MY SHORT STORY ENTRY TO THE TIMES OF INDIA - WRITE INDIA CONTEST 2016.
“A
daylily is a fragile and a beautiful flower that opens in the early morning and
withers the following night. Although this alluring flower is short lived it
leaves an intoxicating aroma that fills an eternal enchantment in the mind and
soul of the beholder.”
Sumithra
woke up after five hours of unconsciousness caused by the epidural shot given
to her during that complicated C-section. Her eyes were feeling sore and body
not completely regained from its numbness due to the anesthesia. She felt an inexplicable
stinging pain on her back and was unable to get up from her bed. Although her
eyes were trying their best to capture a clear vision, her mind unfazed by that
immense pain her body was going through was fixed only on one thought – about
her newly born.
The labor room was
looking gloomy and melancholy with that obnoxious and pungent odor of all
those medicines and IV given to her. She looked around to get a glimpse of her
bundle of joy as she noticed her mother approaching her.
“It’s
a boy Sumi” as her mother told caressing her on her
forehead Sumithra’s eyes met her mothers’. That element of bliss and ecstasy
about a new entrant on the mother earth, that jubilance that her daughter is
now a mother was missing in her mother’s eyes.
Sumithra checked out
for her husband whom she was rather anticipating to have been the first person
running to her and cuddle her with joy to celebrate their happiness was sitting
quietly at the guest’s cot in the labor room with a sullen and a grieving
face. She was baffled.
“Where
is my little boy mama?”
“Uh...
The paediatrician has taken the baby for some check up dear... the regular
ones... Don’t worry. They will be here
with him any moment. You take some rest now.”
Sumithra felt this bizarre
queasiness in her mother’s voice as she spoke.
“Raghu
did you see him? How is he like? You or me?” She questioned
her husband eagerly albeit in a strained voice, he sat across nonchalantly
rather avoiding to respond or strike any conversation with her.
After almost half hour,
as Sumithra was lying on her bed twitchy waiting anxiously to get that first
look of her child, the nurse carried him to her room.
He was bundled in a white
sheet of cloth covered from head to toe. As the nurse unwrapped him Sumithra noticed some
tapes or some band-aid kind of strips put across his shoulders and back. She
thought they could be some injections that they usually give for the newly
born. She was striving hard to get up to look at her child. Her mom helped her
sit upright supporting her back with a pillow behind while the nurse gently
placed her baby on Sumithra’s forearms and gave her the basic instructions for
the first step to breast-feed him. As his tiny lips stroke her bosom and his
delicate skin touched hers she experienced those mystical vibes sweeping all
across her body. As her little one sucked the colostrum a tingling sense of euphoria
filled her mind and soul and she felt complete for the first time.
“His
smile is like yours Raghu!” as Sumithra exclaimed examining
her child for the first time since her baby arrived she noticed something odd
with him. There was a distinct characteristic facial feature that distinguished
him different from a normal baby. His eyes were poppy and slanted, a flat nasal
bridge and lips were slightly bulged.
“Doesn’t
his face appear somewhat different mama? Is he OK mama?”
as Sumithra inquired anxious and perturbed her mom could no longer contain her
emotions and burst into tears. Sumithra was taken aback by her mother’s sudden
and unexpected reaction and saw tears trickle down Raghu’s cheeks as well.
“What’s
the matter? Could one of you please tell me what is happening?”
as she bawled at them, Raghu spoke to her for the first time in that one hour
since she came back to her senses post the operation.
“Sumi,
there is something which I am sure will not be pleasing for you to listen from
me that I restrained from telling you since you woke up. I want you to gather
immense courage to hear this. God has been utterly cruel and merciless on us.
Our child is not normal. He is born mentally challenged associated with some
terminal illness. He might not live with us for very long...”
as Raghu unleashed his suppressed emotions; there was a poignant lull that
filled the labor room.
Sumithra sat stoic and
frozen like ice. She cleared that hard lump in her throat and screamed
hysterically.
“What
the hell are you talking Raghu? Where is the doctor? I want to talk to her
right now.”
“Please
clam down Sumi. You should not exert yourself so much now. You will get to talk
to the doctor but not now in this condition.”
As Sumithra’s mother
tried pacifying her, she yelled at her with utmost rage, wrath and
disappointment.
“What
are you blabbing mama? I have to talk to the doctor to know what is wrong with
my child. I need to know how I can help him. I will not believe Raghu...”
as she was getting violent and hysterical, the nurses barged into the room and
controlled her with some sedatives and laid her to sleep. All through that
night Sumithra was moaning and whining about her child incessantly in her sleep.
The next day the chief
doctor met Sumithra to explain the conditions of her baby.
“Your
son has been diagnosed with Down Syndrome associated with a congenital heart
defect. He has an atrioventricular septal defect which causes poor pumping of
blood by the arteries in the heart that leads to irregular heartbeats. It is
quite strange that we did not identify his problem during your pregnancy by
prenatal screening. We discovered his problem only after his birth and
immediately conducted all the genetic and chromosomal testing to confirm his
medical conditions. His intellectual and
physical disability will decrease as he ages. The worst part is since he is
also suffering from chronic heart dysfunction his survival chances are minimal.
Apparently we cannot however predict his life span completely. It could be a
year or two or if the God wills he might allow him to stay a little longer.”
