I should also go out of my limited space and breathe in some new air. But how can I go? Where should I go? At least she has a reason to explore this whole world. But I don't have any reason. Being a girl, she is travelling alone without any fear. I'm also Bhairav and I'll also go out someday.