Family Short Story – The Inevitable
Photo credit: chilombiano from morguefile.com
Annapurnamma is an old lady totally dependent on the support of her daughter Venkata Lakshmi and her son-in-law Ramu. Ammulu is the only granddaughter of Annapurnamma.
Not only Venkatalakshmi and her husband Ramu but Ammulu too resents the presence of the old lady Annapurnamma in their house, accustomed as they are to a fast life in which they have no time or patience for the traditional and orthodox life style of Annapurnamma.
The three of them constantly keep trying various methods to get rid of the old woman. Once, they take her to a movie and return home in the middle of the film leaving in her in the theater hoping that she would get lost in the crowd forever. To their utter disappointment and surprise, they find Annapurnamma sitting at the threshold of their house when they reach home after a leisurely walk back home.
Not a woman to give up easily, Venkata Lakshmi next takes the old woman along with them to a Fair on the outskirts of their town. Knowing the old lady’s fondness for Sesame seed candy, Vekata Lakshmi buys a lot of this candy for her mother who then becomes so engrossed in enjoying it that she does not notice the silent exit of the others from the Fair. This time Venkata Lakshmi and her family are very sure of having got rid of the old woman and even celebrate the event by going to a restaurant for dinner before returning home. Imagine their astonishment and frustration when they find the old woman lying happily asleep near the entrance of their house.
Furious with the old woman, Venkata Lakshmi and her family now think of a fool proof plan of doing away with her permanently. They decide to fulfil the long standing desire of Annapurnamma to visit Varanasi and take a dip in the holy waters of Ganges.
During the train journey, while the family was busy secretly discussing the details of their plan, the old woman reflects on the wonderful times she had with Venkata Lakshmi as a child and the difficulties Annapurnamma faced in bringing her up after her husband’s sudden demise when her daughter was hardly two years old. She particularly reminisces an occasion of a very stormy midnight when Venkata Lakshmi fell seriously ill and how she carried her child on her shoulders to a far off hospital braving all odds en route. She silently laments her fate of having to depend on the same daughter who is now ungrateful and outright cruel to her.
Annapurnamma was therefore surprised to find her family going out of its way to make sure that the old lady went through all the rituals including a holy dip in the river Ganges. Being an innocent person, she did not suspect anything foul in the mischievous smiles of the other three when a priest asked them what they intended to renounce, which being an age old tradition of Hindus visiting Varanasi.
As per their plan, Venkata Lakshmi put a lot of sesame seed candy in her mother’s hands and while the old lady was lost reeling in consuming it with great relish; they make good their escape from her for their return journey.
By the time Annapurnamma finished all the candy, she found herself mercilessly abandoned in an unknown place and amidst strangers.
In her desperate search for her daughter and family, Annapurnamma accidentally slipped into a manhole and injured her leg. She somehow managed to emerge from it. It was by then dark and she had no other option but to lie helplessly near the manhole and await her family which, as it happened did not show up even the next morning.
Mistaking her to be one of those beggars who thronged the holy city, innumerable pilgrims passing that way throw alms at her and by the end of the day she found that a lot of money had accumulated, even though she had not bargained for it. She then struggled her way to a nearby tea shop and gets herself food and also first aid for her injury.
Days rolled by, but there was no sign of her family coming to rescue her. Meanwhile, Annapurnamma had become a regular beggar having earned a sizable amount of money. The pious woman that she was, Annapurnamma decided to forget what happened and forgive her family.
Years moved on, heralding a new generation. Venkata Lakshmi herself had become a mother-in-law and unfortunately widow. It was now Venkata Lakshmi’s turn to experience old age, helplessly depending on the mercy of her daughter Ammulu. It was now the turn of Ammulu to plan a similar fare for Venkata Lakshmi who at her present age was spelt an intrusion into their privacy.
Strangely in the guise of fulfilling an old promise to God, Ammulu and her husband take Venkata Lakshmi informing her that they were on a pilgrimage but they didn’t disclose Varanasi as their destination. As ill luck would have it Venkata Lakshmi had suffered pains all over her body particularly in the knee and shoulder joints through out the journey, but she reconciled to herself that was all age related.
Very cleverly, Ammulu and her husband abandoned Venkta Lakshmi in Varanasi and vanished from the place. Venkata Lakshmi meandering the streets searching for her daughter finally collapsed out of exhaustion near a huge garbage dump on the outskirts of the city..
When Venkata Lakshmi woke up the next morning, she found some movement near her in the otherwise abandoned garbage dump. She realised that the movement was that of a very old and beggarly woman counting a lot of cash and coins from a small bundle of clothes.
A devilish idea enters Venkata Lakshmi’s selfish and wicked mind and decided to snatch away that money from the old woman, “why not take away this old woman’s money to go back to her place in her daughter’s house and establish loving relation return for all this money?
But before Venkata Lakshmi began to put her idea into action, a dog arrived barking loudly followed by a young man carrying a food packet to the old woman, The man left the scene after handing over a food to the old woman, but the dog stayed on as though to keep guard over this old beggar woman.
Venkata Lakshmi started feeling very hungry. She went in side to the city in search of some food. In this process, she developed a dejavu feeling. She was lucky enough to be spared some food by the pilgrims in the crowd.
Venkata Lakshmi, typical of her selfishness, was already waiting for an opportunity to grab the other beggar woman’s money and run away. That opportunity arrived the next day morning when the dog went off to fetch the man who brings food for Annapurnamma on a daily basis at that hour.
Venkata Lakshmi wasted no time in picking up a boulder lying nearby and smashing Annapurnamma’s head with it. And she died an instantaneous death. Then Venkata Lakshmi seized the bundle of cloth bag containing the money and ran away to a safer place to asses her booty.
She was overjoyed to note that the amount was large enough to not only return to her daughter’s house but also appease her with money.
As Venkata Lakshmi was about to throw away the rest of the bundle of cloth she found a small bag containing some sesame seed candy and a silver anklet.
This anklet and the candy brought back Venkata Lakshmi memories and she realized, these belonged undoubtedly to her mother Annapurnamma. The past dawned in her mind like a flash realizes that the woman she just killed was none than her own mother!
With tears in her eyes and repentance in her heart, Venkata Lakshmi rushed back to the garbage dump where she killed her mother, only to find that her mother’s body was already being taken away in a municipal van for disposal. She ran behind the van until she became breathless and fell on the road, but the dog however continues to run after the van barking in a very heartrending and eerie howl!
Strange but true, history repeats itself. This reminds us of a biblical saying “Do unto others what you want others to do unto you”.
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(translated by: Mandalika Satyanarayana)