As those words were
flowing from the doctor’s mouth, the harsh and savage reality of Sumithra’s
life, of her son’s life shattered her hard and inflicted unparalleled agony in
her heart.
“You
will get discharged in a day or two, but we will be keeping your son here
another week for observation and further examination. You can come here to feed
him every day until then...“as the doctor spoke
Sumithra immediately blurted out.
“Is
there a cure for my son’s illness doctor? I can do anything to help him get
better. Doctor, please tell me is there some hope for him? For me in life?”
with tears clouding her eyes Sumithra left the doctor speechless by her
anguish.
With a heavy sigh the
doctor tried comforting her that there was no specific cure or treatment for
his illness however with proper care and education he can survive a little
longer. She recommended Sumithra to enroll her son into some institution who
handles these special kids with utmost care, love and patience. As parents it
would be immensely grueling and demanding for them to completely attend such
child’s needs and hence it would be the best to put them in a special school to
take care of his needs. She also suggested Sumithra to visit him as frequently
as possible.
Sumithra knew that was
definitely not the convincing answer to her question, to her inner self. She
decided to take him home with her, to be with him her life time, to cater to
him with utmost endurance. After all there would be no other better person than
a mother who could shower all that warmth and love for a special child like
hers.
Sumithra named her son Amar (meaning – “the immortal”). She decided
to fight against her destiny and bring back her lost life.
Time flew. Amar
completed a year. His heart conditions were stabilizing at times though his
mental conditions were degenerating. Raghu was finding hard to handle Amar’s behavioral complexities.
“Sumi
we are doing our best but it is not possible for us to do this long. You need
to understand the situation. Things are getting difficult with Amar every day.
Uh... I think we might have to consider the doctor’s advice and get him
admitted in some special institution. We will see him every day.”
Sumithra remained
silent for some time and then she spoke.
“Raghu
I have promised our son that I will be with him my life time and take care of
him. There is no way I will give-up on him. I am sure that God will bestow upon
my Amar a little more time to be with me and it is my duty to give all that he
wants no matter whatever it takes from me.”
Every day was a
struggle. Amar was extremely cranky and troubled most of the times. His
inability to express himself irked him all the more but Sumithra never gave-up.
She nurtured him like a tender flower, taught him things which were too hard
for him to fathom in the easiest way possible, took him to his special school
and stayed beside him, played with him and watched him play with other young
and innocent kids like him. She took him to places unscathed by the outside
world. Even amidst the painful process Sumithra discovered her own peace and
happiness in her small world with her special God’s gift. She was confident
about protecting Amar from the evil hands of Death.
Every morning they used
to spend quality time at their garden sowing new saplings and watering all the
other plants. Sumithra watched the plants grow with Amar everyday and believed
that he would also thrive as long as possible if only God might give him
another chance.
It was a bright sunny
morning. Amar was still asleep. He had turned five the previous week. Sumithra
was planning for a small party with just her family and very close friends. Raghu
had deliberately preoccupied himself with official work in the last couple of
months since Sumithra was unable to devote time for him and he was aware of her
priorities.
“I
will try to be home early today so that we could do a bit of shopping for the
party” Raghu told and waved her a goodbye.
It was half past ten
and Amar had still not gotten up. Sumithra walked to his bedroom to wake him
up. As she stepped close to him she heard him breathe hard with droplets of
perspiration scattered all over his face. She felt his heart palpitating at a
rapid pace as she touched him on his chest. Her hands were trembling, body
shivering with fear. She ran towards the living room and called Raghu
immediately. She carried Amar in her arms and rushed to the main gate, locked
the gate and fetched a taxi to the hospital. Raghu also arrived there just in
time. The doctors strived hard to regain him but all their efforts went futile.
The little heart finally rested to peace after hours of struggle.
Sumithra waited in the
corridor spectacled Raghu walking towards her from the ICU after speaking with
the doctor with an excruciating pain on his face. She passed out the moment the
dreadful news came to her. Raghu took her home and she slept through the entire
day.
“Mama, my chest is paining.... mama
please stay with me...Don’t leave me alone... Mama...I love you....”
Sumithra jolted off
from her nightmare. She sat upright bewildered, gawking through their bedroom
window. She felt like someone was waving
an adieu to her forever from far in the dark. She looked around for Amar. But
he was not lying beside her. She looked around their room. He was nowhere to be
seen. She walked towards the window and looked at the flowers they had planted
together. They appeared dry, lifeless
and about to wither. It was a bizarre, incomprehensible emotions reverberating
through her mind.
A month passed by since Amar’s untimely demise
but Sumithra’s mind was still unsettled, racing to his room to and fro not
ready to accept the reality. She felt empty and meaningless left with betrayal
in life.
AFTER SIX MONTHS...
Raghu dropped Sumithra at the
entrance of the institute and watched her walk inside the campus of “The Sparsh
School for mentally and physically challenged”. He looked at a little boy
running towards her, his teacher, as she bent down and lifted him up, planted a
kiss on his cheeks and embraced him tightly. For the first time in the last six
months since the mishap Raghu saw Sumithra happy. Sumithra finally discovered
her trail in life, a meaning and reason for her to continue living despite her
tragic loss. She walked into her class and saw those magical smiles across all
those little ones faces like her Amar. With the feeling that her Amar had been
rejuvenated, made immortal, she wiped her tears and arranged the building
blocks for the kids!
