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TITLE (EDIT)
Living And Leaving |
DESCRIPTION
The place is a crematorium. The characters are three dead souls leaving the world in disgust and gloom. They are asked three questions by God about their final round of experiences to know their wish to comeback. Let the readers find out the answers.
[859 words] |
TITLE KEYWORD
Spiritual |
AUTHOR
Partha Pratim Majumder |
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR
A creative story teller of India.
[August 2006] |
AUTHOR'S E-MAIL ADDRESS
pratim_in@yahoo.com |
AUTHOR'S OTHER TITLES (12)
And The Light Returns !!! …” (Short Stories) God finds out the earth with values eroded. To him, erosion of values means absolute darkness. When he fails to find out values in the all levels of the society including top, an ordinary ragpicker... [1,392 words] [Literary Fiction]
Bare Facts (Short Stories) When western culture and western fashion representing economic power of West has been making serious dent mark in the conservative society and socio – economic condition of third world countries like... [1,461 words] [Literary Fiction]
Engineering An Engineer (Short Stories) In the community of contractors enlisted with the government, a newsitem has spread like fire that newly arrived District Engineer appears to be beyond all temptation and dishonesty. They have starte... [1,897 words] [Literary Fiction]
He Grows Up... (Short Stories) The story of Monty rotates on the issues of growing up of a boy in the illusion of much hyped adulthood, in the dreams of “being a man”, and finally in the mystery called love. But, to the contrary, h... [4,098 words] [Literary Fiction]
In The Womb Of A Bomb (Short Stories) Humor sprouts from a real life situation , when at a far off place, a bomb was located in a government office. The sensation of a bomb and human reaction to it is the focal point of this story. Let th... [2,417 words] [Humor]
Jolly John's Last Laugh (Short Stories) In 1963 , A young Englishman bought an old Bunglow at the foothills of Himalayas near Simla. The problem faced by him was the issue of adjustment with the atmosphere of that old house and his despe... [2,437 words] [Literary Fiction]
Life On The Broken Wings (Short Stories) A young pretty girl , who is handicapped since birth , has to pass her leisure sitting on the wheel chair in the balcony of her first floor apartment in a congested locality. Her tender mind uses to r... [1,860 words] [Literary Fiction]
Mom's Color Code (Short Stories) Relationship between mother and son. The very intricate relationship that needs no description. [1,287 words] [Relationships]
That Extra S - Mile …. (Short Stories) - [1,421 words] [Relationships]
The Gatekeeper Of The Heaven (Short Stories) Theme : Hypothetically, the concept of God,heaven etc. are all created by and preserved in the belief of man. Again, the treatment of the same in the mind of illeterate and common man as well as in... [2,419 words] [Relationships]
Wanted - Unwanted (Short Stories) - [1,891 words] [Relationships]
When Oil Wells Will Be Dry….. (Short Stories) In the felicitation ceremony of the ace rock climber / mountaineer , a question shakes all and sundry including the mountaineer, who finds himself out of foothold in an auditorium in US , after his r... [700 words] [Popular Fiction]
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Living And Leaving
Partha Pratim Majumder
In the waiting hall at the Keoratala Electronic Crematorium, the morning was no different than the other days except that I was present, sitting before the queue of corpses that were lying decently but horizontally, amidst the sound of vehicles carrying corpses with screeching halt, more chaos or hulla-gulla than necessary by the few accompanying the dead making common inquiry of time involved or "Where is the burning ticket?" "What about the instantly available Death Certificates?" "Where is the Purohit" (Priest)? "Where are Chai-biscuit-cigarettes?" (Tea/Biscuits & cigars)
The third out of the three dead was my father. Henceforth, he would be addressed as the "Late Sunil Chandra," he who was never late in his whole life. Punctuality was his favourite subject other than Pankaj Mullick and Pahari Sanyal, two mythological figures of Bengali culture in the forties through the fifties.
The other two dead were of the same age group, above sixty five, one male and the one female, all married, living each full up to seeing their grandchildren through glass bottom thick spectacles. Or maybe they saw too much of them? The dead grew stiff face muscles gradually becoming frozen cold in this summer morning as those of us alive grew sweating and sticky. The dead have a funny dress-sense, I thought - wearing two nostrils full of cotton and heavy spectacles, but no slippers. Fresh white clothes on the males, and redlined cotton white sari on the females. Bouquets of Rajanigandha were heavy on their chests together with the burning incense in the thick gloom of crematorium.
