Pitfall to paradise!
Rahul Vanketraman was a young boy, when he was left alone; in a land,
unfamiliar to his innocent mindset. As a mistaken identity, he had
roamed in the streets of the city; sometimes, in search of his
guardians, then for bread.
For a child, it was a greater asking; to tell him, to earn his own livelihood. In the summer season, he would be a street hawker, selling fish on the roadside along with other stalls undergoing similar business. That city, of Kolkata.
Freshness spread in through the mind, into his actions; when he would reach the government apartments from the Salt Lake, surpassing the morning walkers. He pleased his employers who lived in the flats, by being right on time; he washed their cars.
Rahul would never ask for any kind of help from anyone, it was just he, himself; loitering from road to road, looking for a better life, every turn, every block. Passerby's were pleased to see him, with his face bearing greetings and messages of goodness and harmony for them. They asked for his well being too but they knew, he was not perfect in life, but he was still satisfied with it.
Many works to do in a city, many lives to be lived by the young boy. Yes, he was quite well to do; if one compared his state with others of his age, who were similar to him in one way or the other, loitering in the streets without any sharp will to make things better for themselves unlike him. Rahul fixed his eyes, on to their faces and their actions, and he was taken aback every time. Shubham, his pal would beg at the Kalighat Temple, burn tobacco in the meantime. “Life was unsettled”, thought Rahul.
In the days to follow, his optimism towards life paid him well. His employer Ms. Ramita Bose, offered him a job in her printing press. Rahul agreed to it instantaneously, as soon as he heard about it; he jumped in with glory. In the days to follow, he learnt the art of printing, how were sheets pressed against the printing machine, and how were blank pages put inside the machine in a bundle. Rahul had known about the technology through the conversations with Ms. Ramita even before she offered him this job. Maybe, she made him know about it, to see his interest in that and to note his immediate response to what she had just told him. She wasn't turned down with any lack of interest from the lad's side but on the other hand, she was greeted with charisma, that spoke volumes about his will to succeed in life. Once she asked him, regarding what success meant to him. He would always reply, “to learn and to enjoy, every new thing; unknown, and unheard of; that would make me a gentleman.”, he ended this sentence with a grin and precision, as if he had memorized that line like a parrot. At his saying so, Ms. Ramita passed an imaginative sigh of wonder, to find how seamlessly this lad could interpret his thoughts and somewhere his dreams as well.
In the days to follow, Rahul had started to read and write as the lady whose heart this boy took away, didn't want to see him settled in life with less. She believed that he had a sharp mind and could make a beautiful success story. For her, he was an inspiration. While Rahul enjoyed his new life, he wondered how far he had come; how the stars that would once enchant hunger and forlorn to his heart, cheered him along this time.
Meanwhile he sensed freshness of fruits in the summers. His favourite fruit being mango, he would present his employer with a mango treat every other day. Moreover, he liked the idea of a holiday on Sunday. He had started living his life like never before. It appeared as if vibrant colours in galore had occurred all of a sudden in form of positivity and merriment.
Ms. Ramita Bose had her personal issues when she had problems at home. When she had to regularly send money back home for the proper medication of her younger sister, who was ailing from a disease. Money wasn't flowing that easily, but it was very much required. She would end up crying, to know that the operation was the only left route to her sister's wellness. Herself a strong lady, Rahul's employer would be desolate like a broken dream. No one by her side, she was all alone. Not many friends were by her side, as they had lived in different cities and they were all busy in their lives, least to ask for her goodness. She never had close friends and so she had not herself been that close to anyone either. When young, she would fight with people because she found their thoughts, so creepy and hers as the most satisfying. She had wondered all her life, in what fool's paradise she had lived, as ignoring people and being a silent person herself.
