Story of Friends – Ian MacArthur’s Glasses
Photo credit: hotblack from morguefile.com
Ian MacArthur has been living in the town for last 20 years. No one exactly knows where he came from. He lives at one corner of the town in a small room near the graveyard.
For a couple of years, he did odd jobs in the town. He has ever smiling face which helped him in connecting with people within no time. He became the soul of the town. Everyone would see him everywhere in the town walking in his own peculiar way.
Then an officer in the town municipal committee gave him job as a peon. Now, he would be seen carrying water bottles, tea, snacks etc. for the officers. After office hours, he could be seen doing services for people without any charges. No one ever heard him saying no to anyone. Because of this reason, sensitive souls would not tell him any work. Only the crooked one would tell him works without any consideration for him.
He would enter his small room only at evening. He would open the only window that opened towards the graveyard. Then he would turn on the radio and smoked a cigarette. No one knew that he smoked. He never smoked two cigarettes; only one, and that too in his room at evening looking at the graveyard. The tombstones there would soon start changing shapes in the dark. After the cigarette was finished, he would close the window. Then he would start cooking on the kerosene stove. The pleasant noise of the stone and the songs on the radio would fill the room with a soulful music. He loved this. It would take him to some other world. Then he would sit on his bed and finish his dinner. After dinner was over, within no time he would turn off the radio and tubelight and would sleep looking at the roof with a smiling face.
He had an unusual way of starting his mornings. He would go to the graveyard, and plucked some flowers from the only plant there. Then he would go to any random tombstone whichever attracted him towards it and laid those flowers. After that he would go back satisfied. Coming back to his room, he would make coffee and then went to his office.
After working for around 10 years in the municipality office, he resigned. He had started feeling bored at the office. He again started doing odd jobs. People would give him money and food for these services. The important thing was that he liked doing work for other people. During marriages, people would invite him and gave him a suit or two for his services. Apart from the services, people liked him for the jokes and stories he used to tell. He was like a wave of happiness. Wherever he went, happiness followed him. For this reason, children of the town also loved him. They liked to celebrate birthday with him. They would gift him something on their birthdays. He would also take something for children.
It is only month ago that he took fancy of glasses. He saw a kid of ten wearing glasses with big plastic frame. And the way kid walked with jumping steps he even started feeling a bit jealous of him. The very next day, he went to the eye care center and bought a pair of nice glasses with a beautiful frame that looked amazing, resting on his nose. He spent almost all his savings for the pair of glasses. He hardly saved money for future. He was totally a fun loving man who believed in “living in the moment” philosophy. But since the time he bought glasses, he had started changing considerably. Most of the time, he was walking in pride with strained neck and chest while putting on his dear glasses.
Now he started paying less attention to people’s work. He would ignore people most of the times. He would listen to only those people who were really close to him. For 2-3 days, it was okay. But when people saw him regularly neglecting them, they wondered whether it was the same MacArthur. They were in confusion whether to hate him or his glasses.
At around 500 mtrs from his room, there was a tailor’s shop. There was a big shield of glass at the entrance of the shop. The glass used there showed only the reflection of things outside.You could not see inside through it, but the person from inside the shop could see you. Macarthur would stop at that shop, and took 3-4 minutes looking at his image in the mirror. He would turn sides to see him in different ways. Then finally he would lift the glasses from his nose, and again put them on making sure that they were at absolutely right position.
A woman was the owner of the shop. Her husband used to run that shop. Five years ago he went to another city for buying clothes, but he never returned. Even police was not able to find him. People assumed that he had been killed by some robbers for the money he carried. Since then life had been monotonous for her. They had a son who died in an accident. It took years to cope with this blow. And then her husbands’ absence again threw her in the abyss of sorrows. She hardly talked to people after that.
Since the time MacArthur bought those glasses, and started looking in the mirror outside her shop, she had started becoming happy. The sight of him adjusting his glasses would make her very lively. Now, she started waiting for his arrival. In the morning, she would wake up with the expectation to see MacArthur. After 20 days of watching him so, she couldn’t help herself and called him inside the shop on 21st day. She said ‘Hello’ to him and asked him how he was. He told her he was fine.
“Would you like to have coffee?” she asked.
Though he had had coffee in his room, but he could not decline her. Her house was behind the shop and there was a door at the back of the shop to enter the house. She went inside the house to make coffee. He looked at the cloths she had stitched. They were looking marvelous hanging down the hangers. While he was still looking at the cloths, she came with a cup of coffee.
“Why didn’t you bring coffee for yourself?” he asked.
“Actually I don’t have desire to take coffee now,” she replied.
He enjoyed the coffee. It was quite different in taste from the coffee he made in his room. He praised her for making so tasty coffee. He also praised her for stitching those beautiful cloths. She smiled. It was after many years that she had a genuine smile. After that he went out thanking her for the coffee. That night she had a peaceful night.
In the morning, her mind was occupied with his thought. She wanted to see him. At around 10am when he peered into the mirror, she again called him inside the shop. After exchange of pleasantries, she asked him whether he wanted to have coffee. There was so much generosity in her offer that he even forgot that he had already taken coffee in his room. He told her that she should also bring coffee for herself.
