[THE LIFE, THE THOUGHT AND THE FATE – Family Short Story]
THE LIFE, THE THOUGHT AND THE FATE – Family Short Story
Photo Credit: www.cepolina.com
Fading sun embarking on its routine journey to the other side of the horizon, moonlight waiting eagerly at the doorstep to take the responsibility of brightening the dimming ambience which was until now under the care of the mighty sun. Sitting by the windowpane of my hostel room and watching the perfect harmony of nature gives a Midas touch to the mind. Lying on the corner of the table is the portrait of the most beautiful lady I’ve ever known. Mom, you just never get older and your beauty is so gifted and eternal. Still remember your wet eyes, the uneasiness with which you waved your hand to me as the train took its first step to my destination. She had been down by a devilish blow of acute pneumonia and has not fully recovered since then, but I left her for my academic pursuit. It gave rise to a void in her heart yet it was survived by her prayer, her prayer for my secure future. That was her biggest dream. This wonderful portrait tells me so many things. I can speak to it all day long but the schedule of this brand new life defeats my wish. However, every day during this sunset hour, I wait eagerly for her call. Just a small good news of her recovery and I am done for the day.
Things are different here. Earning a job, that returns a lucrative paycheck, is the driving force behind this new life or perhaps everyone’s life out here. Without the existence of this invisible force, who would have wanted to leave the cosy bed early in the morning at the very first strike of the alarm clock and then take a bath, mount the bag on the shoulder and push ourselves into the crowded bus? Goodbye hostel, see you in the evening. The bus ride to college is short but long enough to count the number of remaining days before I wake up on my mom’s call rather than the inanimate alarm device. Home is the sweetest place to begin the day, morning newspaper with a cup of coffee keeps the ‘self-made’ morning-tradition alive for the day. However, the tradition is dead here.
The college hours are fruitful in a way. With every passing hour, we take one forward step to the money-dream or to mommy’s-dream (depend on how you look at it). Making new friends is a kind of painful procedure because it demands me to go through the initial formalities that once the wise men developed for the sake of etiquettes. Moreover, a friend here today is a competitor tomorrow but this pain can be taken off the mind by thinking that if there is anyone who can get close to the ‘chuddi dosts’ that are left behind on the journey, then it’s probably them. Then again, they never get close.
The abrupt extinction of ‘evening addas’ with buddies over a tasty snack is difficult to cope with, however, attending a class party for an evening is an easy option. Glitz and glamour galore! The Party starts! Shake your body! Embrace yourself with the DJ beats. Look around you, the beautiful girls, they always dance better, boys trying to keep themselves on par with them. Enjoy to the fullest, for when the party ends the to-be-forgotten memories will come pouring again. Alas! In a flash of time, the party ends, haunting begins! Therefore, abrupt extinction of ‘evening addas’ with buddies over a tasty snack is difficult to cope with.
During those innocent days, teachers were all around us. Almost every person you looked upon had something to teach. They taught me to dream big. Now this is where I have landed for dreaming big. I am in a whirlpool of competitors where one can’t leave an inch of space to your rivals. How contradictory my childhood was? They were full of warmth, care and love. Now it is all about sweating it out till you are a winner, for a loser has no chance here. Nights are the real part of the story. Take out one of those heavy books, and enlighten yourself. Exam days are knocking at the door which means there goes another sleepless night. A mild tension is starting to accumulate and it becomes a wild beast when you are hours away from your exam. Exams are the most common ways to test how closer one is to his dreams.
Since the industrial revolution, employment has grown by multiple folds but so has the population. This abnormal and everlasting race between the population and the employment has become a dictator and I am his victim. To pay for my offence before the Honour of his dictatorship, I have travelled a thousand kilometres away from my comfort zone into this strange place where I am like a prisoner but only with more space between the four walls of the prison.
Today, there is nothing left in me but the portrait of that beautiful lady which helps me to keep going, to wipe away those tears which it reminds me of every time I look at it. It is the source to all my strength. I have faith, faith upon me that I can bring back the smile on her face. How satisfied she will be when she’ll realise that her prayers have been answered. The moon has reached its zenith. There has been a little defiance in my daily flow of life because Mom didn’t call up today. No wait, she calls now. I know she would. I pick up. Well, there is a news. Pneumonia has got the worse of her. She has passed away.
-ISHANU DHAR
