THE KINGDOM OF THE EAST ( Short Story)

“The serpent was my friend of the past. We fed off the same paddy fields of the low lands. Together we had witnessed the changing times, we survived famines, wars and communal riots. We were born enemies but perhaps we have learned to live closer to each other. At times when I stepped into the marshy field of paddy, the snake followed me. The shiny black skin radiated under the morning sun, a pair of curves is painted on its hood. When it hissed, I could see the fangs, drooling in poison; the forked tongue flickered and smelled the air. Like a prey, I looked into its eye and stood hypnotized for a moment. At times, the human mind finds tremendous joy in destructing a beautiful object. The urge to crush the snakes’ hood under my feet grew overwhelmingly, but like every day, I resisted this urge appreciating its magnificent black shiny body. Have the “Beast of the underworld” held me enchanted or have I finally found a companion? Meanwhile, the snake vanished within a labyrinth of rat holes, leaving me stranded in the midst of the obnoxious pile of clay, dung and human sweat. ”

 The road was narrow and winding, in some patches it was nonexistent, and the ride was bumpy. Fakir, lost in his thoughts, looked out of the window, the sky was dark, the time of the day was hardly evident. The dark clouds loomed large over the distant town. But it was one of those days when it doesn’t rain but everyone waits in its anticipation, intimidating, there was an eerie silence, even the buzz of the cricket has suddenly stopped in the countryside, only the reminiscent of their constant chirping echoed through the ear canals.

 His head hit the roof, he pushed the brake paddle suddenly, the car stopped with a squirt and a violent jerk. He held his head, a drop of tear rolled down his eyes; he rubbed his head, cursing at the pot hole.

He looked at the mirror, his face was clean shaven, and there is a cut mark on his face, originating at the side of the nose and drawn up to the bottom of the lower lip. As a reflex action, he ran his fingers on the cut mark, the wound has healed but he could still feel the pain, his head was burning with rage, Fakir, took his skull cap and put it inside the drawer of the car’s dash board. After the recent riots in the town , fakir avoids being noticed .He can’t rely on anyone , he doesn’t  want to look different from the natives, in his dark skin , his narrow cheek bone , no one wants to be singled out in a mob , Fakir again ran his finger  on the cut mark .

This was still early morning, he had cursory glance at the cheap wrist watch he wore .The sky grew darker, the possibility of rain crossed him, damned the monsoon, the rain this season has made work difficult. His thoughts again moved to the window outside.

“When I woke up inside the labyrinth, I couldn’t open my eyes; the darkness was overflowing the narrow passage of the labyrinth. I could barely standup, the walls were damp and smelled of rotten carcass. There was a thin ray of light at the end of the tunnel which was reflected from the coarse walls. I began to crawl towards the light, anticipating an escape route. The passage opened up into a bigger hall. As I approached the hall, my worries grew, I heard a constant hissing noise I looked for the sickle which I usually tuck within my belt but couldn’t find it. Stealthily I approached the hall, as I peeped, my eyes were blinded by the glittering bright light, amidst rows of eggs were lined ,they all shone like pure gold, the serpent was waiting with its hood and its eyes fixed on me, am I dreaming again , when will this nightmare end ?”

Just where the village road ended , at the junction there is a wooden bridge to crossover to the town, the rain has finally started to fall, The Bridge was rickety , the rain made the tire slip when the car was over the Bridge . the bridge connected not only the far and near , but also two different worlds , the one which is privileged and another destitute , below the river Gauranga flowed in ripples , with every rain drop the ripples turned into waves , the waves took shape of  dreams of the destitute and rushed towards the town. The monsoon has touched the grass and the whole area looks more green and lush, every year when the monsoon arrives the river crosses over to the field and takes over lost ground, the green field wrestles it over when winter comes back, the tug of war continues. The pungent smell of the rain soaked earth began to fill the air. Fakir took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Yesterday night, the owner of the car, Rassol called for him at his Haveli, as he likes to call it, this is a big house built at the end of the barrage, out of the few immigrants who has made money in this country, Rassol is one of the most prominent, He has a thriving business of brick laying, He is the one who taught fakir to drive and employed him to supply construction materials to the markets at the Town.

