“Appu”
-Biswadeep
Ghosh Hazra (11/EC/33)
**The
sky became an amalgamation of crimson red and orange while the sun was getting
ready to rise. Appu’s eyes was fixed on the gradually visible crescent of the
sun, though he was awestruck he could not possibly comprehend the beauty of the
whole scenery; because he is a monkey. Sahil’s best friend so far, Appu was
gifted to him by his father when he was seven. Since then they both were like
brothers, just that Sahil was human and Appu, a monkey. Sahil lived in a dump
along with others and were considered the dregs of the society. **
Part-I
Sahil’s mother called him to eat, “Beta! Come and
have your porridge,” “But Ma!” yelled Sahil in protest, “I want rice, not
porridge”. Sahil’s mother, Komal did not have any option other than scolding
Sahil, they were gypsies and lived on the fringes of the city in temporary
make-shift homes. Being a mother, Komal sobbed in hiding, it had been many days
since Sahil was asking for some rice but they had nothing except the sloppy, stinking
porridge that they have every day. Sahil shared everything with Appu, his
father while gifting it to him made Sahil promise to share everything with him
as they grew up, he said that Appu would always protect him and keep him happy.
Since then, Sahil adopted Appu and made him his own brother, Sahil would always
be seen with Appu on his head and shoulders.
“Bapu told me when I was small, that you would be my
key to happiness and that you me and you will find treasure, how fun will it
be”, Sahil was speaking to Appu while fidgeting with his fingers. Sahil’s
father died because of a snake bite, the snake wasn’t that much venomous but
Sahil’s father had a phobia from snakes and the shock killed him, instantly.
##Since
then there has a complete paradigm shift in Komal’s family as their sole
bread-winner was dead, she had to resort to extreme measures and cried as she
made her way often to the local prostitution areas. Over the years, Komal had a
tough time raising her son-she never really liked Appu, but she had to feign
her feelings in front of Sahil as Appu was everything to him.##
Presently Appu is a little more than nine years old
and Sahil yesterday stepped on his 16th birthday-mother, son and
monkey spent the evening enjoying and eating. Sahil cuddled around his
mother-“You always do this whenever you demand something from me, go on now,
and today is your birthday so tell me what do you want?” said Komal caressing
his son. Sahil always loved the scent of his mother, it was unique and had
something that made Sahil sure he could identify his mother even blindfolded.
“I only want you to make Appu some clothes, nothing else-those idiots down the
dump called Appu names and threw stones at him, I want Appu to dress like a
king” saying these words Sahil made a face that anyone would fall for, Komal
being his mother had no other option than to settle down with making nice
clothes for the monkey, by the end of this week.
The next day while Sahil was playing with Appu, he
heard a scream that reminded him of the day his father died; Sahil went to
their tent as fast as possible with trembling legs, Appu followed him quickly
just behind Sahil.
^^Upon
reaching his tent, Sahil fainted seeing his mother foaming vigorously from the
mouth-the snake had snuggled just in front of Komal’s legs. All feelings of
anger, sadness, loss and frustration followed within Sahil as he darted towards
the snake and picking it up by the mouth by a sudden jerking movement, put the
snake into the hot chulhi where his mother was preparing the rice Sahil wanted
to eat so much…His mother was dead and Sahil and Appu were left on their own in
this vast and cruel world. ^^
Part-II
**Appu
looked at the corpse for a long time; then suddenly it climbed up on the corpse
and started running all over Komal’s body. Whenever Komal would be asleep, Appu
would do this. Now that Komal is dead, Appu‘s gesture made no help at all, but
Appu did not understand-after all it was a monkey. **
Sahil was sobbing uncontrollably for the past two
and a half hours when suddenly his eyes met the container containing the rice
Sahil wanted to eat. The pangs of hunger was too much to bear for Sahil, he
took the container and started eating the rice, his eyes transfixed on his
mother’s dead body. Appu appeared from behind the tent and sat beside Sahil;
eyeing the rice. Komal always used to tell his son that better days were
awaiting them; Sahil had no idea that better days meant this.
##For
one week Sahil and Appu managed to live by scavenging for food inside the
dump-but in vain. Sahil envisaged that he needed friends to make go for
arranging food and daily amenities, someone who other than listening to Sahil
will give his advice to Sahil. Within the next few days, Sahil managed to make
friendship with two other flimsy boys like him named Suman and Raj. ##
Soon Sahil realized that this dump or the pent-up
make shift homes was not meant for him and Appu- he decided to see the world
and show people Appu’s magnificent performance. Raj and Suman however were
satiated with this life and went to the recycling factory to work in the dump
and collect things to recycle.