In those days she found her close relatives tearing apart their relations with her family. After that time, she had been a recluse, living in her own world of either fantasies or gloominess. It had been her problem, that she wanted peace; and to her, it had only meant to be, in being alone and not having expectations to address for someone. She had become a person who couldn't trust anyone and at the same time, no one could fully trust her. That's what made her realize that she was wrong, be-fooled by her own conditions in life. Unknown, not wishful to space out and let people in her life, she had dwindled with the thought of friendship in correlation. After a family disturbance, when relations broke between her father and his brothers and how their family got sidelined, she was left shattered; with the mischief further on, adding to her vows.
Rahul was young, he could not sense her pain she thought; from what she went through. But, somewhere she had ceased to realize, from where he had come and how he had worked day and night, to see himself flourish; to learn how to read and write. When he could decide for himself, at that age; that he didn't want to waste the roots of his life, in learning nothing by either begging or eating for free at the temples. He had taken a stand and stood to it unaltered, like a rock. There was no one to guide him, but his innocence. Ms. Ramita wondered if it was with God's grace, that he was untouched by the ways and means of the cruel world. That he had always walked up the ladder of success, in his own limitation and boundaries of childhood. All that he could see around him, he could make of it an analysis of what was right and what not! That was what made the difference. She thought of talking to him after all that he had seen life through his own lens.
Ms. Ramita: Rahul, tell me one thing. What's the difference you see between you and those tiny tots who wander on the roads and not work to fill their tummy?
Rahul: Madam, there's no difference between them and me. I wandered too, when I saw that no one responded to my weeping. When I was stuck, when I couldn't decide for myself, my life. I thought if people would sympathize with me and then raise me up as their own kid. But every time, I was broken apart. There was no one, on whom I could trust in this city, no friend, no one to accompany. It was about a new day, that I met new faces. I caught fishes from the river, learning the skills after watching young boys and fishermen doing the same. I befriended them, gave them portion of my earnings. I could make for two meals in a day. In a way, my life became really beautiful and lively every other passing day. I was satisfied when I could eat by my own money. That was a feeling of fulfilment. Then, I would sleep at night under the stars, unafraid of insects at night; I remember how we friends made fun of one another, when someone would be afraid of ants scrolling on their heads in the midst of night. Under the street light, we would talk, abuse one another, for leaning on others money. There were differences that we sought, and then we moved ahead. Friends for few days, we would finally all disintegrate, to meet any other day; to stop and say a hello and share a glimpse of grin.
Ms. Ramita: Then, why did you fight? You boys, I mean; why so many differences?
Rahul: We were jealous of one another, when one of us struck a better work somewhere and could make more rupees.
They fell silent after this conversation, Ms. Ramita was surprised all throughout this time as she listened to him. It wasn't that he said something legendary of himself. But he was being honest regarding what he had seen in his days of the past. She smiled and patted him on his shoulders and he greeted her love with a pleasant sigh. It was a realization for this lady who was twice his age, but it was in his words that made her sense the richness of purity embedded, as are red sandstones in the monuments of the city. Monument, as a rich portrayal of one's spirits. That what so ever be the situation in life, the faith wasn't customary to be broken, but even made stronger as one fell and stood up again. There were problems in everyone's life. What one could do was to be happy and give a further thought on life bringing that change to the person. To be strengthened to walk past the difficult period. Moreover, life not always gave what was expected of it, one had to curb ones emotions and dreams; thinking that maybe if not this, then something even better is there waiting for us to be met with. When it was about fulfilling one's wishes and dreams, then we would finally draw towards our calling and grow with the hardships of life. In and through all these struggles, life would define itself in the passage of days.
Problems at home and family caused tension and pain, but knowing that it would all be better one day and it would settle one fine day; was to attain harmony within oneself and the people around. Yes, for sure one needed support of others, but even if Ms. Ramita didn't have friends in her early life, she had got a close friend now, who was fourteen years old. Friendship came along, and so did feelings glue in the very lines of magic and the so called bonhomie. Life danced once again for her and it was in the pursuit of happiness that she looked at the night sky, to witness the life in the twinkling stars. And keeping the image of them with her eyes closed, she understood the importance to breathe easy, to dream with all the problems that would otherwise sit as parasites to one's mind.
