The rain had decided to cleanse the city from dirt, dust, heat, pain, broken hearts, and shattered dreams. The dark clouds gathered and roared and then the downpour began, initially filling the city with petrichor that slowly and unwillingly bid adieu, only to be replaced with the stench of rubbish that lay on roads and in people's mind. She stood there for a long time staring at the raindrops making their way to her veranda. Rain invariably brings back a horde of memories along with them; it wasn't any different for her either.

The first time they had met was at an old and up market of Mumbai. She had barely noticed him, while her friends were head over heels in love with him. Then they met again, this time at a concert and he made sure she took notice of him. He stood by her side the entire night, talking to her, never letting her go beyond his possessive embrace. It perplexed her no end and she wondered why was she the center of his attention. Perhaps something's are best left unsaid...

That night her happy soul had prayed to the sky and the stars and moon to cement the bond which had formed unknowingly. The morning had brought with it sunshine and light, warmth and life but for some strange reason it had decided to leave love behind. The morning sun helped her see what she didn't want to; her responsibility towards her family, for she happened to be the sole earning member. She knew she had to keep going, she had to support them irrespective of how much it hurt her, how suffocated she felt at times, and the sacrifices she had made already. They met again and again, for however hard she tried she could not rein the urge to meet him. Every time she thought this will be their last meeting; until one day when he mentioned he would be moving to new shores in search of new opportunities. She knew then that it was indeed their last meeting, for she would not move with him, she had lives to take care of, people who lived only because she gave them hope and no matter how hard it was for her she would not desert the people who banked on her. He didn't look back for the lure of foreign shores was far too strong.

Undeterred she had continued her lone journey, and then one fine day she saw the silver lining in the clouds. She met that man, who was man enough to love her not just for her beauty but for the person she was, and respected her for her personal journey. As she stood there seeing the rain dance on the ocean she said aloud “Leaf's departure is because of the wind's pursuit or because the tree didn't ask her to stay”, for the first time in years she felt content and thankful for the wind's pursuit...