"Hey, you guys are here! come in, I'll go and get rid of this towel....you guys! do you know? I rushed out of the bath wondering who was at the door ringing the bell as if the devil has taken him...!
Nihaar, a dark and slim young man who was celebrating his twenty-fifth birthday today, rushed from behind the door into his room tightening his grip on the bath towel he had hurriedly wrapped around his waist. He shook his head sprinkling water from his closely cropped hair as he closed the bathroom door behind him. His friends closely followed him into his bedroom and made themselves comfortable on the bed.
Mohan and Roshan were not only Nihaar's childhood friends but also his school and college mates. Now the three of them were working in the same private firm. The three friends hailed from a small town close to the city which was now their place of work. The young bachelors lived in a rented apartment.
Roshan was a jovial young man who loved to enjoy life. He was stalky and apparently had not got rid of his baby fat. He lived to eat and spent considerable time watching movies and closely following fashion trends. He was an active social networker.
Mohan was a handsome lad who was aware of his attractive appearance and loved to work out at a gym after spending the entire day at the office. He used to enjoy the attention and admiring glances of women. His colleagues and even his friends Roshan and Nihar used to call him a flirt and enjoyed stories of his pass time romances.
Unlike Roshan and Mohan Nihaar was thoroughly grooved into the traditional and conservative lifestyle and was solely responsible for keeping the flat spick and span. He was not a spendthrift like his friends. Roshan and Mohan were the only friends he had.
"Hey Rosh, here is the gift for Nihaar." Mohan pulled out a box neatly wrapped with a colorful gift wrapper and satin ribbon.
"What's it, man?" Roshan asked looking at Mohan place the gift on the bed.
Mohan winked at him and replied "Wait! let our old boy open his birthday gift!"
"Where are his teammates Chetan, Neha, Sandra, and Rafiq? Hope Nihaar did not see them standing right behind us when he opened the door for us? " Roshan, who was lazily lounging on the bed, pulled himself out of the bed and rushed to the living room.
"Just chill Roshan, they are hiding in the living room and kitchen. Sandra and Neha are in the kitchen for sure. They had the cake box, drinks and food packets with them. Relax yaar! you will ruin our surprise party man!" Mohan said. Just then Nihaar stepped out of the bathroom looking as fresh as a daisy in a new set of kurta and pajamas, a birthday gift from his parents.
"Guys, what's up? where are you planning to go and what is this?" Nihaar said as Roshan and Mohan literally dragged him into the living room along with the gift.
On seeing the trio emerge from the bedroom, their office colleagues jumped out of their hiding places yelling and singing "Surprise! Birthday Boy! Happy Birthday to you.....sss!"
They all got together pushed the settee, plastic chairs and tables from the center of the room. Rolled out mats and placed cushions while Chetan put on the music system. Neha and Sandra rushed to the kitchen along with Roshan and Rafiq to get the trays full of snacks and drinks.
Once everyone had comfortably settled down on the floor to enjoy the birthday party, Chetan and Mohan handed the gift to Nihaar who curiously looked at it and asked "What is this, guys? Why all this trouble..."
Roshan, who was equally eager to see the gift helped Nihaar unwrap it saying "Don't ask Nihaar, just open the gift and see..."Both Roshan and Nihaar looked dumbfounded at the gift. Nihaar, after staring at the gift for a while looked at Roshan and then at Mohan and said " A doormat?!" He stood up holding the doormat in front of him as if to show it to everyone in the room. It was a green color rubber doormat with the word "WELCOME" written in red on one side and "HOME SWEET HOME" written in blue on the other side. The mat was framed on all four sides in black.
Nihaar looked pale and shocked. He blurted out "How can I use it!"
Chetan, who worked with Nihaar in the account's department pulled Nihaar down by his hand making him sit beside him on the floor pushed a glass of cold drink in his hand and asked "What's wrong with the doormat Nihaar? why you cannot use it?" Rafiq, Sandra, and Neha were as perplexed as Chetan on the way Nihaar had reacted to the gift.
Before Nihaar could say anything Roshan and Mohan were in splits of laughter "We'll answer your question, Chetan" they said trying to control their laughter.