Life had won yet again, and this winning spirit flowed from Rahul Vanketraman to Ms. Ramita Bose as the wave of heartfelt joys. More was to come to life. Isn't it?
For a child, it was a greater asking; to tell him, to earn his own livelihood. In the summer season, he would be a street hawker, selling fish on the roadside along with other stalls undergoing similar business. That city, of Kolkata.
Freshness spread in through the mind, into his actions; when he would reach the government apartments from the Salt Lake, surpassing the morning walkers. He pleased his employers who lived in the flats, by being right on time; he washed their cars.
Rahul would never ask for any kind of help from anyone, it was just he, himself; loitering from road to road, looking for a better life, every turn, every block. Passerby's were pleased to see him, with his face bearing greetings and messages of goodness and harmony for them. They asked for his well being too but they knew, he was not perfect in life, but he was still satisfied with it.
Many works to do in a city, many lives to be lived by the young boy. Yes, he was quite well to do; if one compared his state with others of his age, who were similar to him in one way or the other, loitering in the streets without any sharp will to make things better for themselves unlike him. Rahul fixed his eyes, on to their faces and their actions, and he was taken aback every time. Shubham, his pal would beg at the Kalighat Temple, burn tobacco in the meantime. “Life was unsettled”, thought Rahul.
In the days to follow, his optimism towards life paid him well. His employer Ms. Ramita Bose, offered him a job in her printing press. Rahul agreed to it instantaneously, as soon as he heard about it; he jumped in with glory. In the days to follow, he learnt the art of printing, how were sheets pressed against the printing machine, and how were blank pages put inside the machine in a bundle. Rahul had known about the technology through the conversations with Ms. Ramita even before she offered him this job. Maybe, she made him know about it, to see his interest in that and to note his immediate response to what she had just told him. She wasn't turned down with any lack of interest from the lad's side but on the other hand, she was greeted with charisma, that spoke volumes about his will to succeed in life. Once she asked him, regarding what success meant to him. He would always reply, “to learn and to enjoy, every new thing; unknown, and unheard of; that would make me a gentleman.”, he ended this sentence with a grin and precision, as if he had memorized that line like a parrot. At his saying so, Ms. Ramita passed an imaginative sigh of wonder, to find how seamlessly this lad could interpret his thoughts and somewhere his dreams as well.
In the days to follow, Rahul had started to read and write as the lady whose heart this boy took away, didn't want to see him settled in life with less. She believed that he had a sharp mind and could make a beautiful success story. For her, he was an inspiration. While Rahul enjoyed his new life, he wondered how far he had come; how the stars that would once enchant hunger and forlorn to his heart, cheered him along this time.
Meanwhile he sensed freshness of fruits in the summers. His favourite fruit being mango, he would present his employer with a mango treat every other day. Moreover, he liked the idea of a holiday on Sunday. He had started living his life like never before. It appeared as if vibrant colours in galore had occurred all of a sudden in form of positivity and merriment.
Ms. Ramita Bose had her personal issues when she had problems at home. When she had to regularly send money back home for the proper medication of her younger sister, who was ailing from a disease. Money wasn't flowing that easily, but it was very much required. She would end up crying, to know that the operation was the only left route to her sister's wellness. Herself a strong lady, Rahul's employer would be desolate like a broken dream. No one by her side, she was all alone. Not many friends were by her side, as they had lived in different cities and they were all busy in their lives, least to ask for her goodness. She never had close friends and so she had not herself been that close to anyone either. When young, she would fight with people because she found their thoughts, so creepy and hers as the most satisfying. She had wondered all her life, in what fool's paradise she had lived, as ignoring people and being a silent person herself.
In those days she found her close relatives tearing apart their relations with her family. After that time, she had been a recluse, living in her own world of either fantasies or gloominess. It had been her problem, that she wanted peace; and to her, it had only meant to be, in being alone and not having expectations to address for someone. She had become a person who couldn't trust anyone and at the same time, no one could fully trust her. That's what made her realize that she was wrong, be-fooled by her own conditions in life. Unknown, not wishful to space out and let people in her life, she had dwindled with the thought of friendship in correlation. After a family disturbance, when relations broke between her father and his brothers and how their family got sidelined, she was left shattered; with the mischief further on, adding to her vows.