I had been deeply involved in thinking of the last few days of the life of these dead, including my father's, when I had rushed from Gandhinagar, Gujrat to see that the body waited for me only. My other brothers and sisters had all been present at his death.
A large metal gate of the burner opened with a blast of hot air and the smell of burnt flesh. While the sleeping destitutes in the corner of the hall were still, as if they were enjoying the frying smell of tasty tomato and cheese filled double omelets, I wished if I could have missed that smell of burnt flesh, especially on my empty stomach and right after my journey here.
I fell unconscious.
The chaotic crowd focused on me, splashing water on my face, creating air with the flash of newspapers or towels, whispering my name in my ears, and putting a spoon between my two sets of teeth. All of them were tried, but to no effect. Somebody even had a try with putting a worn and dung clad leather slipper on my nostrils as the common treatment of Hysteria. Another offered valuable but free advice, "Perhaps, you should call Ojha (Witch) staying beside Adi Ganga ghat (river bank), for jhaarphoonk (Witchcraft). Charges would be nominal - a few hundred rupees and one pint of English malt (liquor)"
In fact, I stayed in a deep slumber and seemed to find myself sitting in a setup, much like a large and spacious courtroom - all dark and with no audience. I was the only person sitting in the room. I was told that this was God's Own Courtroom and that he would ask three simple questions of the newly dead ones.
Question number one was, "What was your last address before reaching here?"
Question number two was,"What was your last meal and who cooked it?"
Question number three was, "What was your cause of death?"
On the hot seat, my father, an ex-government officer, appeared first and replied promptly:
My last address was in a nursing home for two months. I was not fit for staying with family, since I had no control on my stool or urine.
My last meal was a tasteless soup, prepared by their cook.
The cause of my death was the stress of what to do regarding my properties.
The late Sabita Sen, a housewife, replied: My last address was "Santir Nir (Nest of Peace)," an old age home at Kayani, where I stayed for more than three years.
My last meal was a small pot of Khichuri (Hotch Potch) by Kartick at the old age home.
The cause of my death was negligence by that home and my own home, everybody finding me redundant.
The late Gobinda Ghosh, a businessman, spoke next: My last address was my only daughter's house at Shyamnagar for six months, since I had to leave my own house at Hindusthan Park.
My last meal was a pot of milk-rice with banana from my daughter.
The cause of my death was that I finished my life by strangulation one day before I had to leave for Hindusthan Park, where I did not want to see my sons and my wife.
All three faces carried explicit disgust for life and for living before God. Then I finally woke up after my period of sustained unconsciousness.
On my way back towards my Salt Lake residence, my car was overtaken at Park Circus silently from behind by a well-decorated Honda Civic carrying a newly-married Christian couple and a large placard at the back, which announced, "JUST MARRIED - LIVING FOREVER."
The roses attached to the glass were all afresh and dancing with alacrity in the air.
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READER'S REVIEWS (5)
DISCLAIMER: STORYMANIA DOES NOT PROVIDE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR REVIEWS. ALL REVIEWS ARE PROVIDED BY NON-ASSOCIATED VISITORS, REGARDLESS OF THE WAY THEY CALL THEMSELVES.
"Very interesting, loved the association of the life and the questions after death of the 3 people. Something to think about..." -- Susan Fisher, Brandon, FL, USA.
"- Susan, Thanks a lot for your feed back. You may pl. read my other 7 stories. You may like them. " -- Partha Pratim Majumder, Kolkata, India.
"Nice prose.... meaningful end... short story in true sense. Really good." -- Anjali Mustafi, Jamshedpur, India.
"Again you have written another fine piece. Your development of characters and plot is wonderful. " -- e. rocco caldwell.
"Simply superb." -- Paul Sanders, USA.
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2004 Partha Pratim Majumder |
STORYMANIA PUBLICATION DATE
June 2004 |
NUMBER OF TIMES TITLE VIEWED
3093
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