Divya was my college friend and this was from college days only. One evening Divya called me to meet Riya at her house along with her. Riya is shy in nature so she said Divya to deliver her message.
I reached Riya’s house in the evening; Riya was very quiet in the college and she talked very little but she had called me so I went to her house. Divya was also sitting there and all of us kept talking for a long time. Divya said that Riya has a huge treasure which is not like any antique,
I said- “Treasure! What kind of treasure? Is it the wealth of kings and emperors or rare coins?
Divya said that there are things more expensive than this. I wondered what such treasure she might have because Riya was not from a very affluent family.
I said – “I want to see that treasure. Riya did not want to show me the treasure, she kept avoiding things but I also insisted that I want to see the same treasure.
“What is it that you have.”
Divya told Riya to at least show him the treasure. Riya got up and picked up a box from inside a room. I thought that there must be something which I would have never seen, something rare.
Riya opened the box, suddenly Divya took the box from her hand and started seeing what was inside it.
I was very surprised to see.” what it is, this is a great joke, this is a treasure! -I said with laughing.
There was no limit to my surprise. Divya found one thing in the box; it was a leaf of Ashoka tree. “This is the treasure.”- I said looking at the leaf.
Divya said- “yes, this is the treasure, this leaf, you gave it to Riya 2 years ago.
I looked carefully and in a vague memory, I remembered that yes, once jokingly, I had plucked a leaf from a tree and given it to her, saying, "This is a gift from me.” That day was probably Valentine's Day, but I was surprised that she felt it on her mind. She has preserved it like this.
Divya took out another thing which was a very small chalk.
“What story is related to it”-I said,
Divya said that once while walking, you had thrown this small chalk at us, she kept it there naturally. then a paper came out in which something was written. These couplets were written and this paper was thrown by me, this is the same couplet that Riya had preserved. There were many other things like folded papers, some small stones etc. these were all the treasure. whatever I kept throwing away unknowingly, Riya kept taking care of it.
I was surprised that even small things were kept with such utmost care even though this thing is not priceless.
I asked- “is it really a treasure for you.” Riya said – “yes, it is a rare treasure that girls like.”
I was surprised that even after such a long time, she had kept these things safely that I had almost forgotten it. I said, - “if I had given you any expensive thing made of gold or silver or pearl, then what would have happened to you.”
she said in a unique way that even then, for her, gold, silver, and this leaf given by your hand are the same.
I was overwhelmed to hear her words that it is not the things that matter, but the feelings and desires of the heart matter. I had understood that this is a unique precious treasure in which the past time is stuck, when the feelings of love and desire were opening in the air and floating in the sky.
The cost of unexpressed words is very precious than any published poem.
At last, she said- “The shine of gold and silver is no rarer than a lost feeling”