On a beautiful evening of summer, I was resting on the branch of a big banyan tree. It was quite isolated from the rest of trees and was on the far side of the village near the river. Sun was going down to west, birds were returning to home, river was flowing graciously and every thing was so beautiful that I almost lost in the beauty of the nature. Suddenly I heard a sweet voice with a touch of pain, it said, “It’s just unbearable”.
As I looked down I saw a young boy and a beautiful girl sitting with the support of the banyan tree. The boy was not more than twenty years and the girl seemed to have just completed her sweet sixteen.
She continued, “It’s my life, then why other decide about my life partner. I love you jack and I want you for me”, she added firmly. Jack replied patiently, “Don’t think like this jasmine, they are not just any other they are your parents, your creator”.
“So what “, Jasmine interrupted, “They don’t have any right to compel me against my will, and even if they do, I am not going to follow them like a bind”.
Jack tried to explain, “They are not compelling. You are feeling it like that. Just imagine when you were born, why didn’t you asked then to decide for yourself. How could you? You were not able to speak or even to think such rubbish. And now when you can think and speak, you are yelling for rights. But you are forgetting that you are just able to think, the level of maturity that is required for deciding about life is to far from you at this age and stage when consequences are strong enough to deviate you from your path”,& he finished.
“Now you are singing their song”, said jasmine, surprised by jacks reply. “It seems that either you want me to compromise with the circumstances or you want to get rid of me”. “Tell me, don’t you love me?” the question was from the depth of her heart.
“Don’t doubt my motives. I love you as I never ever loved any one”, replied jack with the same depth, “You are my only love and that also I am going to lose”, he completed desperately.
“Love never loses, nobody can separate us, we will run away, marry and settle at some fine place”, she suggested a solution and her eyes were watered by the tides of dream.
“Oh dear, come out of the world of dreams and try to realize the truth”, jack pulled her back to the bitter and painful truth. “Last night I thought a lot and finally concluded that they are your parents and want good for you, I can give you nothing”, he added.
Jasmine replied with an old dialogue without much thinking, “Your love is everything for me; love is the greatest thing in this world”.
But jack’s reply was as new as unique it was, “That is what I am saying, ‘love is the greatest thing in this world’, but you tell me, don’t you love your parents? Remember your mother, who gave you birth, who made you walk. And your father, who provided you all you asked for and stand by you on your every path. How can you forget those nights when you were ill and they spent whole night sitting by your side? The way they ran after the doctors and rushed for medicines, don’t even you remember their prayers before god? How can you even think of breaking their heart, for just a temptation of yours?” His words were sharp arrows, precisely aimed and he shot another one, “Don't you remember; it’s the same heart which was melted by your single cry”.

His arrows were really effective and the veil of mist was slightly lifted. She cried, “Don’t say like this, it hurts my heart and strains my mind, Oh my god! Now look what you did, I am confused, and I don’t know what to do. I love them, but I love you too and it’s too hard to depart from you. I just can’t live without you, I just can’t…..No. No, I want to die. I want to die”, weakness of heart, with the insanity of mind was very clear with her cries.

“Don’t be crazy”, said jack, who seemed to be more matured than his age. “So you want to die, because you can’t live without me, for a person with whom your relation is merely a year old. And what about those who cared you for sixteen years, who lived for you and served you with every single pleasure you asked for, who did every possible thing just to make you smile”. Jack was trying to give her the right direction, “You owe to them not only sixteen years, but your whole life. For sixteen years you took their intense love, care, sleepless nights, their desires, their dreams and everything. And now when it comes to pay back, you want to kill yourself. How can you forget that you are not yours, you owe yourself to them”.

And his efforts were not wasted, jasmine was recovering, she asked for her only confusion, “You are right jack, but what about over love? I love you and I can’t forget you. My mind is not working and I am exhausted in every respect. I am ashamed for all what I thought”.
As she was feeling herself guilty, again jack came to her rescue, “Don’t be ashamed, it’s not your fault, this is the age of getting deviated, but this only is the time to set the goals in your life and to set on for them. You must set high values in your life, don’t be selfish. Live with your family, for your family and keep my words in your mind, don’t hurt those who love you and live for you”.

His words did miracle as she replied, “Your every word is true. Now I will live for my parents and fulfill their dreams. Now their desires are mine. Thanks jack, for such a great help”. Her love for him was now converted into respect and she expressed it, “It will be a satisfaction for a lifetime that my love never deviate me. Infect, it shown me the right path to walk on and now I am not going to remember it as I fall in love, I will remember it as my rise in love”. And finally she queried for her only question left, “Tell me one thing jack, how come you got to be so wise and understanding”.

Jack was calm and as simple as ever, “It’s nothing great, it’s just a small matter of fact that made this big difference”, and he continued, “The love you got for sixteen years, that parental shadow was not over my head. I never told you but I am an orphan, a born-orphan”, he completed and walked towards the riverbank. Jasmine kept on staring at him, and then it took her only a couple of seconds to turn and make her way back, and she returned to the village.

I was sitting on the tree and feeling depth of the pain in his heart and thinking of a possibly different end of this story, just imagine, if her parents might have overheard their talk. It was all over, but still there was a slight touch of delight in my heart as I just witnessed, a real rise in love with a descent sunset.