CONCERN

CONCERN

Both of them were chatting.

“I came only last day.” One person said.

“I was working.” The second person said

“What was your big work?” the first person asked

“I was trying to store some food for the rainy season.”

The first person scratched his head. “Will we live until then? Our lives are so small.”

Even if we have only small lives, is it not good to store for tomorrow?”

“Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow or reap and neither do they store in storehouses. Then why we need to worry?

They started an argument. Then a small foot stamped on them. Those small ants were trampled.

Death comes always as a thief.

The Curse

THE CURSE

Thirst!. Unquenchable Thirst!!. The pain of the thrashes and the bleeding from the crown of thorns!

Along with that the insensitive and cruel ridicule of those whom he loved, and above all the monotonous loneliness on the cross. He was totally exhausted. He came again.

He was naked. Nobody gave him clothes.

HE was thirsty, but nobody gave him water.

No door opened for him in the thick darkness of the night.

He felt that the pain in the heart was more unbearable than anything else. The cruel persecution he faced was nothing when compared to pain of immense loneliness of the outcast. He moved like a tired person. Blood was still coming out of the pierced hands and legs. His constant prayer was that the days to come should not be harsh for the hapless.

Prayers! How much of advices!! Miracles!!! Empowerments!!!

Ahh What an unbearable thirst! HE knocked at the door. Somebody opened the door. It was the old blacksmith. He was the one who made four nails instead of three and was cursed for that mistake.

“You again!”

“I am thirsty”

He asked in a feeble voice

The blacksmith went inside but did not bring water. He brought three nails. He counted them again to ensure his mistake is not repeated. He crucified him on that remnant of the tree stump.

HAND OF GOD

Cool breeze was blowing across the valley. In the tribal hut, all were sitting by the hearth. They ate the wild roots.

Black soil, black people! They live fighting the soil and fighting the animals. The children of God, who many call Barbarians

“Good! Barbarians, black soil, and the children of God! Enjoying a puff of cigarette, Raghu told the person sitting across him enjoying a puff of Ganja.

He kept running his fingers over his French beard

“What do you think? If we write anything about the Adivasis, an award is a foregone conclusion. That is my experience... I began by writing a short story about Attapady, My story became the best story of the year.

Continuing to run his fingers over his beard and sat down again with a sly smile.

Raghu sir, it is very late already, I am off... I am sure your collection will definitely get an award

Raghu was lost in thoughts reflecting what I had said ‘If I get good ideas, may be I can try’ Raghu thought and after some reflection, it became a firm determination. I will get the entire award possible

He sipped a peg and smoked intensely.

He wrote on top of the White paper.

‘The Hand of God’

Scene I

Black wet soil. A potter’s hands form a pot

Scene2

Tribal colony! Huts covered by leaves, as sharp cry of a lady as if in birth pangs

When entering inside there also two hands... a small black child lying on the bamboo mat. The cries of the new born! Blood gushing out of the room deep into the forest!

Scene 3

Raghu slipped into sleep

‘Raghu are you also not an Adivasi? ‘

Wind was blowing strongly across. ‘Me! An adivasi!! Has God gone crazy?’

He laughed uncontrollably.

God replied... “I had created you as a barbarian adivasi”

For Raghu it was a stinging slap across his pride.

“I was a potter. When I made you I gave my image to clay mass and then you woke up into this world. Then who are you if not an Adivasi

God’s hands were extended towards him. Those were the hands of a potter.

Raghu became soil, black wet soil ready for the hand of the potter.The potter made him.

Then he got the Potter’s breath. He woke up nude, and ran deep inside the forest.

The Seed

THE SEED

Ohhh! What darkness! I am tired of this loneliness. The only thing that excites me is the possibility of breaking free. I can hear my heart bubbling with excitement. When will the light come and consume me? From the recess of the earth, to rise up in to the heaven of freedom and light! When will that day dawn?

The new life inside the shell struggles to break free, but for now it feigns asleep. Then something burst. The outer shell broke away. The small bud eagerly looked out.

The sun heat was scorching the surface. The small bud withered away very soon. That was a desert.

The Stranger: (A Simple Story)

A simple road curved around big Pine trees. Winter was harsher this year. Heavy snow fall had changed the landscape into a monotonous white blanket. Birds were silent and some of their tribe had gone in search of green.

‘What a cold weather! From where can I get some bread and warmth?

The stranger wondered within himself.

He took staggering steps through the whitened path leaving a trail of blood from his bruised feet. It appeared as red flowers in a white background.

He looked around and his eyes searched the horizon. His searching eyes gleamed at the smoke that came from the chimney of a small house.

He walked to that house.

‘Ah! I can’t walk any further! He exclaimed. He sat down on the verandah of the house. He peeped through the glass panes of the house. A groaning sound came out through the small opening in the window. The stranger knocked at the door.

‘Hey, is anybody in?’

There was no response. His ears caught the groaning sound again. He knocked at the door a little louder but to his surprise he found that the door was not locked. He closed the door behind him. A candle lit up the room modestly. A dining table was there in the middle of the room. The flowers in the vase were almost dry.

Again the stranger heard the groan.

He saw an old man shivering in acute cold. The fire in the hearth had almost fizzled out. The old man gestured to the stranger. He wanted to sit up, but could not make himself do it. The stranger put some logs into the hearth and helped the old man to sit. The fire warmed the room. The old man walked towards the hearth and sat on a chair. He invited the stranger to sit near him. They shared a little bread that remained with him.

The stranger was happy. The problem of cold and hunger had vanished, at least temporarily. The old man shared a blanket as well.

Now the stranger wanted to go. His journey was still on. The old man shuddered at that.

He begged. “By Jove, are you sure you want to go?”

The stranger smiled. “I have so many people waiting for me”

The old man applied some medicine to the stranger’s feet.

The stranger put the blanket over the old man’s shoulder and started walking.

The old man tried to interrupt. “Please, save me from this loneliness, at least for this day.”

“How will you believe me? Am I not a stranger to you?” the stranger asked.

The old man touched the stranger with his withered hand. Tears were trickling down through his cheeks. His heart was filled with joy.

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of

God. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.’

The old man saw wounds on the hands of the stranger. He kissed those wounds. His heart was swept by tides of happiness and comfort which he had never tasted.

“How could you love me so much?” the stranger asked.

“If I had not believed you I would not leave a moment happily. Somehow he felt that he wanted to go with the stranger.

The stranger patted his shoulders. Blood oozed out of the wounds of the stranger. His eyes were full of compassion.

“The wolves and the lamb shall feed together and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt and not destroy in all my holy mountains”

“Son, I am coming for you. I knock at every door. Those which are not locked will open.”

“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty, ye gave me drink, I was a stranger, and ye took me in, naked and ye clothed me. I was sick you visited me and ye came unto me.”

Suddenly light enveloped the stranger. In fact it seemed to emanate from him. The old man bent his knees and prayed. The light suffused all over him. The light immersed his spirit in joyous tides. He saw broken logs and open sepulchers.

The stranger floated out through the door. The old man stood with staggering legs and followed, his heart rejoicing in ecstasy.

The smoke from the chimney died down. The old man did not need it anymore.