The Glass Wall and the Blue Lotus
Neel and Meghna had been friends for many years. How deeply Meghna loved Neel—perhaps even Neel himself didn't fully know. Meghna's love was a little different—she wanted to be the only reason behind Neel's smile. If someone else made Neel laugh on the other end of a phone call, Meghna's heart would burn with jealousy. She felt selfish at times, but her heart simply refused to listen to reason.
One evening, while sitting in the park, Neel was excitedly talking about a new colleague from his office who had helped him with a difficult task. Smiling brightly, Neel said,
"You know, Meghna, if she hadn't been there, I couldn't have completed the work. She's a really good person."
Meghna's face darkened instantly. She thought to herself, "Is Neel finding happiness in someone other than me? Why should another name exist in his smile?"
With a trembling voice, Meghna said,
"Then go to her. Why do you even need me?"
Neel stayed silent for a moment and looked at Meghna. Then he took out a small glass box from his pocket. Inside it was a dried blue lotus. Neel began to speak—
"Meghna, I brought this flower from the mountains three years ago. You loved blue lotuses, so I kept it safe all this time. My office colleague and the outside world are like the dust of the streets. I laugh and talk with everyone—that's just for survival. But this 'blue lotus' of mine was picked only for you.
If you feel jealous, it means you're afraid. But you don't realize that all my happiness ultimately returns to you. Others may give me temporary joy, but only you can give me peace."
That day, Meghna understood something important. Being the only person in someone's life is not as important as being indispensable in it. Jealousy, after all, is just an innocent form of love—it tries to protect what it holds most dear.