Life in a box- a short story

Hello friends,
I am back again.........I hope you are all well. Belated happy poila baisakh to you all, I hope a wonderful year awaits everyone. And here I am with a fresh new short story exclusively for my readers. I hope it delights you. And do give me your much awaited comments...........and then I will be back with more.Till then........bye.

Life in a  box

Everyday Shikha saw the lady with her petty wares on the road. She laid them out with utmost care and diligence, her wares mostly cheap, outdated and dirty to some extent being exposed on the roadside for long. Gently after laying those down, the plastic soap cases, safety pins, tapes, boxes, spools of coloured threads, scrub pads etc, she would dust them and then burn incense sticks in front of a picture of a deity, asking for divine blessings. Her stall was by a very busy, dusty main road with buses, taxis and autos honking loudly all day. But it was the child that caught her eye........... a merry kid about a couple of years old or maybe even less sitting inside a big cardboard box. His mother kept her wares in it every night. The child was not as boisterous as any other children of his age; he was rather a patient, soft and sensitive kid. Sometimes he seemed shy sitting huddled in one corner of the brown hard box, sometimes he laughed out loudly pointing at something and showing it to his mother. At times he even slept inside the box, cosy and unaware of anything around him. His mother looked tired in her threadbare, cotton saree, or frayed salwar kamizes, her sunken eyes filled with a silent grief. Yet the same eyes sometimes lighted up at some antics of her child and she smiled. Sometimes Shikha stopped to buy a packet of cheap ear buds or safety pins for her mother, on her way back from college. It was at these times that she watched Dev, the child, more closely. Shikha was fascinated by Dev, she had never seen a child like him before, small that he was he was so uncomplaining and sensible that she became very respectful of his mother Fulari didi. Even in the hot humid days of summer in Calcutta the duo would be out. Shikha sometimes brought him a sweet, or a lozenge, or an old toy and watched in joy when his soft little fingers clutched them meekly yet with confidence, as if he knew he deserved those.

It happened in the time of Shikha’s final exams. Some of the local goons had threatened Fulari to leave that small space for a friend of theirs who intended to open a cheap dvd stall, selling mostly pirated dvd’s. But Fulari did not go away; it was her only means of livelihood for her fatherless child and herself. So they burned her tiny place down, in the dead of the night, she barely escaping with Dev on her shoulders. There was not even much smoke. As Shikha walked home from college on the last day of her finals, she noticed Dev sitting in front of a shoe store by her mother. The old cardboard box was nowhere to be seen. Fulari lay on the ground, her tear stained face caked with dirt. An aluminium bowl was by Dev’s side, some of the passerby’s threw coins noisily in it without even glancing at the duo. A gaunt man standing in Fulari’s place shouted out loudly with a dvd in his right hand, le jao le jao sabka tis, sabka tis..... A horde of people had gathered around him, of all ages.......busily toying with the much valued items. Shikha bought a chocolate and handed Dev. He took it silently, never meeting her in the eye. His angelic smile was no more on his face, instead, there was a fire in his innocent eyes, they burned with such intensity that Shikha felt afraid, afraid for the civilized world she knew. She touched Dev’s cheek lovingly, he pushed her hand away.

The Decision- A Short Story

Hello friends,
I am back once again with a short story once again written by me just for you all. Its a story about a 'he' and a 'she'.........a story that I am sure many will be able to relate to. This story signifies the pain often faced by unfortunate lovers, their thoughts, their determination. I hope you all like it. Do give me your valuable feedback friends and till then bye.....

                                                                          The Decision

She knew she had made the decision..........she knew it was wrong yet she could not turn back. She knew the Gods were laughing at her, yet she moved on. She knew time could never be turned back yet she trudged on. She needed tranquility, inner peace.......she was too long at war with herself. She wanted an answer once and for all. She knew only then she could move farther. It was never for the best person, oh no, he was far from it. He was fickle-minded, selfish, unsophisticated and brutally realistic. Yet there was a part of her that belonged to him; it was her weakness, her secret which she knew she would carry to her grave. Yet she sought an answer.......an answer which had the potential of changing her life radically forever. She mustered every bit of courage she ever had and with a thudding heart she said what she had discovered long back, “I love you, do you love me?” She knew the answer; it was supposed to be that, anything other than that would have shocked her. She grasped the full meaning of the simple no and the ensuing explanations. He was not a gifted orator and did not choose his words with care; they were like thorns inflicting wounds to her trepidating heart. She understood time had distanced them enough and there was the possibility of another woman...........yet she had perhaps hoped against hope. And when she got the much awaited answer she knew it was all that was for her; it would always be that. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet, she was not unhappy; he was rude, yet she was not unhappy........a heavy burden was lifted off her heart for ever. What remained was a lifetime of bitter sweet memories that would surely fill all her voids in life. What remained was the warmth they once shared........like a flickering fire. What remained was a ray of hope.........maybe someday, a promise to see each other, a hug that had been postponed for years. That was their moment. As tears flowed freely down her cheeks, she could hear their merry laughter ringing in her ears.....hers and his, years before, over a silly joke. She had let go of all that to embrace a lifetime of pain and pretense. No he was never the perfect person, yet she knew she could have had the perfect life with him. But it was all gone, gone forever to never come back in its original shades. The young love was intoxicating, yet never acknowledged. She was foolish not to realise it then, only to lament later. She knew even that she suffered for him was foolish.........yet she pined for his love, his stupid laughs, his stare, his advice. He promised he would always be there, a good friend, even more than that. That was all..........for her.

She had learnt to live her life in her own self created way. She had learned to live in the face of adversities, both big and small. She was on a turbulent sea, an immature, young sailor on a mere raft. Yet she had tried to smile......to carry on. It was then she had understood her true self and realised her mistake. The full gravity of it shocked her. It was too late. Until after years....he came back. His mere words opened the gates to a flood of memories. Oh no, they had never confessed love to each other- their relation was far from that. Yet she knew she loved him in a way, a different way; a love from respect, admiration. She longed to be with him, backing out at the precise moment when they could have met....but they met only to as if lament of the past, to see how they had changed, aged and hardened. There was no future for them........ He was even two faced, at time yet she loved him unconditionally. He kindled her hope and retreated time and again, yet she never could forget him.

Until she made the decision of finally confronting him, was she at deep pain. The pain came back and forth.........sometimes forgotten only to come back with terrible depth. He gave the final reply, she knew it before..........yet she heard the soothing voice, the familiar joking voice, and the sharp reprimands. Yet she found her place back in life, her peace. She knew she had to carry on with life........but she made the final decision too. That she would wait.......wherever she was, whatever she does, whatever he does, she would wait for him even if it took her forever, a lifetime......maybe someday the laughing gods would just pity her; kindly make her happy..........after all that’s all men crave for. She took the decision that she wouldn't deceive any one, not even herself and carry on but she would wait for him and him only as he was truly the man who visited her in her dreams. It was only there he showed his raw, visceral desire for her, his fiery love and promised a lifetime of togetherness. It was only for that dream that her decision to wait lived on.....it was for those wonderfully, precious dreams that her waiting was worth for. She only had to be patient.........for her love.......for her untitled life.........for her unfinished dreams and ........her decision.