Sunday, September 7, 2008

The Wakeful Dream

The phone call was unexpected.

Prabodh leaped from his chair and frantically tried to locate his manager to seek permission to leave the office earlier than usual. Prabodh informed his manager that his father was seriously ill. He could breathe his last any moment therefore he needs to rush home as soon as possible. Without wasting a moment he left office immediately.

He felt as if his blood froze, his mind blacked-out and his whole body immobilized in this situation. After his mother’s death, a couple of years ago, this came as a severe blow. He didn’t mind walking in the rain as his sole objective was to reach home at the earliest. There was no autorickshaw or a cab in sight, so he decided to go by bus hoping it would arrive soon. He looked at the dark sky and felt hopeless about the situation. At times, the rain disturbs the routine of life, as it brings to a halt the expected orderly schedule one follows. In order to reach the bustop, Prabodh had to walk across the busy traffic junction or use the Subway. Now being in a hurry, he decided to cross the lane as he saw two buses approaching towards the bus-stop. The traffic light blinked red.

The bus was unexpectedly empty considering the peak office time. Sparse amount of people occupied the seats in the bus. Prabodh managed to board the bus with considerable ease without much effort. And he also managed to find a vacant seat near the window. He looked out and saw that at the traffic signal there was a huge group of people gathered around something. This was indeed a bleak day, he thought. It was a long journey home that took around forty-five minutes.

He looked out of the glass window which was shut due to rain and he couldn’t believe his eyes.
It seemed that his past was sailing along which made him wonder if he was dreaming. Firstly, his memories of his early childhood flashed brightly which he did not remember very well. Then the days of his early teen and adolescence along with his friends, parents and other people he met and that seemed to be too good to be true. Those were days, when he enjoyed his life the most. And then some of his recent memories, primarily those cherished moment he spent with the girl he loved.
All those good times and the days of adversity brought his mind to a halt that derived at a conclusion that life is strange and beautiful yet a mysterious dream that does not confirm whether one is dreaming in a conscious state or if it’s a state of consciousness in the sleep. The bus was nearing its destination however it had to cover distance of fifteen more minutes.

From his seat, Prabodh saw an old man board the bus from the front door. He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and realized that it was his father.
He rushed forward and greeted him and enquired, “Father, where are your going? I thought you were ill and not in a state to move out of your bed so I left office in a hurry to see you.”
To this his father replied, “I couldn’t wait any longer, so I came looking for you.”
Prabodh was perplexed.
His father spoke again and said, “I wanted to speak to you earlier but you were busy with work and other responsibility due to which we hardly had any time to sit and talk. I just want to say that, you are a good son, a brave one.”
Tears rolled down father’s cheek but he continued, “I never lived up to your expectation. I could not fulfill many of your desires. You sacrificed a lot just for the family. I ask for forgiveness, son.”

Prabodh replied, “Father you did everything within your means for the goodness of our family and never cared about your own self. I remember mother said you crushed and buried your own dreams for our sake. You are a good father, I look up to you. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

The bus halted at the place they had to alight. Prabodh’s father said, “Come on son, we need to reach home quickly.”

The streets were lit in the evening and rain had stopped. As they neared the house, there was huge gathering of people. They crossed the front gate and walked towards the house. Prabodh noticed that an arrangement for funeral for two people was being made. He was confused but his father looked calm as if nothing has happened. Then he saw his aunt trying to console his younger brother and sister. He decided to ask his elder brother who was crying, sitting next to someone who was laid on the floor. He looked carefully and realized that it was his father who had passed away while he was enroute home. Still that did not clear his confusion as he had accompanied his father into the house until a few minutes ago. Strange thoughts ran past his mind about some incredible phenomenon which was utterly inexplicable to him now and suddenly his brother’s phone rang.

Prabodh’s elder brother Sushant took the call but was barely able to utter anything.
Prabodh stood behind him so that he could listen to his brother. After listening for a while, Sushant hoarsely replied, “Mala Aunty, Prabodh died in a road-accident while returning from his office. We’re still waiting for his body to arrive from the coroner.”

No comments: