eFiction India eFiction India Vol.02 Issue.09 | Page 63

STORIES

fog with the pain in her stomach and the
curiosity about the girl.
Before leaving the nursing home, she
wanted to use the toilet. When Aravind
wanted to hold her hand and take her to
the toilet she said, “I’m all right. I’m feeling
better now. I can walk on my own. You
wait.” Aravind let her hand go and waited
for her outside.
As she came out of the toilet, her gaze
went to the basin of the commode. On a
white tray, there lay soaked in blood, a fetus
maybe four to five inches [10 to 13 centimeters] in length. It was sleeping like a godchild. Eyes, ears, nose, legs, hands not even
its sex was clear. Even then, it looked as if
it had just come out of an egg. The fetus
was silent. Parijat didn’t know why but her
heart started to burn in pain as she saw the
fetus. She wanted to lift it from the tray and
clasp it to her heart. She did not want to
leave it on that tray and go home. Someone
was knocking on the door.
As she opened the door of the toilet and
came out, she was met by Rukmani, an
old maid of the nursing home who her,
“Babu sent me to check on you, fearing you
have fallen down in the toilet.” Then the
old woman changed the context and said
condedcendingly, “Disgusting. What are
you doing? Get an operation done soon.”
After she heard the old lady’s advice uttered
in an irritating tone like a superior, Parijat
did not have the courage to ask, “This godchild lying on the tray, is that my creation?”
Parijat left the place before she could hold
the godchild next to her heart and address
it as “my dear.” She left without asking
for forgiveness with her head down. She
started hating herself for this unforgivable
sin of her life. She condemned herself and
thought ‘Disgusting. What are you doing?’
Part VI

T

HIN GREEN HAIR under the
nose, eyes bright, and nose sharp.
This was how her son appeared
at that time when he moved away from her
and said, “Disgusting. Your body stinks.”
“Stinks?” Parijat smiled. “Or smells good?”
“Disgusting. Please just leave,” her son
ordered. She looked at her son and realized
he was not joking. But why did she smell so
bad? It was winter, so there was no question
of sweat. As it was, she did not not sweat
much even during summer either. Until
today, she was under the impression that
even her sweat did not smell that much.
According to Aravind, a sweet aroma emanated from her body. Aravind was often
enchanted with her sweet fragrance no
matter whether she was awakened from
her sleep or whether just had come out
of the kitchen. Parijat often tried to smell
herself but never seemed to experience that
sweet aroma about which Aravind always
commented.
Her son’s complaints were gradually increasing. It had become so bad that when he saw
Parijat approach, he would slip away to a
safe distance. It was then Parijat started
putting on powder and perfume but still
her son never came near her. She started
feeling sad about it. This led to frustration
and subsequently to fights. She could not
fathom how everything had changed. From
then on, when she saw her son, she would
squeeze herself and stand in a corner. At the
dining table, she avoided sitting next to her
son and sat far away from him.
The more she constricted the more she felt
angry and sad. She would cry and plead
to him, “You are a part of my body; you
have been made from my bones and blood.
Look, your nose is exactly like mine. Your
smile is like mine too. We are similar. I feel
so sad when you despise me. You will never
understand how disturbed I feel when I
come in front of you.”
Seeing her tears, her son would then soften
his tone and say, “Please don’t cry. Please
don’t feel sad.” But he would not change

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his attitude and would maintain his distance as usual.
Aravind used to say, “This is a new drama.
Let me see.” He would then sniff all around
her like a dog and say, “Where’s the stench?”
Parijat thought Aravind would say, “There
is a sweet scent coming out of your body.”
But now, he did not say that. She used to
feel sad but she now realized her body no
longer smelt nice. She thought, ‘Does the
bad smell mean old age?’ She remembered
her maternal grandfather used to smell
funny. She could not really describe how
it was like but knew it was not pleasant. So
was this an old-age thing? The same smell
came out when you entered the Kedargauri
temple.
Grandpa’s body was getting old. Grandpa
used to walk four kilometers to come to
their house. His toes used to look red and
swollen just like the nerves in his legs. He
was unlike the grandpas found in storybooks. He never told them stories. Far
from telling stories, he never even spoke
to anyone. His eyes looked starchy and
innocent. He was so thin that when he sat,
his skeleton would bend and looked just
like the English letter ‘G.’ Almost every
time he came to Parijat’s house, she would
be getting ready to leave for school. Her
mother would be busy with the household chores. Without making any sound,
Grandpa would sit in their drawing room
after taking out the slippers made by the
cobbler from tyres. Parijat’s brothers and
sisters would be neither happy nor sad when
Grandpa visited them. Only they used to
scream so that their mother could know
that Grandpa was there. But her mother
never left her work and run to meet him.
Grandpa used to sit and read whatever he
laid his hand on, be it newspaper or paper
bags. He could read the small English letters
in the newspaper even without glasses. As
Parijat braided her hair, she would go and
put the kettle on the fire of the mud oven
for morning tea. By the time she finished
braiding her hair on both sides, the tea
was usually boiled. Parijat would go and
place a cup of black tea in front of Grandpa
without uttering a single word. He would

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