Stranger

My pa would often tell me,'look beta you'd meet a lot of mean people in your life instead of thinking of avenging them and becoming like them remember one thing-the meanest people have made a graveyard of themselves instead of saying bad things to them offer them flowers and wish them peace and hope that one day,when they are filled with flowers ,their heart would turn like yours like a blooming garden of tulips, sunflowers and all the pretty flowers'so when i first met you i didn't understand why you were always so grumpy why you'd never laugh on jokes, why you'd push back everyone who tried to make you feel better or love you.five days later i vowed to myself ,i'll not let your heart remain a graveyard,

i tried to talk to you the only replies i got were monosyllabic answers to my questions but little by little i started learning about you like i was learning a new language i found out that the word 'happy'

meant silence i learnt that the word 'sad' resembled a memory from the past that you couldn't forget,i learnt that the word 'love'existed in your language but it always rained down on ears that weren't used to hearing i-love-yous in silence you started opening up to me like a flower that is afraid of being separated from the plant the moment it opens up to the world.

sometimes it takes days to fall in love with people who have been hurt very badly,months to realise that love can put a band-aid on their wounds ,years to understand that some wounds never heal, they just haunt and i guess,it'll take a forever to learn that no matter how many flowers,how much love you pour into a graveyard it never stops reeking of death 

tell me how do i unlearn this language, how do i forget these words,how do i unlearn that the word love doesn't mean your name,not any longer..

'Jab hum na honge Toh piharwa,

 Bolo kya tab aaoge?'