Sahil had buried his mother where she belonged-deep
into the dump. Night fell early on that day-so it felt to Sahil; all his life
Sahil had waited for this opportunity to present itself, now when it did he was
sure not to let it slip away. Later at night Sahil thought of his friends-Suman
and Raj and felt that everybody has a dream; his friends want to work in a
recycle factory whereas Sahil wants to see the world-it is only a matter of
perspective.
^^
Excited as he was, Sahil could not sleep. After a little later he decided to
kill time watching the moon-the night was that of a full moon night and Sahil
saw the whole dump yard illuminated by the moon. Sahil felt the horror of
silence for the first time in his life-he felt the fear of being lonely.
Tomorrow is supposed to be a big day for him; he watched Appu looking at the
moon, goggle-eyed. ^^
Sahil: Lovely, isn’t it Appu? The moon…
Appu: (Stares at his master, then again
looks at the moon.)
Sahil: I wish my mother was here, we
would’ve enjoyed the view…
That
night Sahil made a promise in front of Appu that he would not spare any snake
that crosses his path, Sahil then reflected for sometime then made a
correction, “I would kill every snake that I see, if I die by a snake; then I
would accept it and gladly die but not before killing the bloody snake. I would
think that it was my fate to die by the venom.” Saying this Sahil placed his
right hand on Appu’s head and began scratching the monkey’s head-one of Appu’s
favorite. They both spent that night watching the moon in all its
glory-tomorrow lay a great day ahead but Sahil wanted to have a last look at
his birthplace because come tomorrow he would forget everything about this
place.
Part-III
The following morning Sahil and Appu left the dump
yard to follow their dreams-being able to live luxuriously and earn a decent
amount of money. But life’s not a bed of roses and Sahil and Appu precisely
knew that. Living on footpaths was the most probable choice for them both.
Sahil had to forcefully resort to begging after he carefully decided that it
would be the most logical choice at this stage-since he had neither food for
Appu nor colorful dresses, Sahil had to first collect money and then buy some
fancy dresses for Appu so that he could show people Appu’s performance.
^^As
time moved on, Sahil got to know the world that was kept away from him- he saw
the big machines in the dump yard but he never saw fast cars, high rise
buildings, pavements, boulevards- all this was new to him and it was natural
that all this would take time to sink in. Sahil’s tryst with Appu continued as
he tried to pacify the ever energetic animal and put its mind to training but
in vain, after Komal’s death, Appu became somebody totally different- the
obedient Appu was replaced with a fickle minded, petulant Appu who defied Sahil
at every step. Sahil tried many times to leave Appu but either he could not let
go of Appu or even if he did, Appu would always find its way back to Sahil.^^
During this time Sahil got in touch with so many
people that would later shape his future- Rosy
the prostitute, Mr. Dhar the police
officer who regularly used to meet Rosy, Biltu-
Rosy’s (and many others’) pimp, Rantu,
Jhimli, Keltu, Santu, Raju- the street begging gang who were
more or less aged same as Sahil. For the first month, Sahil and the others had
a gala time begging for money and food and Sahil’s face was one of those unique
faces that would invoke sympathy in even the hardest of souls. With the money
obtained, Sahil would buy Appu some colorful clothes, a strong rope, steel rims
with bells attached and a small drum.
Sahil: I will organize a performance with
Appu and I would like you all to
participate, we can earn more money that way. Keltu you can play the drums well, Raju and Rantu will roam
and collect money from people, Jhimli
will dance along with Appu and me and Santu
will play the instruments and sing.
Santu:
I cannot play
any instrument!
Sahil: I will teach you but in return you
must pay me until you learn properly…
Raju:
When do we
start? We must practice beforehand
to make sure that our performance is watchable, otherwise it would be a waste
of time-
Jhimli: Can Appu perform?
Jhimli’s question echoed in Sahil’s mind for quite
some time- can Appu perform? Can Appu be transformed again into the obedient
monkey that it once was? Everything now depended on Appu- Sahil went to Appu
and held its face close to his with both of his hands; he knew it was a foul
attempt but nevertheless a desperate one. Sahil put his eyes into Appu’s eyes
and whispered,
“Please
Appu, not for my sake but for your sake, please do what I tell you to do, all
these years of training you, I hope you won’t let it all go to waste. We need a
subtle and terrific performance from you- do not let our expectations go to
waste.”
Part
IV
**A
week followed and Appu seemed to calm down and follow closely the instructions
given by Sahil; to Sahil Appu was recovering from shock and coming out of its
virtual tortoise shell. For Appu was once again cooperating and following
instructions given to him by Sahil and the gang. During this time Sahil developed
a strong bond with Rosy the prostitute. **
Sahil: What forced you to get down to the
streets like me?
