THE DAYLILY

 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!