A Mother's Tale (standard:drama, 2140 words)
Author: parthacharya@indiatimes.com	Added: May 07 2002	Views/Reads: 3401/2307	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
It's a mother tale about raising a fatherless son all by herself and the sacrifices and the compromises she has to make in this struggle

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

no domicile and Dhuli babu was a widower. She fulfilled his physical 
hunger and he gave her the financial blanket for her material need. But 
she knew  even her son would not believe her what to expect from the 
society  .Branding someone comes natural to the society ,she knew she 
would be convicted as guilty by a patriarchal society. She decided to 
put an end to this. She no longer needed the money so it was better to 
put an end to the agreement with Dhuli babu.But the damage had already 
been .Word had fallen into Jane's ears and he was furious about it. But 
he kept quite with the desire to catch her red handed 

During rest of the month both Jane and his mother evaded each other. 
Trishna avoided spilling any more beans while Jane did not want to make 
his  mother suspicious. Both waited anxiously for the first day of next 
month .Trishna had thought it all up in her mind .She would dress up 
the same way as she had done until  now , go to Dhuli babu's house and 
end the agreement. If she stops going there from next month rumor would 
soon die. She was pretty sure about the success of whole thing. She 
knew Jane ,if he would have heard something like this ,he would have 
beaten her to death. Since his behavior had remained totally normal, 
she thought that the rumor never got across to him . Finally the D-day 
arrived. To avoid suspicion Jane left the house on the context of 
visiting a friend and made himself look out of station. But he remained 
in town and took domicile in a dharmashala on the outskirts of city to 
avoid detection. In this entire time the one question that really 
bothered him was that "what if the rumor turned true ?".For all his 
disdain for women as such and his mother in particular, Jane had never 
imagined life without her. She had very much been a part of her 
identity which he acknowledged grudgingly. .He could not make out what 
to do with her if he caught her red handed .Finally he made a decision. 
If his worst fear came true then he take her to Puri and dump her 
there. There are enough temples in Puri which would feed her and this 
would also give her an opportunity for commit a penance. 

The morning of d-day Jane took position at a tea stall near Dhuli babu's
house. From here he could see every person visiting Dhuli babu house 
that day. Since he was not sure at what time his mother would pay her 
visit he decided to conduct his surveillance since morning itself. To 
spend time he bought an English novel from nearby local hawker. The 
wait seemed to be endless , Jane kept his back towards the road least 
to be recognized by some passerby. By the time he finished half his 
novel it was already noon. Jane went to a local stall and bought some 
food. Every now and then someone acquainted would pass by and Jane 
would pray to remain undetected. He constantly watched the lock hanging 
on Dhuli babu's door .Around 4'o' clock in the noon Dhuli babu 
returned. Jane knew it could be any moment now . He waited with held 
breathe. His gut feeling was that before the end of the day his life 
would change forever. Soon his demons started haunting him, and then 
his mother arrived .The rickshaw stopped near the stairs that lead 
straight to the station masters house, she  was quick to climb them and 
looked around before entering the house. She was relived that that no 
one was following her. After she closed the door which Dhuli had left 
open in anticipation of her arrival ,Jane made his move .Dhuli was used 
to this schedule .This is how it had gone on for so long it was fine 
with him. Though  a Hindu he knew it  wrong to take advantage of other 
person's compulsion , but  like all humans he never felt any  hitch in 
hoodwinking his religion whenever it suited him .Inside Trishna had a 
hard timing in convincing him of her problem. He simply was not ready 
to let go of this arrangement . Finally, he did agree but on one 
condition. That she was here now ,she would allow him to make good of 
this visit .Trishna agreed reluctantly to this but then it was the last 
time she felt. She neatly took off her clothes and left them in the 
lobby ,any crease on her sari could give her way ,she had to be 
careful. Finally she entered the bedroom . Nothing could prepare Jane 
for what he was about to witness. From the kitchen   window the lobby 
and a part of bedroom was clearly. Jane recognized the neatly folded 
sari lying on the dinning table of the lobby. The sight of the blouse 
lying nearby informed him of the act being committed inside the house. 
As the moved closer the incestuous hunger of two intertwined bodies 
drenched in the moaning of love petrified and enchanted him . For the 
moment the human in him took over and he stood there silent. But soon 
the surge of social values and narrowed minded vanity pulled him back 
into his patriarchal cocoon .Nothing in his knowledge could justify 
what he witnessed in the bedroom .It was not forced rather with 
consent. His steps traced the route towards his house. By the time he 
reached home , he was walking volcano. He looked for his handkerchief 
to wipe the beads of sweat on his forehead. It was not there in his 
pocket, had it fallen somewhere. Jane was in no position to ponder .He 
simply pushed across everything that came his .His illusions came 
crashing like the goods of the house which fell by his nudge and 
grudge. He felt he hadn't been responsible enough. How could he oversee 
something like this going on for all  years. But what bothered his 
analytical mind was the question "why had it been going on at all ?".He 
was sure for all her shortcoming his mother was not a  night walker.As 
he cooled down he could see the line of reasoning. Dam nit it was the 
money. All these years, the mysterious pay checks that he received on 
the first of every month was perhaps the price of her act .It was not 
his luck at play rather the sacrifice of his mother. The money that 
made him the scholar was the contribution of his mother  .That 
realization changed it all. Jane knew he had not made it to this place 
on his own , others had made a significant contribution to his victory. 
The idea of Puri disappeared. He was going to apologize to his mother 
for behavior up till this day in his life. Tomorrow was going to be a 
new day for him. A new beginning of life with his mother. 

Outside it had become dark. It was going to rain. Trsihna descended the
steps of Dhuli babu's house. She would need a rickshaw. At the last 
stair she picked up a small piece of cloth. It was Jane's handkerchief. 
She knew what that meant. On her way home she contemplated her options. 
There were none except for the only one. There in corner row in her 
kitchen she had left a small bottle of pesticide thinking of this very 
day. The demolished environment at home only hardened her resolve. She 
took the bottle ,lifted a glass and closed the door. 


Tweet