Rosy: The same as yours, luck; I was
born in a whore house itself, in fact I don’t even know my mother, lest my
father.
Sahil: And I was perturbed that I didn’t
get time to know my father…
Rosy: Gotta go, here comes my client-
Sahil: My mother was like a whore like
you and I despise her for that.
Rosy: It takes courage and guts to say
something like that Sahil, maybe one day you will understand what your mother
went through.
Sahil did not want to understand, he was old enough
to question everything he saw and Rosy’s last words hit him like a knife,
really his mother went through a lot of ordeal before dying. Sahil realized he
was crying when he tasted something salty on his lips. Just then he heard
muffled cries of Jhimli and Rantu and Santu crying for help-
##There
was a snake just before Jhimli, waiting to strike a fearful blow into its
enemy’s body- what happened is Jhimli was roaming around freely (after her so
called dinner) when accidentally she set foot on a snake that was probably
sleeping and now Jhimli was transfixed and from the faces she made, she knew
she would die any moment now. ##
Determined not to lose another friend and
acquaintance, Sahil made a run for it, maybe seeing his loved ones die by snake
made him fearless, he did not want to lose Jhimli-he had a soft corner for her.
Love? Maybe but right now Sahil decided to focus on killing the snake- but he needed something sharp and
pointy for poking the snake, so that Sahil can shift its attention from Jhimli
towards him. Looking around in the street light he found a stick barely pointed
enough, still in its primordial state. Grabbing that and in a split second (he
had already ordered Jhimli not to move as moving meant a sure shot death
ticket) Sahil poked the snake; hitting hard on its head. The snake was clearly
agitated by the sudden shift of authority; until Sahil interrupted it was in
charge of the situation. A grievous battle was being waged between a boy and a
deadly snake and Rantu, Jhimli, Keltu, Santu, Raju, Mr. Dhar (Rosy’s client)
and Rosy herself were completely engrossed in the scenario, so much that the
thought of helping Sahil did not occurred to them.
^^Like
someone trained at this, Sahil made swift and fast movements keeping the stick
steady- giving repeated hitting to the snake on its head. After a brief
struggle Sahil managed to break the snake’s skull and ultimately kill the
creature, battle waged, he saw dozens of eyes glued on to him with sheer
excitement in them. He smiled not because he had won but for ultimately he had
started fulfilling his vow- to kill each and every snake that crosses his path;
he knew he had more to go. Sahil’s eyes met everyone’s until it finally came to
Appu’s who was very closely watching the incident-picking Appu, Sahil went to
Jhimli. ^^
Part-V
%%
Mr. Goswami was the owner of Elite circus- and Elite circus was in the same
town as Sahil’s; though a rich man, Mr. Goswami was excited to be back in town.
As a kid, Mr. Goswami was born around the same dump yard in which Sahil lived
in till now. Being back to his home town definitely made Mr. Goswami visibly
excited and happy. He had suffered a lot in life and had to sacrifice so many
things to reach where he is today, primarily among them was his first love. %%
Sahil had left their previous settlement and moved
on ahead, he had promised Rosy to contact her if he’s in trouble. Apart from
Rosy Sahil did not know anybody very well; however the whole gang comprising of
Jhimli, Keltu, Rantu and everybody were so fond of Sahil’s heroism and courage
that they decided to tag along.
Sahil and his team were looking for refuge and had
reached a considerable distance within town when they saw posters being
distributed for something grand; actually it was the first show for Elite circus
and there were colors and merriment everywhere. Keltu, Rantu and the others
were amazed and awestruck when they saw people walking over iron bars with
posters attached on their bodies; clowns of various heights were smiling and
distributing colorful banners, inviting people to come to their circus. It felt
as if Elite circus knew exactly how to make propaganda work-An ever smiling
clown smiled even more as he tucked a colorful paper into Appu’s hands-the
procession lasted about couple of minutes more making sure that everyone in
that small town would definitely attend the circus that evening for such dosage
of excitement and fun rarely comes in their daily life.
Little did anyone in Sahil’s group knew how to read,
so Sahil tucked the lehenga of an elderly woman and asked what all this
commotion was about; she told him that it was a circus and that she was really
excited about the prospect of going to one for many days now. The colorless and
ashen streets of the town were suddenly coloristic and full of vibrancy and
life, as if suddenly someone had suddenly splashed life in the town itself.
Rantu: What’s a ‘circ…circus’?
Jhimli: Yes, I know; my father took me
once; it is a magical place indeed! I think we should all go there, it would be
like visiting some fairy land, so many funny people, and animals!!!
