Jasmine

“Have your hair adorn with flowers! There is nothing to beat the charm and fragrance of jasmines that are woven into your hair. There is nothing else to beat the fresh flowers. The fragrance of jasmines is unbeatable. It makes you fly in air with your man! The flowers are so sweet and make the entire new atmosphere around you to feel so good. You feel like your life partner is touching you so gently.”

“I was waiting for you desperately.”

He was so happy to see her as if he got a new life by seeing her there. Her smile is so sweet, it made him all sweet. Her face is so beautiful that he was made all beautiful from top to toe. She is the magic so perfectly working on him. Like the moon light makes all the night in a garden full with warm desire, she made him full of warmth with extended life.

“We are free.” She said, “Free like free birds to fly anywhere, let it be any long.”

“Shall we fly to the moon? It will be always cool like a night in moon light.”

“Let us fly to the Sun where it will be so warm always, like we are always in each other’s embrace.”

He kissed her. She is melting like ice cream. He is eating it. She is close to his warm heart. His warm heart is hearing her heart beat. They are very happy. They came out of all the restrictions. There is no one now to stop them. Nobody will command them and order them to do like this or to do like that.

It is a small village. The trees and flowering plants are abundant around the village. The villagers grow flower plants and sell the flowers for nearby towns. There are some wine yards also. Grapes are their main source of income. Grapevines not only produce sweet and versatile fruits, they add an element of drama to a garden or landscape. They are vigorous growers, and with the proper pruning, they will produce fruit with ease and can last longer than 30 years

He took her in to his lap behind a wine bush. She is kissing him. He is kissing her. His face is rubbing smoothly on her breasts. Her face is brushing on his chest. A man behind a tree is seeing them. He got the feel of his first night with his wife.

He ran in to the village. He complained to the village Head man. He is above fifty. He came to the place. He saw what that man has said.

He and she are behind the wide wine bush and he is covering her with his body. She is under his body cover as if it is a bed sheet and she is shivering with heavy cold.

VHM asked them to come with him. They calmly walked after him. He asked the two to sit in the chairs in the hall. They sat silently. The house of VHM is like a mini court. VHM is on a big chair on the dais. Two stout persons holding strong are standing on both sides of him. There are some elderly persons in other chairs.

“What is it? What is it you are doing in public place?” VHM opened his mouth first time..

The culprits are young. VHM looked at them in astonishment. He replied in a weak voice that he could scarcely be heard.

“I love her so much?”

“Where are you from?”

He said the name of the city.

“What is your occupation?”

“We both are software professionals with twenty five lacs perks each. But we resigned the jobs.”

“Resigned? Why?”

“For freedom.”

“Freedom? What freedom?”

“We love to meet each at any time we wish. We wish, there should be none to interfere us.”

“What were you doing in the open garden?”

“Love… We thought there is none to restrict us.”

“Do you know that love in public place is a crime?”

“Yes, we know, sir. But we thought that this is a lonely place and nobody will see us.”

“Do you deny what our officer will give the judgment on you both?”

“No Sir”

“So you confess that you made a crime?”

“No Sir.”

“Then what?”

“We respect your system and so we accept your judgement.”

“Do you have something to say in your defense?”

“Yes sir”

“What is it?”

“We are in a world where birds have no restriction to love. Animals do love as they like. Why there are restrictions to men only?”

“Tell me, are you married?”

“Not yet. But we want to marry.”

“Loving without marrying her is a crime, Don’t you know that?”

“I know sir. It is just a beginning in love. It will lead to our marriage. Then it will be full love.”

“Then—then—you say that you do not have love that is called a crime?”

“I beg your pardon, but we love each other so much. It is more that any ordinary love!”

“But in that case—you must be mad, altogether mad, my dear young men, to get caught playing love in the garden at 8 o’clock in the cool morning.”

He looked at her who is so sweet and provoking. He felt like he can love her before all these men also. He feels nothing to see that these people are a hurdle in their love.

“It was she who enticed me! I told her it was very stupid to love in a public place, but when a girl once gets a thing into her head—you know—you cannot get it out.” He said sincerely.

“It was he who enticed me! I told him it was very early to love and it is not safe in a public place, but when a man once gets something like this into his head—you know—you cannot get it out.” she said in a very sincere voice.

The Village Head Man enjoyed this joke, smiled and replied: “In your case, you both are culprits, you would not be here in the open garden, if you had had the idea only in your heads long back.”

Both the boy and girl are turning to each other. “Your poetry brought this ugly situation” Girl said. “No, it is your compliments of my poetry brought this unexpected situation.”

“So you say that you both are enjoying good poetry?” VHM asked with seriousness.

“It is shame to stand before the courts at our age for a breach of morals! We are not anti social or any criminals. Yet the immorality is taking vengeance on us like this.” She said.

They looked at the VHM and she told in a submissive tone.

“Of course, sir, we know that we have made ourselves ridiculous. Will you allow us to plead our cause like an advocate, or rather like the poor having no advocate? And I hope that you will be kind enough to send us home, and to spare us the disgrace of a prosecution.”

“Years ago, when I was young, I made love with my wife before marriage, After that, she made me stand in this same court and my father was the VHM. I remember it as if it were yesterday.”

He waited for a while. Looking at the young man and woman, he continued like this:

“The next day we were married. Yet people look at us as if we are criminals. We feel like that our faces stamped IMMORAL by the society. It was every day a lovely day, the sort of day that touches your heart. But I cannot forget the humiliation. When it is fine even now, just as it used to be formerly, but I feel I grow quite foolish to be mad after love and I have divorced my wife to save my face. She is happy with as she is married with someone. Women are foolish and they try to be happy with whatever they get in their hand. I don’t think that your girl will be different. So I want to save you by putting her in jail lifelong. You know, lifelong jail also cannot stop them from love and they try to love someone in the jail. We grow jasmines here. The toxic fragrance of the Jasmines in this village makes everyone happy and people want to be close with their life partners in every night here. Jasmines are bad, I dislike jasmines!”

The young man looked at the VHM as his enemy. His girl’s name is Jasmine.

“I hate you. You don’t know what love is. My girl’s name is jasmine and jasmine is very pious sweet flower that sacrifices her life for lovers.” The young man said.

“Well, it looks like you are a poet. A poet is none but a lunatic. I take as a mad man.” VHM said. He paused a while and continued like this, “It was a lovely weather, warm and bright, and it seemed to penetrate your body through your eyes when you looked and through your mouth when you breathed. Jasmines hugged and kissed with green leaves each other every minute, and that give us a queer feeling! The boy was looking at her feet, did not say a word and she will continue further. They begin to make love nicely, like an honorable man and woman. They meet again and again as they were very much in love with each other. These are usual love stories.”

VHM looked at the young pair and told in serious voice.”It will be a hard struggle for years, to get a good job. You too got very nice jobs and you left those jobs like old rags. So you should not be excused. My punishment will continue. You also will be jailed. If I leave you, she will feel that my judgment is biased. If I leave her and jail you, she will be in a feel that my judgment is biased. I want to do justice to both of you equally.”

Then the two hefty men came to the young man and young girl and took them to jail

“Jasmine! My Jasmine!” he was crying.

Jasmine came and took him into her warm wrap. They are wedded last night and took two weeks leave for honey moon.

“Not to that village of jasmines. This jasmine is enough for me!”

He hugged her and telling the story he just saw. He could not forget those to hefty men of VHM.

__END__