When one of the greatest cyclones of recent times, Amphan, hit Kolkata in the year 2020, the worst hit along with thousands was the Mallik family. They had recently established a new iron moulding factory.
The storm was a twirl of perfect black ballet dancers, each dressed in windswept grey. They danced to the roar of heaven’s drums. They called lightning to their stage, for they were honour bound to come when the compass needed the music of the wind to send its needle to a full swing.
The factory was an unrecognisable mess, the tin roofs had given way, letting the deluge into the factory, ruining the large iron bars, and the chemicals were littered all around the place.
Back at the Mallik household, a raven-haired young man, Shresth, was sitting on the table, trying to make a list of the things he had lost to the storm. Next to him sat his wife and parents, who were consoling each other, trying to convince themselves that everything would be fine again.
The man had dedicated two years of his life trying to build the factory, to get the business running, but the toil and sacrifice lay in ruins. His family was almost broke because he had spent almost all the savings in building his dream.
The day after the storm, he was not even mentally prepared to go to the factory site and examine its condition, which was ravaged by the storm and he was devastated. The bird had lost its nest to a storm and had a broken wing.
But the brave bird found the courage to pick up the twigs and rebuild its nest. Soon he got the factory cleaned and got rid of the debris. In those difficult times, his wife Kanchan who never left his side, observed that a part of the chemicals and materials were left untouched by the storm in a local warehouse. So Shresth got back to work and started rebuilding his dream.
Such a miracle it was, when the business partners were willing to pay advances for the iron moulds. So business was booming once again, and all was good.
The bird that once had a broken wing, soared high again with hope and courage.
Image courtesy: Wikihow
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