Sahil: We must go to the circus and talk
to the people in charge, if luck favors then we may even get selected to work
there-that way we won’t have to worry about food anymore…
Keltu: But we do not have money to watch
the show? Now what?
Sahil
(sighing):
We have to either collect enough money today for going to the show tomorrow or
make a plan to see the show without tickets; the choice is up to all of you. I
would personally go with the second option.
*Everybody
in unison agreed to Sahil’s proposal, they had decided Sahil to be their leader
and Sahil too had no problem taking their responsibility, as long they listened
to him.*
##
That evening the whole team remained goggle eyed for several minutes as they
saw the biggest make shift tents of their lives, Jhimli however remained calm
and watched everyone’s expression as she was familiar with the feeling; Sahil
felt so insignificant and powerless standing beside the huge tent that for
minutes he did not speak with anyone and told his team to leave him alone.
Sometime later he returned smiling from ear to ear as he had devised of a
beautiful strategy. ##
Part
VI
Now Mr. Goswami had this peculiar habit of watching
his audiences’ reaction to the shows of his circus. As he disembarked from his
private tent he saw a commotion that was raging violently between his security
personnel and a handful of small children- by their unruly, disheveled and
unkempt condition he assumed that they were from around the dumps just like
him. But what surprised him greatly was the presence of a monkey that was
loitering around rapidly from here to there just behind Sahil. Today he might
not be able to watch the reaction of the audiences as Mr. Goswami just found
his long lost treasure, Sahil and Appu…
The
incident that took place was that Sahil had found for them a perfect spot for seeing
the performance without being spotted (well at least that was what Sahil had
thought!) but guards on patrol soon found the whole gang and was about to
confiscate them; had not Mr. Goswami intervened in between. On the other hand,
Mr. Goswami nearly fainted seeing the monkey as it brought old memoires back
alive; summoning Sahil to one separate corner he inquisitively asked where he
got the monkey from?
Sahil: My mother gave it to me on my
birthday…
Mr.
Goswami:
Your mother or your father?
Sahil
was taken aback as he had not expected such a question as a reply, he stammered
but finally managed to tell the truth, my father was a irresponsible wretch and
a drunkard, I do not consider Appu as a gift from him…
Mr.
Goswami: Of
course you don’t, cause I gave Appu to you!
Sahil:
Look sahib, you
may be rich but please keep your poor jokes to yourself please, I…
Before
Sahil could speak, Mr. Goswami tightly hugged him and whispered softly in to
Sahil’s ears, I loved your mother, Komal, we were supposed to be married off
together but then your drunkard of a father married the love of my life and
before coming to the city I gifted Appu to you when you were just a toddler.
Sahil could not believe any of Mr. Goswami’s nonchalant blabbering but a voice
within him told that finally his journey was over, he could at least end up
getting a job in here with all his friends.
Though not comfortable with Mr. Goswami at the
beginning, Sahil decided to have a chat with him in his private tent, keeping
his friends in the main tent where the show was proceeding, they were all glued
to the performances of elephants on tri-cars, athletes performing acrobatics,
jokers solely providing what they are meant for: laughter- meanwhile Sahil was
on the verge of securing a job for the likes of him and his gang. With Appu on
his lap, Sahil was in a dilemma whether to trust Goswami or not.
A huge roaring sound was heard which meant that the
first round show was over- on this side Mr. Goswami too managed to spectacle Sahil
by telling his life story, how he fell in love with Komal, of how he had to
leave her and came to town, till the day he owned Elite circus, everything
seemed so just to Sahil for Mr. Goswami had sacrificed so many things, bore so
much hardships- the result is that he is now the owner of the biggest circus of
this town and beyond. Will Sahil make such big in life? We don’t know yet, in
fact nobody knows-it is something that we have to create.
##The
next morning, Sahil found Appu lying peacefully on the ground and on his neck
were visible two fine punctures made definitely by a snake- Sahil was
infuriated and angry beyond bounds, the snake that Sahil killed that night to
save Jhimli was not properly disposed off and according to stories and urban
legends, if a snake is killed and not burned; then its eyes bear the image of
its killer and then the dead snakes’ mate comes and attacks the killer or
anybody related to him. Appu was left alone in the grounds and the snake not
finding Sahil attacked and killed the monkey. It seemed Appu’s sole purpose in
Sahil’s life was to make him meet Mr. Goswami, now that his work is done, he is
gone forever. In a fit of rage, Sahil goes out to find the snake, despite Mr.
Goswami’s repeated warnings and attempts to keep him within his personal tent…
##
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