The Pier Glass - Short Story

A shower of sparkles mitigated the dawn. A low rumble seemed to engulf the pacific nature. The earth trembled as the lofty body levied its full weight and moved on. A long whistle sought to alarm any possible trespassers in its length of territory for the penalty of such an offence could be none other than heralding a dreadful demise. All the hustle was evanescent and soon was dominated by the titters and tears of the multifarious gobs as they gushed in and out of the train, depicting the vicious reality of life!  

I rubbed my eyes and sat huddled in at the seat gazing out at the baffled world. Coming back to my senses I realized that the terminus of our errand had come. Right to my side slept my mother winded and twined intricately in her 'white quilt' that she had received as a gift during the marriage from her parents. Excitement was tickling every nerve of mine. I shook my mother and whispered in her ears, "Mamma get up fast! The much yearned moment has finally arrived, it's time to rejoice every moment now!"

My mother was fast asleep out of the excessive exhaustion of the night before. She worked at a call center in the heart of Khakhra a port city located on the West coast of the India, just below Mumbai. To cope up with the standards of living and maintaining ones dignity is no more a cup of tea. Long and stressful working hours accompanied by low emoluments are the two most intrinsic features of the present day private corporations. Everyone wants to reap the rice; whether or not they had been the janitors of is but an entirely indifferent tale! This very race of paramountcy like the savaging fire has besieged and ravaged the humanity! And though it remains the trait of life and the law of nature - 'The fittest survives and the rest perish'! For a little family like mine, capital would be one of the greatest barrier.

Mrinal, my sweet mother could faintly hear what I was saying. I tried to wake her up once more. I said to her, "O mummy get up now, we're in Granny's village." The mention of my granny had an enchanting effect on her. A pulse of nimble and exhilaration passed on from her head to the toe. Ah! The deepest eternal relationship! In no time my mother sprang up and gathered all the luggage. 

Meanwhile I absent mindedly picked up a magnificent steel thermos and started to scrutinize it from all the angles. I would turn fourteen come 6^th of this month. I a cute girl full of enthusiasm and zeal for anything and everything, am very inquisitive and like to ponder and reason for all that don't suite my fashion. I was imbibed in my own world busy opening my magic-casket! Meanwhile it is remarkable to observe my frantic mother. Losing a valuable possession at the inceptions of a day signified bad omen and an ill fate as laid down by the ists and was all that the children like me had ever heard but indeed the roots of it penetrate deep into the materialistic world! Thus my mother's turmoil was totally justified.

My mother sighed at the very sight of the thermos flask. A light cuff left the remnants of her blow. My adorable cheeks turned bright crimson with shades of pink lost in patches. The incessant cascades of saline waters paved the path for the agitated ripples of my fragile heart! My mother turned heart-sore at the sight but what else could a woman working the whole day long, catering to the needs of her family and taking take care of her children have done? She put all her comforting powers and the cornerstone of a woman's heart into action. After all there exists no mother who could see their little ones in long faces!!!

Finally love combated and won o'er the momentary resentment and acrimony. Both of us pushed our way out of the train through the gobs of riff-raff. I with my sparkling little eyes examined our companions as we walked up to the station. The railway station was a bleak shabby place. The area all around was covered with the vestiges of eatables, bottles of water and all other litter that one could find at a dump-yard! The walls merely passed muster and seemed to have shed its flamboyant overcoat, just like the snake. Intricate designs in red were not out of place o'er the walls, for the local men cared a little, until they could make some room for fresh air in their mouths and expel the filthy liquid produced by the Paan. My mother and I reached the threshold of our little ambition, Raigadh. My mother asked me, "Can you spot your uncle"? I the merry angel rolled my eyes along the horizon. In an instance I figured out a tall slim man with a bushy black beard standing near the parapet, from the station. The ecstatic little voice of mine cried out, "Ya mamma there he is!!!" pointing to the youth. Both of us couldn't resist moving forward at the sight Shankar, my uncle. Shankar too was waiting for this noble moment desperately. My mother hugged Shankar.

The jubilance was apparent through the mirrors of heart! Where emotions dominate, peace must prevail for the mortal words fall short of expressing the eternal love! Even though the natural lenses are connoisseurs of this mesmerizing mortal motley mead, are but yet neophytes to the intrinsic mettle! The most essential elements of life can neither be beheld nor can be touched in contrast to the illusive avarice that all cease to seize! However they can be felt and sensitized. Perhaps the abstractions of these underpinnings of nature was destined to shield us from our own greed, malice and collusions! The intimate bonds of love that brothers and sisters, parents and their children share is at the pinnacle of this so-called world which we know a little about. Unconditional love out-powers even the most lethal weapon! True love deals in no logic nor does fish for any meticulous traits and therefore is the most chaste and cherishable feature of all the existing glory and splendor! It altogether would be a different story and in no condition would suite the mood of the scene should the 'ambitious devils' of the probable third dimension be anatomized.

Meanwhile I grew a little envious and possessive about both my mother and my uncle! My mother was my life while my uncle too loved me no less. He lifted me up and held me in his arms and started talking innately. He asked, "Hey how are you, my child?" I almost retorted and said, "I'm fine uncle. The whole year long I spent quarrelling and combating with the everlasting days just to ensure to be here by yours, Mamami's, Granny's and Subhash's side. And after all here we are! And do you remember that that… garden you were talkin' about the last time we did chat? O that we visited it this time!" He promised to take me there. On and on went our conversations as we tramped on to home.

Finally we reached a petty spot in the outskirts of Raigadh. The alleys were all in their lush green petticoats embroidered with fine aromatic blossoms that made a lofty show! The mellifluous chirps of the sparrows and the Koyals filled the air. The sun was right up struggling hard to pervade through the unwieldy black clouds. I puffed in the magnificence of the magnanimous! The icy breeze gently lifted my tufts up, swayed them in the air and cautiously placed 'em onto my innocent elegant checks! A heralding heaven indeed!

A crooked broken wooden fence ran all around the little home. The patches and loopholes were all guarded by piles of thorns bought after cutting down a few cactuses and other thorny bushes which without any scruple reflected the moral implications of the worldly life! We reached the vestibule. The wooden gate was swollen up with moisture and fungal outgrowth could clearly be seen. An old woman sat near the gate peering as far and wide as she could. I taking long and agile leaps ran towards her and landed into her lap. Maa as we called her, kissed me and embraced me to her bosom.  In came my uncle and mother. 

Maa called out to Subhash, "Subhash, where are you? Come up quickly, do you know who has come?"

Subhash with a smile on his face, and a hammer striking at his heart came running out of the house.

Maa spoke up again, "Will you not take the blessings of your aunt?"

Brother obeyed. And off he went to bring a wooden bed weaved around with thick white ropes like a cob-web! Uncle and mother took charge of their new possession. I pulled my brother's hand and whispered in his ears, "Hey let's go in the backyard!" Witnessing this mammi remarked, "It is interesting to note how children want to be in their own world, out of the haunts of almost everyone which is the probable reason of their chasteness!"

Subhash was overjoyed for I had finally arrived. We started to chat.

Subhash looked right into my eyes and spoke up, "Really nice to see you after quite a while. How are you? Have you planned anything for us to do this vacation?"

A dog just happened to pass by and eavesdrop our conversation. Subhash was very congenial and compassionate towards animals unlike the other local folks who get the vexed at the sight of the poor little harmless creature. Wagging its tail from time to time it came running to him. Subhash caressed it. Could heavens be more joyous than such a true love? Fishing for that that isn't at the moment allows for the betters of it to be drained and the eternal quest for a frugal more that was already there seeps in! Soon it glanced at me and started to sniff at my toes. I too was a little skeptical about the nature of dogs due to the strange tales that I used to hear from my neighbors. Subhash consoled me and grabbed my delicate hands to shoo away the fear of our new comrade. This very 'experience of mine' shrouded my ignorance. Taking a due notice of this Subhash chuckled and said, "Animals are so loyal you see, they don't have such a weel-developed logic as we have; for logic always intervenes in the affairs of love!"

Subhash applauded me thereby encouraging me and continued, "What are your future plans and ambitions?" I was bewildered at the question as most of the teens and lads are and perhaps Subhash expected this! Not expending much time on the topic he quickly diverted the discussion. He pulled out a few marbles out of his worn pocket. I immediately said, "Aww… This is my all-time favorite! Let's have a round." The game turned out to be very interesting.

