“Sit down. I will tell you a story.”
All would comply,forthwith.She wouldn’t scream,or shout.She never needed to.One withering look was enough.
After that she took an eternity to chop her betel nut,wipe her mouth off,and then would start.
Tales that were so strange they could have emerged from the Arabian nights.
But every word was true. She said so and we believed her.
Of talking dogs who reminded you of missed meals. Of aeroplanes so huge,
and so many, they darkened the skies ( Second World War).Of austerities
and hardships.Of festivities and plentiful harvest.A beloved brother,deaf-mute, who walked into the sunset,never to come back.
Heartwarming tales of love and gut wrenching sagas of loss. Of lush
green forests, denuded to dusty, barren fields, Of Gods and their wrath,
of nature’s fury and benediction.
She unfolded her life,night after night,and we followed her eagerly,
like pups, scared to lose the sight of her. Through decades and
years,harvests past.
She raised broods of children,and each one of them flew the coop,telling
her that they would return,to hear more nighttime stories.
But she knew better.
Smiling her wrinkled smile,she watched them soar in the sky,never to return.
Till one day,clad in the crisp white and red bridal saree,she touched
her Snow White head to the threshold of her much-loved home ,and bade
good bye,to her brood and barns,and cows and fields,to the hearth and
the kitchen,and herself soared into the sky,unfettered.
All would comply,forthwith.She wouldn’t scream,or shout.She never needed to.One withering look was enough.
After that she took an eternity to chop her betel nut,wipe her mouth off,and then would start.
Tales that were so strange they could have emerged from the Arabian nights.
But every word was true. She said so and we believed her.
Of talking dogs who reminded you of missed meals. Of aeroplanes so huge, and so many, they darkened the skies ( Second World War).Of austerities and hardships.Of festivities and plentiful harvest.A beloved brother,deaf-mute, who walked into the sunset,never to come back.
Heartwarming tales of love and gut wrenching sagas of loss. Of lush green forests, denuded to dusty, barren fields, Of Gods and their wrath, of nature’s fury and benediction.
She unfolded her life,night after night,and we followed her eagerly, like pups, scared to lose the sight of her. Through decades and years,harvests past.
She raised broods of children,and each one of them flew the coop,telling her that they would return,to hear more nighttime stories.
But she knew better.
Smiling her wrinkled smile,she watched them soar in the sky,never to return.
Till one day,clad in the crisp white and red bridal saree,she touched her Snow White head to the threshold of her much-loved home ,and bade good bye,to her brood and barns,and cows and fields,to the hearth and the kitchen,and herself soared into the sky,unfettered.