The Nest

Social Short Story – The Nest

The Nest – Social Short Story

Ramesh was sitting quietly on a bench in the Tambaram railway station in Chennai. It is a very busy and a big railway station with many platforms.  It is also a place of transit for the physically and the mentally displaced.  The hustle and bustle of the busy morning crowd around him had no effect on him.  The continuous coming and going of the trains and the preoccupied minds of the commuters unmindful of his presence provided all the space in the world for him to rest his mind.  But as time went on he grew tired of the very situation he was feeling comfortable some time ago.

Strange as it may sound he heard a bird chirping out of this chaos. He was happy to find a bird’s nest under the roof of the railway platform shed. He felt that it was weird for a bird to put up its nest in that place. Weird yes, but it had some meaning for him. Memories flooded back to him: memories in which his wife loved him and thought him wise. Those were the beautiful moments in one’s life and they fruition to bear beautiful children. There was so much joy and glee splattered across the family canvas as the children laughed and played.

He felt happy watching it but his cell phone interrupted his momentary bliss. He took the phone and looked at the number. It was his wife and the very thought that she had the audacity to call him angered him. It is more than a week now after she left for her parent’s place. She had said she will not come back to such a useless man.  It is not that they don’t have children.  They have lovely children.  She wanted material comforts, trifles and trinkets to decorate her house.  This is one area they had bitter quarrels. She complained that she is not able to afford the comforts her sisters are enjoying. She could not feel content with a simple life.

Ramesh has a good job at the local NGO, decent pay and good reputation too. More than that his children love him and adore him. He felt very happy about this and it gave meaning to his life too. But all this had a drawback. It was like the birds nest perched amidst the cross section of the iron girders supporting the railway platform roof. It was not its natural habitat. Ramesh looked down at his phone again.  He had helped many and counselled many during his work. But he could not make his wife understand and accept their life.

It was like a dead end. On the one hand he is caught between the rejection of his wife and on the other the love of his children. There seemed no way possible to continue the life he was living.  He began thinking about leaving his children with his sister and go some place where he can work peacefully.  He even contemplated on seeking the help of his old flames.

Again the cell phone rang. This time as the railway platform was empty the phone’s loud ringing disturbed even the birds in the nest above. He noticed this and felt sorry.  Again the phone rang.  It felt like the constant nagging of his wife. His mind infuriated he wanted to throw that cell phone on the railway tracks.  As he prepared to swing his arm a train just breezed through the railway station and in a minute it was gone. But that was enough to stop him from throwing his cell phone on the tracks. Again the phone rang. He looked at the blinking screen and realised that this time it was his son calling. He took the call and yelled at his son,

“What is it? I will be home shortly”.

But before he could finish the call his son said that mother has come back home and wanted to speak to him. When he heard this a mixture of joy and nostalgia ran down his spine. A relief and at the same time he thought that she has come back to haunt him about his inability to live a rich man’s life. With a heavy heart he looked at the nest above and saw that the birds went about as usual tending to their little ones.

He got up and walked home. His mind was full of doubt. Many thoughts rushed through his mind deeply troubling him. With a heavy heart he reached the door and when it opened his wife with tears in her eyes hugged him and held him as if she did not want to let him go. He felt a great relief as he saw his children smile and look at them with joy. It was a relief for them that their parents are back in the nest.

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