It was ten past the noon. I was able to hear faint rumbles which was a sure indication of hunger. I said to Subhash, "I'm hungry now. Let's go to maa."I scuttled through lodging and sat in granny's lap. Subhash took a place near her mother. He then revealed the fix I was in. After a short conversation we moved to our 'heaven' and prepared for lunch. An auspicious day or special people at home would always mean delicious meals! Puris and Sheera lured and watered my mouth, a lucrative offer indeed! They seemed like Manna-Dew to me! After all it was the contentment and thrill that made me happy more than any other aspect!  Every now and then either Maa, Mami or Mama would infuse me with a little more might to have more. A prominent feature of the countryside where possessions and possessiveness is far beyond the wildest of the wild thoughts.

After finishing our lunch we decided to take a nap. I tried to sleep in my brother's room. The excitement of that charming place tickled my nerves and somehow didn't let me snooze and snore. Just then a shrill tremble was accompanied by a creaky sound which suggested the opening of a rusted wardrobe. Yes it was Subhash. He tried to abate the noise as far as possible but it was not possible even for a vocational guy to nick a thing out of it without waking up the owners! The cupboard contained a pile of books and clothes all clubbed together at various places. I imagined him locating and extracting a book from the heap. From the partially shut eyelids I noticed him holding a paper in his hands and moving towards our bag. He cautiously opened it up and pulled out a book that lay surrounded by the Sarees of my mother and put the sheet in. All this while I kept watching him in amazement but couldn't seize a bit of what was happening. After Subhash left, I lifted myself up and removed that book from our baggage. It was none other than my diary. I pulled the sheet out of it and glanced through it. The contents matched with the traits of a speech being delivered by the ministers at inauguration of some coveted monument! And then I turned stern and examined each phrase fastidiously. On and on started the brook of wisdom percolating from the perch!

"A speech by Mr. Nath at the 'Royal commission Hall'

Hello friends! It fills my heart with pleasure unspeakable to come at this podium and address my fellow countrymen. Teens and parents all lend me your ears. We all reside in the same country and are bound by the same ties of Love, Trust and Reverence. Each one of us wants to strive towards success and pave the path for the betterment of our nation. But things just don't happen as we want them to in the practical life, isn't it? The expenditure always exceeds the earnings and so is with the life! There are so many expectation out of a single man in this hectic world where life has merely become a race. And then comes a challenge and a failure in a single package which is labelled as success that at times ravages all the hopes and crushes the spirit! But let us understand this naïve fact that something that originates in the mind must find an end in its native!

The explicit reason behind the production of 'well-schooled' yet devastated and unemployed multitude is that we from day one are taught to obtain good marks by hook or by crook. There's a little emphasis laid down for the imagination! Marks dominate our thinking and has led us to bulldozing the teachers for it, taking to unfair means or simply overloading the life with tremendous pressure. Grades have become the identity of a student, which indeed does not have a commanding share o'er the real life!

The mesmerizing matrix that we all love to be attached with is indeed the outcome of the marvelous power of the human brain! Exploring the un-explored and the quest for the un-known has ever since been the prime motive of mankind!

Education is a valuable asset. But looking at the present day world we all are taught right at the inceptions, to be at pinnacle; to be a pupil scoring above 90s. To have 15 subjects and scoring 92% is simply awe-inspiring! But alas! No one seems to be interested in developing that 'contemplative attitude'. The call of time is not to work like donkeys and score the maximum but is indeed to introspect and understand one's own self rather than simply following all that others have to say.

Of course this does not mean that I am running down the importance of the elaborate studies and the determination that should be overwhelming in a student's mind. Knowledge is never futile; it would surely be of some use in the course of life. If not directly for ourselves than for others! Knowledge is the ultimatum of human life. Understanding the world around and acquiring some fundamental knowledge is utmost necessary.

But not all can to do wonders in the field of mathematics or arts or politics nor were they born for that! Variety is the spice of life! And indeed owing to this multifarious expertise we are able to celebrate our lives. Running behind everything reduces one to an abject deficiency of everything, but focusing on a single target makes the life more viable! Most of the youth today are baffled and perplexed as in 'How to setup the life' even after reaching the threshold of the real life!