When fakir reached the boundary walls of the Haveli, Rasool was waiting for him at the gate, as Fakir approached him, he smiled, the gold plated tooth twinkled alongside his other set of black teeth, his hair was dyed in saffron and his beard was dyed too in Mehendi

-          Salam, you called for me, is anything urgent?” Fakir nodded in usual gratitude.

Rasool put his hand across fakir’s shoulder as an assuring stance

-          “Come inside, we will talk.”

The unusal softness in his voice, surprised fakir, he followed rassol to the inside of the house

Inside the hall, fakir found another man sitting across the hall, someone whom fakir has never seen in this locality. He was a tall man with strong shoulders, his eyes were most remarkable, he looked with straight gaze, and the eyelid hardly flickered, the coldness of his gaze made fakir shiver. He looked away at rasool.

-          This is for your son, he held a packet in his hand and waved to fakir “, and he continued after a brief pause “I know you want to admit your son to the college, there is some money in the packet, it would be enough to get your son admission in college. I have already taked to Mr Kasim , the councilor” He pointed towards the man sitting at the corner. Fakir looked at him, the man nodded in assurance.

            Fakir was reluctant to take the money; he looked at Rasool meekly, trying to comprehend the sudden kindness showered upon him.

             “ Tomorrow, morning take my car from the garage and park the car near the LIC building at the end of the Bazar and keep the keys with you ,You will reach the LIC Building before 10 o’clock in the morning, after that immediately leave the place. Now go home and take rest”. Rasool commanded without looking at Fakir. There was something in his voice that made Fakir nod in acceptance. A chill of cold current flowed down his back. He left the place with the packet in his hand, wondering about the happenings of the day.

Soon the car reached the wider road , the village road gave way to a more wider road of the town, fakir looked at the school walls, his only child khoka could not make to the high school due to want of money , he has always looked at the school as some hallowed place , which can give a man a better life  .Fakir sighed at the sight of the school walls ,painted with the political slogans and emblems , false hopes of emancipation, ridiculing the plight of deprived people like him , there is a hidden agenda behind every freedom cry, he thought,

“I was still trapped inside the labyrinth; I looked for the light that was coming out of the opening at the end. I started to crawl towards it, I reached the end, and there I found the serpent waiting for me. it looked at me suspiciously , its tongue flickered, as I made my move towards the opening it hissed, felt like the snake doesn’t want me to leave the hole after I found its nesting place, it began to move towards me Before I could move away , I felt a sharp pain in my wrist . The snake has bitten me. My hand began to swell, I felt the dizziness. Am I going to die?”

 “The market was busy as usual. He checked his watch again, it was still 30 minutes to 10 o’clock, fakir parked his car close to the LIC building, for unknown reason his heart was beating fast. He just wanted to know where his son was.He took a rickshaw to the tea shop, where khokha worked, which was a kilometer away from the market.

“ Khokha , where is khokha?” He shouted from the rickshaw.

The shopkeeper who was a thin man, bald head was busy in his daily chores. He gave a glance at Fakir and continued with his work, without giving any answer.

Fakir jumped from the rickshaw, he ran towards the man, he shook him by his arm and shouted again.

“Where is khokha, tell me now”.

“Are you crazy, leave my arm, I have sent him to market to bring sugar.

It seemed the ground below his feet lost, fakir started running towards the market, He looked at his watch, it was almost 10 O’clock .Just then a huge explosion happened which shook the earth

He lost his balance and fell to the ground. For a moment, he couldn’t hear anything but after that he saw people running towards him. He tried to standup but his whole body was shaking. He closed his eyes and lay on the ground. A tiny bit of tear rolled and fell to ground and soon disappeared within the thirsty earth.

“The poison in my vein made me restless. The numbness had shifted from my hand to my head. My hands were shaking, my body felt heavy, every walk felt like an effort, my vision was blurry. was it death or  was it  the hell torment , I took the sickle and stepped into the knee deep marsh , the marsh couldn’t slow me down , I walked like a mad man . I entered the labyrinth and found the snake lying motionless, without looking at it, I raised my sickle and cut off its head in a single ferocious blow . The beautiful body of the serpent, which I had revered for so long, lay motionless in a stream of blood. I looked around the place. All the eggs that the snake had laid, hatched, empty shells were scattered inside the labyrinth, the field where I grew paddy, was infested with snakes now.”

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