Benito Z. Swu
There is this Angami girl who is a teacher, and also, all the more, a dear friend. Her life in itself is an inspiration. A motor accident left her in a wheelchair, but made her, all the more, a stronger person. While many would have wallowed in self-piety, she faced reality head-on, and taught people what grit and determination is all about. She is the wind beneath many a wings, and one is privileged and fortunate enough to be one of them.
Yours truly is not aware as to whether, these days, the All India Radio (AIR) Kohima station entertain “song requests” in their 7:30 – 8 pm time slot, every alternate days of the week. If so, I would like to request this old Dolly Parton classic, “Wild flowers” to and for my friend, that Angami girl.
The hills were alive with wild flowers and I
was as wild even wilder than they.
For atleast I could run, they just died in the sun,
And I refused to just wither in place. Just a wild mountain rose needing freedom to grow,
So I ran fearing not where I’d go-o-o,
# When a flower grows wild, it can always survive,
Wild flowers don’t care where they grow.
And the flowers I knew in the fields where I grew,
Were content to be lost in the crowd. They were commonly close, I had no room to grow,
And I wanted so much to branch out.
So I uprooted myself from my homeground and left,
Took my dreams and I took to the road-o-o,
I grew up fast and wild and I never felt right,
In a garden so different from me. I just never belonged, I just longed to be gone,
So the garden one day set me free. I hitched a ride with the wind, and since she was my friend,
I just let her decide where we’d go-o-o.
Just a wild mountain rose, seeking mysteries untold,
No regrets for the path that was chosen for me,
When a flower grows wild it can always survive,
Wild flowers don’t care where they grow.