This lack of decision making and the act of not allowing the brain to simply venture out and explore the beautiful world then leads to a miserable plight that the majority of the people live in today. Stagnant waters becomes a breading house for millions of creatures! A body-part unused gradually becomes of no use! Similarly leaving the minds intact and plunging into the race of paracmountcy leads to no terminus! Being passionate about that one idea and thinking day in and day out about it is what actually is needed. From kindergarten we are taught to score, but we do not know what the hell to make out of it! The work well begun is half done. Beginning with the end in mind clears all the haziness and leaves behind a crisp and a clear image. How soothing would it feel to watch a movie from a scratched disc?

On and on would then the dismal life trip by in stammers and simpers! How ironic the life becomes! Exploring and developing the thoughts is of utmost importance. Even an 'A+' on the report card has no binding effect until the aim of life becomes clear and one puts in unflinching efforts, shows utter dedication and rigor and builds up undaunted spirit. Perhaps that 'A+' was not something that was required at all but was simply the quest of a 'lost aspiration'!

Across every petty corner of this ever-stretching frontier can one find gobs of riffraff gobbling away the bounty of nature without a tinge of cognition, sauntering day and night, aimless, worthless! A mere burden to the motherland! Had these sequestered, staggering, quiescent groups been striving towards a common terminus, would the mankind be the brawniest and affluent! The ripples caused by a stone dropped in the midst of a pond is sure to hit the shingle. Every little action of ours has an effect in and around us. Idealness thus is not only a friendly evil to ourselves but to all the others that co-exist. An empty head is a devils home! The prime motive of our lives should be to assist anyone and everyone in any manner that we can, be generous and to be congenial and yet not become arrogant; i.e. remain down to the earth. Reaching the summit only implies to the fulfillment of that motive which again should be our revered duty. Simplicity is the most attractive and precious ornament that can be worn and is priceless for the ones who know its worth as well as who don't!"

I stopped at this point and switched to a pensive mood. I closed my eye and took a deep breath. Soon Subhash's question started to whirl in my head. Before I could muse much about it faint whispery voices blew with the winds and echoed in my ears. They were none other than that of my mother and maa. I heard my mother talking to maa, ".... as if I was some kinda terrorist dwelling in the house. She's always after my life, trying ruin all that I do. She does not miss a single chance to pull my legs. "I imagined maa nodding and then her voice spoke, "Yes Mrinal. All of this isn't something contemporary. Your mother-in-law, I and every single woman of our times has passed through such bitter and awful conditions." My mother seemed to have spoken with a sigh, "Maa many a times I feel that 'Love' has simply turned into a word appearing at some torn and uncouth page of the dictionary which is sparsely opened!"

All of a sudden everything in front of Shanta turned vague just as the acquaintances sublime from the memories as the time creeps on! Instinctively she drew her hand up to the pair of eyes and felt them moist and humid! Just then a feathery little sphere rolled down her rosy cheeks and landed upon the paper and then the other fell proliferating the influx! The blue ink on the paper spread staining it and obliterating the letters around it. Her nose grew crimson and an array of drops spanned the lengths and breadths of her forehead. Shanta explicitly flipped the page of the book she was reading. The title on the next page read '17.4.99'.

And there comes a stolid and impassive deep manly voice penetrating through the door almost shattering it to pieces. For a moment Shanta was out of her 'existence' and didn't hear him. But an instant's delay could have resulted into a catastrophe concluded Shanta for it was the menacing tone of his husband. Nimble evoked by fright opened the door and a stout man heaved expletives at her like pots and pans. The man bubbling in anger flung himself and jeered at Shanta for being so late. Shanta stood there for a minute but found it better to be out of his sight. So she scurried towards her room and took a glance at the foggy pier glass as the prophetic words of Mr. Nath and her mother resounded in her mind. A fusion of images of Subhash and that 'unforgettable day' swayed through the gallery of her mind. Her attempts to clean the mirror proved to be futile until she realized that the pier glass portrayed a mere reflection of her own sobs and sniffles!