When she went inside the house, he got up and started examining the stitched cloths by touching them. Though old, the woman was known in the whole town for her art of stitching clothes artistically. She had used this art in overcoming her grief. When she came back, both of them had coffee together. They talked about the ongoing things in the town. When the coffee was over, he got up and thanked her for the coffee.
Now this became the routine for both of them. He stopped making coffee in his room. He knew that the woman at the tailor’s shop would offer him coffee. They had started sharing their sorrows and happiness. They had also started discussing about the people in the town.
One day she told him that death anniversary of his son was near. She asked him whether he would accompany her to her son’s grave in the cemetery. There was no reason he would say no to her.
After three days, it was her son’s death anniversary. He came to the shop in a new suit. He didn’t forget to put on his glasses. When he reached her shop, she was ready to leave for the cemetery. Both of them went together. In spite of the purpose she was going there, she was composed. It may be because of his company. The way he walked had also changed while walking beside her. He walked very smoothly, in harmony. There was no consciousness about the glasses on his nose. He kept looking at the woman walking beside him from time to time. He felt very special, more than he felt when he wore the glasses for the first time.
When they reached there, he was surprised when the woman stopped beside the grave which had attracted him many times. In fact, he had laid flowers at it in the morning. When she saw the flowers on the grave, a smile came on her face.
“We don’t have any relative in the town, I don’t know who has put these flowers?” she said.
“Sometimes we should keep our reasoning ability inside our pockets; trying to reason out things destroys the charm sometimes,” he said. She smiled.
Both of them laid flowers on the grave. They sat beside the grave for quite long time. When they got up to leave, he said, “Would you mind if I take you to my small home?”
“Why would I mind? Now when you have told me, I am eager to see the place where you live,” she said.
Then he conducted her to his room. Though small, the room was clean. He drew the stool for her from beneath the bed. He made coffee for her. Then he offered her to have lunch in his room. She happily agreed. Then he turned on the radio and both of them got busy in cooking lunch. After they were done with cooking, they had their food sitting on the floor. Both of them savored food while talking to each other. After the lunch was over, he accompanied her to her shop. Saying goodbye to her, he came back to his room. He didn’t have any desire to roam in the town. He lay in his bed, recollecting the moments he spent with the woman. He smiled to himself.
Next day, he woke up with preoccupied mind. He was eager to meet the woman at the tailor’s shop. He again went to the grave of that woman’s son. With a smiling and excited face, he put on the glasses on his nose. He set out for the woman’s shop.
He stood outside the shop peering into the mirror. He stood there for five minutes, but no one opened the door. The woman didn’t come out. His eyes were fixed on the door. He kept looking at door for another five minutes through his glasses, still the door didn’t open. He had an impulse to move inside the shop, but he did not. He had never entered anyone’s house or shop without an invitation. He spent an hour outside the shop, but no one came there. Disappointed, he started moving towards his room.
He was so disappointed that he had forgotten about the glasses on his nose. The specs had become loose, and had slid forward. There was a small canal in the way near his room, and there was a bridge over it. When he reached over the bridge, he stopped and looked at the water flowing in the canal. The moment he bent his neck, the glasses slipped down his nose and fell into the canal. He made a desperate attempt to catch it with one hand, but could not. It seemed like his heart had dropped out of his chest, and he would survive no longer.
He sat there and then. He kept sitting there and looking into the water below like some deity would spring out of it and return his glasses. He only stood up when a passerby asked him about the matter. He shook his head. He looked into the water for one last time and went to his room. He was very sad. It seemed to him that he had no reason to live for. He remained in his room, and even stopped going to the graveyard in the morning. He didn’t eat anything for two days. On the third day when he opened his window, he saw that a new bush had borne flowers. For last one month, he had been so engrossed in himself that he had paid less attention to things around him. He could not help himself and came to that bush. He plucked two flowers out of the four flowers which proudly waved on the plant. He laid those flowers on the grave of that woman’s son’s grave. He came back and made himself a cup of coffee.
People of the town were worried about him. He had not been seen for three days. Normally, he didn’t even like to spend an afternoon in his room. The man who saw him over the bridge had spread the news of his lost glasses in the whole town.
Everyone who knew him wanted to come and console him. But no one had the courage to see the sad and disappointed face of MacArthur whom they had always seen smiling. It was difficult for them even to imagine him with a sad face.
He didn’t come out of his room for the following two days. It is not that he didn’t try to come out. Since the morning, he saw flowers on the second bush, he had tried many times. The idea that people would ask him about his missing specs annoyed him very much.
In the evening, when he was smoking cigarette while looking at the graveyard through his window, there was a knock at his door. He didn’t panic and had no fear that the person would know that he smoked. He held the cigarette with one hand and unlatched the door with the other. He was surprised to see the woman (at the tailor’s shop) standing with a man. The cigarette fell from his hand.
“Now you don’t need to stay in this room,” she said.
She gave him a pair of new glasses.
END
