(Translated from the Original Hindi by Kanwar Dinesh Singh)

He peeped out of the window of his room on the fourth floor. The office workers were enjoying the lukewarm sunshine of winter at lunchtime on the lush green grass of the park in the middle of the front intersection. He got jealous of them all. And he yelled inside, “How weird is this government building! I pine for this lukewarm sun…”

The memories of his previous office flashed through his mind. He went there on deputation from the state to the centre. What a wonderful office it was—single storey! Beautiful little lawn in front of the office! At lunchtime, the peon himself used to put chairs on the lawn grass—for the officers. The office staff used to enjoy the sun by sitting in a park nearby. But here, not only in the office but also in the government-allocated flat, he craved sunshine. The flat allotted to him on the third floor did not get sunlight from any angle.

Suddenly, he felt like going to the front park to enjoy the sun. But he immediately rebutted his idea. He will have to sit among his subordinates. Down on the grass! Such a high-ranking officer, sitting on the grass―among his subordinates!

He turned back from the window and fell on the sofa. And then, he felt the sunshine was pulling him towards it. He was outside the building. He was moving towards the park developed at the intersection. Entering the park, his eyes started looking for a corner. There were people scattered in groups throughout the park. Some were happy playing cards, some were sharing gossip, and some were chewing peanuts. The gossiping people suddenly became quiet. The people reclining on the green grass sat up, alert. As soon as he sat in the park, people slowly got up and moved. In a short while, the entire park became empty, and only he was left there all alone. His nap suddenly broke. He noticed that he was in his office room, not in the park. He looked at the clock; he still had twenty minutes to finish his lunch. He got up and walked out of the building, not only from the room. His footsteps spontaneously led him towards the park. For a moment, he began to find a suitable place to sit. There was not even a slight stir among the people upon seeing him there. All were cool. Rather, people had overlooked him. Laying his handkerchief in one corner, he sat quietly on it. The lukewarm sunshine began to warm his body. It was the first time in the last two years he had basked in the warm, winter sun.  He realized it was the end of lunchtime when people got up and walked away. He also got up and reached his office, being a part of the crowd. After reaching his room, he suddenly began to feel happy to find the precious thing he had lost somewhere.

-0-*Dr. Kanwar Dinesh Singh,Associate Professor of English & Editor: Hyphen