Aatma

Together Forever

Together Forever.

Shawn was the only child of Sundari and Shivam ,both were very poor ,they lived in the outskirts of the city .Shivam walked every day to the city in search of job ,he would do any work ,carrying luggage of people in the railway station or working at people’s house as a helper or gardener. 

He was a very hard working sincere man ,he loved his wife and son and when he used to come home after a hard days work he would never forget to bring flowers for his wife and sweets for his son ,though he used to earn meager income .He loved to see his wife waiting for him in the evening with the small son near their small house ,the joy in her eyes seeing him though he was soaked in sweat and mud gave him immense pleasure, holding his son in his arms they would enter their house which he had built for her after marriage with his own hand’s. it was more than a house, it was a temple of love for them. 

He would go to take a bath and she would also pour water from the well on him and help him scrub his body and clean the dust. this would bring them more near as lover’s she would take away the whole day’s pain from his body and he would feel the soft hands on his body soothing his soul .he would go to any length to work more hard and make more money to secure her and his small son.Then after the bath he would change and look forward to the simple but delicious meal which she would prepare for him,she would give him steamed rice boiled roots,and some chilly and salt as only this they could afford on daily basis.

 On a special day when he used to get more money he would bring fish and that day it was like a festival for them.He would always give her the first morsel from his plate she would wait for this as it made her feel proud of her love for him.he would tell her what he did the whole day this would make her realize how hard he worked for them.and she would tell what she did in the house and then both would play with their son and then hold each other and fall asleep.this was their daily routine. One day when Shivam was leaving in  search of work he looked at his wife and said hope he gets a permanent work ,so that he does not have to keep searching for work every day ,he wanted  to come home to her and his son with lots of food items and give her beautiful clothes to wear and ofcourse flowers for her long lustrous hair.    

Sundari bids him goodbye and kisses his forehead and say’s one day will surely come when there will always be grains and clothes in this house in abundance .She locks her small house takes a basket and picks up her son and goes in search of cow dung in the nearby villages ,she also works in few peoples house as a maid and they give her some left over vegetables and flour which she ties in her saree pallu ( Saree is the traditional attire women wear in India and pallu  is the loose end of that attire ,ladies also use it to cover their head ).

She comes home before her husband comes so that she can finish cleaning her house ,cooking and taking bath and looking fresh as a delicate flower for her husband .She keeps the basket of dung in the store room which she will use to spread it on their floor the next day as she would have to rush today to cook some special dish with the flour and vegetables she had got . She takes a bath ,washes her long lustrous black hair and wears a fresh saree . Though it is very old, it is washed and clean , she makes chapatis today with the flour.(chapatis are Indian bread. It is prepared by taking wheat flour, adding salt to it and slowly adding water so as to make a soft dough ),  nothing else is added, it's only flour, water and salt. Then small balls are made out of it and dusted with dry flour. Roll out round chapatis next, keep an iron pan on the stove when it is hot, fry those chapatis on both sides . like that all the balls are rolled out and chapatis are fried but it should have brown spots not black.This food is so soothing to the body and a tired soul it can be eaten with anything mashed banana, crushed onion and chilli,mixed with  salt. 

It is yummy This was Shivam’s favourite food Sundari wanted to treat her husband to this favourite food of his ,she wanted to show her love for him .She prepares all the chapatis and is in a very good frame of mind she has the habit of singing songs while going about her chores ,today she was singing a song for her husband as she was waiting very eagerly she was saying “ Dressing up for you dear making every part of my   body smooth and applying fragrance ,applying kohl to my eyes as they will shine bright when they see you , clipping the fragrant flowers on my long a plait waiting anxiously for you to come and sweep me off my feet and make love to me dear tonight will be special for us my dear “ she is all ready for him waiting but today he cannot go out as she sees dark clouds over her house .she puts her son to sleep, closes the small windows in the house and sitting near a small window and waiting for him suddenly it looks as if it has become night though the clock shows 5pm Shivam usually comes home 6 pm as ,the wind blows menacingly  and closes the window through which she is seeing out she puts her hand out and hold the window open.

She talks to the wind why are you stopping me from seeing my husband he will feel sad not seeing me waiting for him near the door please don’t shut my window i need to see my husband returning from work , she sees the huge tree near the well wear he takes bath daily after coming home is swerlings madly as if threatening the well   she saw crows flying very urgently toward the big windmill as if telling all the other birds hide from the rain .when she comes out of her thinking process and see the clock it shows 8pm ,she is suddenly getting cold feet it has started raining heavily her tin roof is making lot of noise with the rain dropping on it she is disturbed what is taking so long where is her husband today he had said he wants to come come early then what happened did he stay back, she sees her reflection in a small mirror and smiles she is still looking fresh she straightens the few strands which had blown due to the wind and again opens the window and sees .

Her happiness knows no bond  when she sees her husband walking towards the house ,she runs towards the cooking table where she had kept a lamp burning in front of her deity .she quickly picks up the lamp and opens her front door ,and starts scolding her husband lovingly for keeping her waiting for so long she tells him she was so scared when it started raining but he just sees her and does not reply she takes his hand and feels it very cold she quickly removes his wet cloths and dries him and gives him fresh clothes to wear ,she tells him that  she has cooked his favourite food today chapati and vegetable and she tells him to rest till she brings it for him. First she keeps the lamp back in front of the deity and thanks him for sending her husband safely home then she serves the food in a plate and walks towards him she sees the lamp near the deity has gone off and she can hear dogs howling  she feels restless  she shouts at her dog and tells first my husband will eat and then remaining food will be given to you so stop howling but the dog and many more dogs join start to howl ,she sits near her husband touches his face which is ice cold she tells him never mind it's all because he was wet in the rain he has become cold she takes a piece of chapati and little vegetable and puts it in his mouth suddenly the lightning strikes and a loud thunder with it she sees her husband black and blue face she is shocked to see him like that when she shouts  infright  and runs to light the lamp and come back to see him.

The room is empty. He is nowhere .She runs out of the house calling out to him but he is nowhere. She comes back home hold’s her sleeping son and calls out to her husband to come. In the morning when she get up and again looks around the house house for Shivam an ambulance comes and the man calls her to come near it she goes and sees Shivam’s dead body there she is shocked she can not believe it as he was with her in the house in the night ,the man says people saw his body on the railway tracks. He was hit by a train around 6 oclock in the evening .The man gives her a bag in which there are new clothes and few eatables and flowers. Sundari cries her heart out and faints. 

At night she is alone at home with her son. She sits by the entrance of the doorway and weeps for her husband. Recalling the night he appeared as a ghost just to visit her one last time. As she wept thinking about him, a pale ice cold hand brushed away her tears from her warm cheek. Sundar glanced up and smiled.