Mohan gulped down the cold drink and wiped his mouth as if trying to control his laughter "Guys, do you know what Roshan and my favorite colors are?"
"No. What are they and what's that got to do with the gift?" It was Sandra and Neha's turn to question him.
Mohan eased his back on the settee that was right behind him and said "My favorite colors are green and blue. Roshan likes red and black."
Rafiq looking a little at ease asked: "Okay Mohan, those are your and Roshan's favorites, but what's that got to do with the doormat?"
Roshan, who was now able to put two and two together replied, "Rafiq, my friend, do you remember, last year when we had joined work Amazon was very much in news and it was you who had drawn our attention to the news you had first spotted on a social networking site?"
It was now Rafiq's turn to recall a news snippet "Had it anything to do with any doormat?"
"Bingo!" Chetan yelled in sheer excitement. Amazon had doormats with the Indian flag in its online product catalog in some country that I can't recall now! Oh yes! I remember! with all the brouhaha....no! it is correct...flags should not be on doormats...Rafiq, you had said so while you read out the news snippet to us. But what has that got to do with this doormat?"
Nihaar, who had remained disturbingly silent all this while blurted out "Guys, just let it be! I thank you for the gift, but I will not use it. Please don't insist!"
Chetan, who was seated next to Nihaar looked at him quizzically before he shifted his gaze to Mohan who was on the other side of Nihaar gazing intently at Chetan. Mohan smiled at Chetan and lifted his glass of cold drink and with great aplomb announced "I raise a toast to my friend Nihaar, I drink to his health and happiness. Cheers!" and gulped down the drink. He then resumed his speech " Friends, we had a tuition master who taught the three of us together after school in Nihaar's home. For any small mistake, he used to hammer the daylight out of us. We were so scared of him and loathed him so much that we bought a black and white doormat that we placed at the entrance of the study room and also a black and white football to play with during free time. Black and white were our tuition teacher's favorite colors. We used to give vent to our anger for the teacher on those two harmless objects."
"Hey! we do that in the office!" Sandra looking quite excited sat up and continued talking "during tea and coffee break we often discuss our bad experience with our clients, colleagues, and bosses and often angrily crush the empty paper cups. Strange! I have noticed it now! hahaha!" The rest of them joined her in laughter.
Mohan cleared his throat drawing everyone's attention to him and said "Guys, you all know our boss, Mr. Bhupesh, the Marketing Head and how he traumatizes us with stiff and steep sales targets? A couple of months ago he had asked the Admin Department to replace the doormat in front of his office room. We knew his favorite colors are red, blue, brown and yellow. You all must have noticed the color of the ties he wears to the office? Oh yes! We asked the Admin to get a doormat of those specific colors. Now with the new doormat in front of his office room's door, you will see him avoid stepping on it or tread carefully on it, while we wilfully stomp and trample the poor doormat after a bad sales review session with him!" Mohan then placed the empty glass on the floor and looked at Nihaar sitting next to him, who was still holding the doormat in his hands and looking at it. Nihaar sensing Mohan's gaze at him looked at Mohan and asked "But why did you guys buy a doormat of your favorite colors? You are my childhood buddies and you both are so dear to me! How could you do this to us!"
Roshan, who was helping Neha refill empty glasses with cold-drink and pass on the snacks trays replied: "For a change dear buddy, for a change."
Neha, who had remained silent all this while stood up and said, "Guys, time to get the birthday cake for the birthday boy! His favorite yellow pineapple, pink strawberry, white vanilla, and brown chocolate cake! Let him blow the candles make a wish before he cuts his favorite colored and flavored cake. How's that...!"
When you step on me,
When you jump off me,
When you hop on me,
When you trample me,
When you kick me,
When you touch me,
When you stand on me,
when you say you "own" me,
When you treat me with ignominy,
Intending to keep your feet clean-
When you use me,
You accept I am part of the Earth integrally.
You accept I am part of you, integrally.
We are part of the Earth integrally.
Your dignity can't be my ignominy.
Your self-worth is how you treat me.
We are worthy of one another,
We are worthy of our integrity.
For, we are worthy children of Mother Earth.
Our purpose, our worth is
In sustaining the Earth's ecology.
We are responsible for
The Earth's environment's sustainability.