Rahul was young, he could not sense her pain she thought; from what she went through. But, somewhere she had ceased to realize, from where he had come and how he had worked day and night, to see himself flourish; to learn how to read and write. When he could decide for himself, at that age; that he didn't want to waste the roots of his life, in learning nothing by either begging or eating for free at the temples. He had taken a stand and stood to it unaltered, like a rock. There was no one to guide him, but his innocence. Ms. Ramita wondered if it was with God's grace, that he was untouched by the ways and means of the cruel world. That he had always walked up the ladder of success, in his own limitation and boundaries of childhood. All that he could see around him, he could make of it an analysis of what was right and what not! That was what made the difference. She thought of talking to him after all that he had seen life through his own lens.
Ms. Ramita: Rahul, tell me one thing. What's the difference you see between you and those tiny tots who wander on the roads and not work to fill their tummy?
Rahul: Madam, there's no difference between them and me. I wandered too, when I saw that no one responded to my weeping. When I was stuck, when I couldn't decide for myself, my life. I thought if people would sympathize with me and then raise me up as their own kid. But every time, I was broken apart. There was no one, on whom I could trust in this city, no friend, no one to accompany. It was about a new day, that I met new faces. I caught fishes from the river, learning the skills after watching young boys and fishermen doing the same. I befriended them, gave them portion of my earnings. I could make for two meals in a day. In a way, my life became really beautiful and lively every other passing day. I was satisfied when I could eat by my own money. That was a feeling of fulfilment. Then, I would sleep at night under the stars, unafraid of insects at night; I remember how we friends made fun of one another, when someone would be afraid of ants scrolling on their heads in the midst of night. Under the street light, we would talk, abuse one another, for leaning on others money. There were differences that we sought, and then we moved ahead. Friends for few days, we would finally all disintegrate, to meet any other day; to stop and say a hello and share a glimpse of grin.
Ms. Ramita: Then, why did you fight? You boys, I mean; why so many differences?
Rahul: We were jealous of one another, when one of us struck a better work somewhere and could make more rupees.
They fell silent after this conversation, Ms. Ramita was surprised all throughout this time as she listened to him. It wasn't that he said something legendary of himself. But he was being honest regarding what he had seen in his days of the past. She smiled and patted him on his shoulders and he greeted her love with a pleasant sigh. It was a realization for this lady who was twice his age, but it was in his words that made her sense the richness of purity embedded, as are red sandstones in the monuments of the city. Monument, as a rich portrayal of one's spirits. That what so ever be the situation in life, the faith wasn't customary to be broken, but even made stronger as one fell and stood up again. There were problems in everyone's life. What one could do was to be happy and give a further thought on life bringing that change to the person. To be strengthened to walk past the difficult period. Moreover, life not always gave what was expected of it, one had to curb ones emotions and dreams; thinking that maybe if not this, then something even better is there waiting for us to be met with. When it was about fulfilling one's wishes and dreams, then we would finally draw towards our calling and grow with the hardships of life. In and through all these struggles, life would define itself in the passage of days.
Problems at home and family caused tension and pain, but knowing that it would all be better one day and it would settle one fine day; was to attain harmony within oneself and the people around. Yes, for sure one needed support of others, but even if Ms. Ramita didn't have friends in her early life, she had got a close friend now, who was fourteen years old. Friendship came along, and so did feelings glue in the very lines of magic and the so called bonhomie. Life danced once again for her and it was in the pursuit of happiness that she looked at the night sky, to witness the life in the twinkling stars. And keeping the image of them with her eyes closed, she understood the importance to breathe easy, to dream with all the problems that would otherwise sit as parasites to one's mind.
Life had won yet again, and this winning spirit flowed from Rahul Vanketraman to Ms. Ramita Bose as the wave of heartfelt joys. More was to come to life. Isn't it?
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