The Red Pyjamas

Love Short Story – The Red Pyjamas

The sun rose to a golden yellow and the morning breeze kissed the leaves of the banyan trees. The park woke up to the soft thumping of the jogging shoes. From the old to the young, the married and the divorced, the couple in love and the all alone; the park was open to all. It breathed everybody’s breath equally. It felt the thud of the shoes and the clitter-clatter of the sandals, simultaneously. There was no differentiating. There was no choice. There was no right or wrong. The soft grass and the warm light touched everybody who came here. It transformed the sad into happy, the seeker into a giver, the lost into a guide, the child into a man, the girl into a lady, and moments into a lifetime.

He folded his red pyjamas up to his ankle and started jogging around the cobbled road laid on the sides of the park. The path was an oddly shaped oval of roughly six feet in width and about 150 meters in length. His breathing was calm and calculated. His face was tanned to a burnt golden. The receding hairline and a wide forehead were a clear indication of a man in his late thirties. His eyes and cheeks brimmed with lust and energy. People who came to the park were bound to get attracted to him, sooner or later. They followed him as he jogged. They copied the exercises that he performed on the soft grass. Even the leaves of the Banyan tree swayed in sync to his breath. Everything about him was so perfect, so magnificent, so unearthly and so profound.

 

It was their third night of honeymooning in Shimla, a hill station in the North-West Himalayas. The air was chilly and fog had set in all over the valley. The oak trees were wrapped in the eternal mist of the night. Cutting though the fog they came up to the more busy area of the hill. The shops on the corner of the road were at full swing. The florescent bulbs hanging from the bamboo stalls were emitting heat that could be seen evaporating into the cold sky upwards. Meena gripped Jai’s palm more tightly and they strolled leisurely on the damp and icy road which was slopping downwards. They were not interested in shopping. So the hawkers’ calls were ignored as they continued further into the valley.

Meena smelled popcorns and she dragged Jai into the direction of her senses. A crowd of people were standing in an uneven semi circle around a small stall. A young Himalayan boy was standing behind the popcorn vending machine which indicated the partition between the road and his shop. Somebody called a name and a little kid immersed out of the gathering. He was munching popcorns in a hurry. A lady draped in a saree pulled the kid near her and snatched the packet from him. Meena left Jai standing at a distance and squirmed into the crowd for buying the snack. Jai rubbed his palms and blew his hot breath on it. Suddenly he became aware of the cold around him. The warmth around him disappeared and the valley became eerie.

Standing there, Jai drowned himself into an eddy of thought. He remembered how he had got here with Meena and realised that the journey hereafter is not going to be the same. He loved her very much and had made a conscious decision of eloping when his family denied the proposal of their marriage. Till death do us part – the couple had said to each other after packing their bags to get married in the Himalayan blissfulness. And here they were now, counting each other’s step as they proceeded into the beginnings of a new life.

Meena appeared with a packet of hot popcorn. Jai, lost in his thoughts did not realise her presence. She popped a handful into her mouth and gave a soft peck on Jai’s red cheek. Jai came into the present and gazed at her. She was looking divine and innocent. He rubbed off the salt which was now sticking on his cheek and they continued walking into the beautifully lit lane. Silent for a long time now, Meena became interested in the colourful display inside the shops. Jai was still passive and withdrawn. She rolled her fingers over the variety of teak and sandalwood carvings. The shopkeeper tried his best to sell a sandalwood carving of the Himalayan dear. But Meena seemed to be interested only in fiddling with the designs. The shopkeeper soon gave up and became occupied with the more prospective clients. A foreign couple seemed to be pretty interested in the carvings on mahogany and teak.

Jai erased the cloud of dense thought around him and joined Meena as she hopped from one shop to another. They went inside a shop which smelt of linen and wool. Meena started to analyse the designs on the shawls and hinted Jai to respond on them. ‘Nice design’, he reacted with a smile. Seeing the couple explore the shop for some time now, the shopkeeper offered help. ‘Are you looking for something Memsaab? May be I can help you.’

‘No nothing in particular. What is the cost of this shawl?’ Meena asked for the sake of it.

‘This will be 1500 rupees, Memsaab.’ The shopkeeper responded quickly to close the deal. ‘It’s made of Himalayan Yak wool, very warm.’

‘That’s too costly. Reduce your price. I can get it at half that price in my city.’

Meena entered into the bargaining game though sure that she was not going to buy it anyways. The shopkeeper was quick to respond. He began telling her stories of where the Yaks are found and what makes it so costly. Avoiding the chatter between the two, Jai moved to the section where some khaki shirts were hanging. He moved his hands across the pile and looked thoughtfully over the variety of patch work done on each.

In between the pile, Jai’s attention was distracted by a piece of red cloth, folded neatly into two folds. He took it out and it unwrapped itself into a pair of red pyjamas. He held the pair by its waist and raised it to his eye level. There was something written in Chinese calligraphy around the vertical border of the pant. He could not decode it but he liked the style in which it was written.

Not wanting to wear it himself he thought that it would look cute on Meena. He took the pyjama and came out to the front where the duo was still having a debate over the price of the shawl.

‘Meena, look at this piece, isn’t it wonderful?’ Jai spoke for the first time in about an hour. His intrusion broke the flow of the animated conversation that Meena was having with the vendor. The vendor felt ignored and humiliated. He looked at Jai with tilted eyebrows and began talking to other customers.

Meena took the pyjama from Jai’s hand and moved her soft palms over the design. It was soft and felt cosy. She liked the red colour and appreciated Jai on his pick.

‘This is nice, honey. It will look good on you. Try it.’ She said in a soft voice.

‘I think it will look good on you, red looks gorgeous on you anyways. See this writing here in Chinese. Isn’t it so spiritual? I am taking this for you.’

Jai said and waved at the shopkeeper to enquire its price. He jumped in, seeing Jai’s enthusiasm.

‘This will cost you 500 Rupees, sir. It’s pure cotton. Good for your skin.’

His eyes glowed as he spoke.

‘But 500 is too much.’ Meena again entered into bargaining the price.

‘Ok, I will take it.’ Jai closed the deal before more exchange of words could happen. The shopkeeper felt relieved.

‘It’s a very good choice, sir. This one was lying here for a couple of months, waiting for you. See this Chinese calligraphy, here. It reads – Conquer yourself. It’s a Zen inscription and a good luck charm.’

For the first time the shopkeeper looked like a learned scholar to Jai. He ordered the shopkeeper to pack the pyjama and the couple walked out of the stall. Meena held the gift as they strolled back to their lodge.

Jai pondered over the Chinese scripture as they strolled back to their lodge uphill. Life will be about conquering himself henceforth, he analysed. And the revealing of the scripture was an indication to that. He has undoubtedly conquered bad luck. He had conquered when he got himself a decently paying job. He has now conquered by running away with his girlfriend. It is a matter of time, he thought. To conquer is a step by step process. Slowly and surely you get on with the quest to conquer everything which comes in your way. You start becoming materialistic in this process. You forget about your inner self and live a life that is an outward bound of thoughts and aspirations. Time comes when you become blind with power and money.

‘Am I becoming a part of this same process or is there anything higher and more meaningful to be conquered?’ His words echoed inside him as he tried to look deeper.

Perhaps he has to take an inner leap and become a master of himself. All this seemed philosophical and scripted. But is there an inner leap? That he still has to find out. Maybe the days to come will reveal it to him in some form or the other.

*

The next day they took the bus to Chandigarh, a planned city in the North Indian plains. Jai’s friend Ajay was waiting at the bus stop to pick up the couple. The bus halted and a curtain of dust rose around it, making the bus disappear for a moment. A parade of passengers descended. Their luggage was being thrown down from the rack over the bus. A frail man was catching them one by one with artistic movement of his arms. Meena appeared first, Jai followed. Ajay flicked his smoke and moved ahead to greet both of them. Jai passed a smile and without much talk they sat inside Ajay’s car. Ajay kept their luggage inside the dickey and started to drive towards his apartment.

Ajay had helped Jai find a job in Chandigarh before he had decided to elope. It was a small plan that was nearing completion. Jai thought as their car entered the ten storey building. Ajay had a spare apartment in the building which his dad had bought a year ago as an investment. He handed over the apartment keys to Jai. They could live here till Ajay’s dad got a prospective client to sell it off.

Jai and Meena adjusted to their new residence pretty quickly. Ajay helped them settle as smoothly as possible. The next few months saw Jai occupied in his job while Meena worked from home for an American firm. They were happy together and Meena soon forgot the recent past. She spoke to her parents in the weekends to know their health. Her mother showed concerns on her father’s behalf and insisted that they should return. But Meena would not nudge a bit. Her calmness sometimes surprised her mother. On the other side Jai had considered his family dead. Not a phone call followed from Jai’s side in over a month. Neither did any news fly to him of his family.

It was a Friday night; Meena took out the red pyjamas and wore it just before Jai came home. She had dressed naughtily for the evening. It was a surprise for Jai. He came home and kept starring at Meena for minutes. Her hair was done in a bun and the short green kurti gave a perfect contrast to the red beneath it. Jai had almost forgotten about the pyjamas after their return from Shimla. Meena had taken it out today almost after a year. Jai felt the Chinese writing over it with his palms.

Suddenly he remembered the shopkeeper and the translation of the scripture. He was not in a conquering mode anymore. Life had eased out and the future seemed prosperous and gifted. But he yet could not find the necessity of conquering himself. Jai left the thought aside and concentrated on Meena’s posture which was getting more and more alluring by the minute. He drew closure and kissed her below the ear. Meena’s senses shivered and she responded with a peck on his cheek.

