Asim Jaffri's Blog: Asim Jaffri's Short Stories, page 3

Imposter

"Why do you not resist?" Chided Sarla.

"Anita di is my elder sister, my guardian since mother passed away in our childhood" he replied to his wife in a low, nervous tone .

"I am not asking you to start a fight, just that you should speak up to put your point across".

Having said this Sarla kept away the towel she was folding and sat down beside him, "Where will we go from here? Do we have any other place to live?" 

He gave her an empty look filled with disappointment and helplessness, then bowed down his head.

Anita, his elder sister had been persuing him to leave the ancestral house and live elsewhere, her family was growing and the house seemed to shrink. He had been ordered multiple times by her to comply until yesterday when matters escalated to a level beyond his control.

That night as his wife and two children fell asleep, he lay staring at the ceiling.
'Where will we go if Anita di persists, perhaps next time we would be driven out from here, how much time do we have before this happens, how will I bear this sight in front of people?'

He got up, rubbed the back of his neck as his feet searched in the dark for slippers.

He felt an 'All pin' pass through his heart and soon the pain grew exponentially.

Next morning, amongst the crowd around the cot that had him on it lifeless, Sarla lay unconcious unable to bear the immense greif.

Beside the cot, on a chair sat Anita di making sure everyone saw her weeping, howling and screaming "Why did you leave me? Did you not realize what would I do without you?" ●

The Imposter

"Why do you not resist?" Chided Sarla.

"Anita di is my elder sister, my guardian since mother passed away in our childhood" he replied to his wife in a low, nervous tone .

"I am not asking you to start a fight, just that you should speak up to put your point across".

Having said this Sarla kept away the towel she was folding and sat down beside him, "Where will we go from here? Do we have any other place to live?" 

He gave her an empty look filled with disappointment and helplessness, then bowed down his head.

Anita, his elder sister had been persuing him to leave the ancestral house and live elsewhere, her family was growing and the house seemed to shrink. He had been ordered multiple times by her to comply until yesterday when matters escalated to a level beyond his control.

That night as his wife and two children fell asleep, he lay staring at the ceiling.
'Where will we go if Anita di persists, perhaps next time we would be driven out from here, how much time do we have before this happens, how will I bear this sight in front of people?'

He got up, rubbed the back of his neck as his feet searched in the dark for slippers.

He felt an 'All pin' pass through his heart and soon the pain grew exponentially.

Next morning, amongst the crowd around the cot that had him on it lifeless, Sarla lay unconcious unable to bear the immense greif.

Beside the cot, on a chair sat Anita di making sure everyone saw her weeping, howling and screaming "Why did you leave me? Did you not realize what would I do without you?" ●

The Ventilator

"How is he now?"
"Not good, he has been on ventilator since yesterday" said Ankur rising up from the bench outside ICU.
"Would they allow us in? Wish we could see him once" asked the visitors.
"No, even we are not allowed but once only during the day" he informed.

Ankur's ageing father had fallen ill in February. With his health fast deteriorating, he became bedridden around mid March and was eventually admitted to the hospital three days back on 12th of April 2008

"What does the doctor say?"
"He is trying his best, please pray to God so he gets well soon"
"We are and we will, dont worry, the almighty will provide him with good health soon" said the visitors before leaving.

Such dialogue had become a routine for Ankur whose father was a socially well connected man and therefore had a number of visitors daily.

"Get this injection" said the nurse tearing off the slip from her notepad.

Like yesterday, he dashed down the steps onto the ground foor. "This injection please" he demanded.
The pharmacist carefully looked at the paper, "Not available, I think the one you took yesterday was the last in stock"

"Where will I get this?" He asked curiously.
"Go, check elsewhere" said the shopkeeper getting busy with other customers.

Ankur knew that this daily injection was a critical resource to keep his father alive, that's what the doctor had told him yesterday.

He rushed out of the building.
"Not with us, perhaps you should try the medical college market" said another pharmacist.

He picked up his scooter and reached there in no time."This injection please" he placed the slip on the counter.

The pharmacist looked at the paper and then at Ankur, "One minute" he said and returned back with a familiar looking bottle.

"Thank God! This was available till yesterday at the hospital, so I had to come here to get it" said Ankur taking out his wallet. "My father is very ill and has been on a ventilator, this is a difficult time for me and my family,
God save everyone from desease and hospitals" he stretched out his arm to hand over the money to the pharmacist who seemed to have frozen, not knowing how to react.

After a brief pause, gathering his courage and cleared his throat he said, "Son, the injection you are buying is meant to prevent a dead body from decomposing"

The Cell

Albert, Maria and their daughter Alma lived in a peculiar house that had a glass ceiling. The house was geometrically well proportioned and its white floor was beautifully designed with ornamental markings all along its walls.

Three of them were attached strongly to Albert's mother Julia, who lived in her own seperate room adjescent to the house. They were like planets revolving in their defined orbit around a common sun. Julia was their source of inspiration, guidance and energy.

Albert, the head of the family owned responsibility of taking care of the larger aspects and he made sure he invested a great deal of time thinking and making his moves slowly and carefully.

Maria kept the house in order, she would run around the place whole day. She had probably the most hectic routine, she could barely remain at a single spot for perhaps not more than a few minutes.

Alma was like a bucket of overflowing energy so much so that she could hardly be kept stationed at one place, hopping and jumping all the time, bumping too often into her mother and Albert as she ran around.

Old Julia sat in her chair watching the family. Her age was catching up, she would feel the weakness at times but kept her efforts on to keep the house in order and moving.

One day, as Julia's weakness overpowered her strength, she fell ill. The house started to come to a grinding halt.

Albert could now barely focus or follow his daily routine. Maria's running around the house slowed down considerably and Alma's gleam seemed to turn into gloom.

The clock seemed to stop.

"Some problem with the time it seems" Anne asked Michael.
"Looks so, her hands have stopped moving, perhaps the battery is dying" said Michael looking at the 'WALL CLOCK' in their living room. ■

Gratitude

An old woman in rags sat by the roadside on a chilly winter morning.
As wind cut though her bones making her shiver uncontrollaby she raised her hand in despair.
"Money for some bread, some food" she begged, looking upto people.
Just like waves in an ocean, her hopes raised and died down as people covered in warm and cozy jackets, woolen mufflers and caps approached near and passed by.
She had not eaten since the last afternoon.
Inside, her stomach seemed to jump towards her mouth like a hungry chick does to a bird.

Just then, a car slowed down by the pavement. Hope beamed from her eyes as the driver's window rolled down.

"God! This is trash, I cant eat this" she heard as a half bitten burger popped out of the window onto the road in front of her.
She picked it up, looked at the still warm burger, holding it in between her folded hands.
"God, my God, provider, sustainer" she said thankfully looking towards the sky.

The driver looked at her in amazement and as she started to eat it, the car sped away. ●