Rebirth of the Monkey King

 

Maya was sick of the bloated belly. Her child was already ten days overdue.

“ I think ,we ought to see the doctor today?”

“Yes, mummy. I look like a baby elephant”

Next day, after the examination, Doctor Nisha seemed a bit worried.

“We should not wait anymore. I think we should operate. How about today evening, or tomorrow? ”

“ Not today, Maya’s  mami is arriving today evening. She would be a great help. If possible ,we should wait for her”

“Ok. So tomorrow morning at nine?”

As the car was getting in the gate, Maya saw a hoard of monkeys jumping over the boundary walls of not just their house but also of their neighbours and chasing them were a whole lot of street dogs.

“Oh my, what a bother these monkeys have become! And these dogs, they can only bark from a distance and make a ruckus.”

“But today there seems to be a lot more dogs and this big one is not from our lane” observed Ma.

“ Look at that monkey , on the tree. That one is huge and the others seem to be in awe of him”.

“ I am sure, they also have a hierarchy and he must be the Monkey king.”, saying so Maya moved inside the house accompanied by her mother.

“ Hmm, she is going to lose her baby. Poor girl”, thought the one whom Maya had called the Monkey King. After all, he had the divine power to see what others could not and Maya’s  future loss made him sad. For some reason, he felt very protective about her , but what can he do?

Now he must lead his tribe ahead who were waiting for his command. He whooped loudly and moved ahead. Other monkeys began chattering and began following him. One little monkey could not jump up to catch the branch overhead and fell.

Madly barking dogs were immediately all around him , ready to pounce on him and tear him to shreds.

Seeing this, the Monkey King came bounding back, growled fiercely at the ferocious dogs, quickly grabbed the baby monkey and jumped on to the closest branch where the baby was immediately grabbed by his anxiously following mother.

But alas, one of the dogs caught the left rear leg of the  Monkey King and he fell back on the ground.

The dogs were too scared to go near but would not leave him alone either. He alone fought the dogs valiantly. His size and  aura were enough to keep the dogs at bay but they were too many. They continued to bark incessantly at the fallen King and some managed to maul him.

Hearing the ruckus, Maya rushed out.

On realising what had happened, she shooed the dogs away. She could see the injuries on the Monkey’s leg but was too scared to go near.

“Stay away. Are you crazy, that monkey will bite you”

“ But mummy , he is injured. We must do something”

“Silly girl, can you not see the monkeys on the trees all around? If you so much as go near him, they will attack you. Get inside”

Saying so, mummy pulled Maya back inside the house.

From time-to-time Maya would look at the monkey from her window. Most of the passersby would tease him, some naughty boys threw stones at him while some made faces and made fun of him.

Soon the injured monkey, dragged himself near a wall and tried to lick his wounds. His left rear bone was broken . One of  the dogs had also injured his tail. Other wounds might heal, but how is monkey to survive without the use of his leg and more importantly his tail. He was tired and he simply closed his eyes as he sensed his end.

At night, when everyone had gone off to sleep, Maya slipped out of the house and placed a bowl of water near the monkey. As soon as he saw the bowl of water, he immediately began to crawl towards it and gulped it all in one go.

Maya’s eyes were filled with tears. She rushed inside and got some more water for him and offered him two rotis which she had gotten from the kitchen.

The monkey greedily ate the rotis and looked at Maya. She saw , not gratitude, but affection in his eyes

“I will get one more roti got you”, saying so  Maya again rushed inside.

He remembered his mother who used to feed him fruits and berries.

As Maya offered him the roti, now less scared of the monkey, who was looking intently at her eyes, she swore , she heard him say, “ Ma”  as he breathed his last.

Maya was struck dumb and could not comprehend that the monkey was no more and just then she felt a movement in her tummy followed by a rolling pain.

 

 

 

 

 

Life Mein Twist

 

The Reluctant Wife

“ Beta, please understand. Your sister needs you. If you mother was still alive, we would not have asked you to go”

“Why should I be the one making all the sacrifices? I had to leave the trek with my friends, when Ketki was born. I had to leave my coaching class to look after Ketki, when Seema didi had Malti. I could not clear my exam because I was babysitting my sister’s daughter. And now, again didi is expecting!!”

Papa was aghast, “Do you not love Malti and Ketki?”

“How unfair is all this papa! You realise, I have a life of my own. I do love them but they are not my children. Their parents should be the one making sacrifices. Not me”

“Alright, if that is the way you feel”, saying so Papa picked up the phone.

“Hello, Atulji. I am sorry but this time Reema would not be able to come to take care of Malti and Ketki. She is, umm, a bit busy, umm, with …she will be taking up a job.”

 

“No, beta, she wants to work here, in Gwalior”

 

 “She does not want to shift to a big city.”

 

“I know, she enjoys visiting Delhi, but…. If you want, I will come and look after the girls.”

 

“Thanks for understanding Atulji”

 

After finishing the conversation with his son-in-law, Papa sat down heavily on the sofa and gave Reema a sad look, “Doctors have advised bed rest for Seema. There are complications this time. Atulji was saying, he may have to take long leave from office to look after the kids. Seema has been strictly forbidden to pick up anything heavy…. They were both counting on you. Even the girls are so fond of you. But …”

“Alright I’ll go. No need to emotionally blackmail me.”

The thought of babysitting her sisters’ daughters filled her with an unexplained sadness.

Both Malti and Ketki were adorable. Malti was three while Ketki was barely a year old. Reema loved to play and with them and their childish talks were such fun.

But, somehow, she felt used.

Her sister and her husband would leave the kids with her and be so engrossed with each other. There was no space in their romantic lives for anyone else. There were times when she felt that for the lovely-dovey couple, even their own daughters were an intrusion in their lives. Probably that is her imagination.

 

 

“Reema, how can you do this. Again, you will miss the trip to Goa for your sister”

Reema did now know how to respond to her friends chiding. She disconnected the phone and picked up the crying baby.

 

 

“Shailja, I am marrying Atulji”, Reema said to her friend in a small voice.

“What are you saying? Why are you marrying him?”

“Seema didi could not take the strain of the third pregnancy and passed away two days back. Everyone thinks, I would be a perfect mother for Malti and Ketki”

“What about you?”

Reema did not answer. She turned to look at the two adorable step daughters. They did not seem so adorable anymore.

They would forever remind her of her shattered dreams.