‘I told you that red looks good on you.’ He whispered into her ears.

‘But it’s really made for you. I insist’. She responded. The defence between the two melted for the night.

*

A couple of months passed by and the red pyjamas got a shade lighter. Meena wore it almost every day. And Jai tried to find a meaning to the inscribed lines in his daily life. It was not until this day that the reason behind the pyjamas began to unfold. Meena called up Jai in the afternoon and complained of severe stomach ache. Jai left for home immediately and found Meena dragging on the floor. Her face was pale and she could hardly speak anything. Jai got a shock but quickly composed himself. He lifted her up from the ground and settled her carefully on the bed. But the pain was unbearable.

Meena’s eyes were red and tears were rolling down. Jai called up Ajay for help and got a car immediately to take Meena to the hospital. They rushed to the nearest hospital and called for emergency. A lady doctor tried to assess the situation. Meena was throwing around her arms and leg in excruciating pain. The doctor called in for a nurse and a ward boy. They rested Meena on a stretcher and took her inside a small cabin. The world was starting to close in before her eyes.

The doctor administered a pain killer injection and anaesthesia on Meena. She was in the comfort of sleep within a few minutes. Jai waited anxiously for the doctor.

‘We will have to do a full body report immediately. She will wake up in half an hour. Please complete the procedures.’

The doctor said and moved into another cabin. Jai went inside to see Meena. She was rested and into a dream. Jai could not control himself and gave a silent sob. The ward boy signalled him to come out of the cabin. Jai came out and started filling the documents. He hoped everything would get back to normal soon.

The tests were done by the evening and reports were due the next day. Jai brought a set of dress for Meena to change in. But the nurse insisted that she wore the green hospital gown. The next day the reports came in. The results showed that her liver was infected. Chances were that infection would spread to other parts if proper medication was not given. A week of medication followed but considerable improvement was not seen. Meena still complained of sporadic acute pain near her abdomen and in the spine.

Jai thought of consulting a good physician. He took the reports to a doctor that Ajay’s father advised. The doctor looked at the reports and suspected cancer. Jai’s body shivered when he heard the name. It would be the last thing that his mind could absorb and his stomach could digest. The doctor asked Jai to get a MRI scan done immediately and a chest x-ray. Jai behaved bravely, not losing his composure before the doctor. He came back and got Meena mentally prepared for the scan. Meena was unable to walk properly. He and Ajay got her into the car and they drove to the hospital for the procedures. Jai was restless in his mind. Meena had shown no symptoms of disease or sickness in the past year. This change in her body was shocking and distressful for Jai and Meena both.

*

One month passed and Meena had lost half her body weight. She was being diagnosed for liver and lung cancer. Her life expectancy was twelve to eighteen months. Jai did not have time between them. He quit his full time job and took up a part time advisory job for a real estate company. He also passed the news to Meena’s family. They were taken aback completely. Meena’s father advised Jai to come back. But Meena disagreed. She was keen on spending the remaining time with Jai by her side. Meena’s mother came to stay with her for a month. But she could not see her deteriorating condition. She was only making her mentally weak. Jai advised her to go back. He assured her that he will do his best in looking after Meena.

Jai sat beside Meena. The nurse who was attending her got up and left for the day. Jai held Meena’s hand and he shared a joke. Meena tried to smile by stretching her lips. Jai touched her cheek and rubbed it with his thumb. Meena took out something from beneath the pillow. It was the red pyjamas. She asked Jai to wear them. Jai responded to her and wore the pyjamas instantly. She kissed Jai on his thighs on the pyjamas.

‘It’s meant for you to wear. I had told you.’

Jai could not understand what Meena was trying to say. But reality soon dawned on him. The inscription became clear. He saw it once again. It was no longer Chinese. He could see it written in clear English.

‘Conquer Yourself.’

Meena iterated in a smudged tone. For Jai it was the answer to the rest of his life. He will have to conquer his thoughts; the thought of losing Meena sooner or later, the thought of loneliness, the thought of carrying on heroically. Wearing the pyjamas, he was feeling strong both mentally and physically.

‘This will remind you of me, always.’ Meena uttered.

A tear rolled from Jai’s eyes. ‘Everything will be ok.’ He replied and gave a pat on her shoulder.

*

One year hence, life carries on in the park. Jai still wears the red pyjamas every day. He still continues to inspire people around him.  He still remembers her every day. The pyjamas remain as a material form of Meena which is with him always. It continues to give him strength and fervour   He continues to reflect it to the world around him. And the world in turn continues to smile back at him. He has gained mastery over his thoughts. He has indeed conquered in the face of adversity. The pyjamas have helped him realize the power of self belief and the significance of true love. He stands as a testimony to the power of the Zen inscription. He has indeed ‘found’ himself draped in the pair of red pyjamas.

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