We never knew why it never happened.
Maybe it was because of the state of shoddy affairs of the country.Or because every other day a more substantial story had the power to rule the previous one out.Or maybe just because the issue too had long been forgotten like the crores of issues that became stories and finally faded into oblivion as a mere trace of "lokkatha(fairy tale)".But,well we somehow had a strong belief that it was the doing of kala bandar which we saw in the poster of Delhi-X in front of us the other day.
But,whatever the matter was finally the three of us were quite happy that it never happened.Cause,even with all facilities it would have been real tough to accommodate one more of us amongst us.And now when we have such a huge crunch of space in the city,with prices zooming sky high,a mall opening every other day, a bridge zapping in half every hour,who would have the patience and time to let another monkey monkey around.
We hardly care for people's life nowadays,so, giving a damn and that too a monkey and over that a lifeless statue of a monkey and boy did you know that a lifeless white monkey's statue along with us-phew,no chance.
So,as I said we were quite content with whatever the result or outcome it had converged into.
Oh,a bit of confusion.I see.
Let me first tell you who I am...or rather who we are.
Well,to be very true we don't have any name.
Our creators some poor sculptors left the work halfway,cause some of them were not paid enough,while the others were too lazy to get us finished.
Initially we had heard the news that the then political party wanted to portray an ideology shift.
You might have heard about a great freedom fighter- Mahatma Gandhi.
Got it-"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
Many of you may be hearing this at upfront railway stations in western countries when you would be busy kissing your girlfriends goodbye.And if you stay where we are and yet don't know him then it is a pity for the poor man himself cause you O fool have transcended the boundaries of insanity.
This great man of ours had a wonderful philosophy which he preached through our ancestors-Gandhiji's 3 monkeys.
As I said our ancestors i.e. these 3 monkeys had a wonderful style of their own.I was confused whether to use his or it for them cause most of you would call us another animal,but finally I being a monkey and that too a white statue have feelings more deep than you humans.
So the use of 'him' is not only pardonable but exquisitely necessary.
So,one of my ancestors had his hands on his eyes,one on his ears while the third one held his hands on his mouth.
Now they had this wonderful teaching to tell-Not to listen bad,not to see wrong,Not to talk foul or was it to stop bad breath,am not sure of the last one.
But,sadly our great ancestors were long forgotten like the great man himself.
Erased plain blank.As if there was no one who actually existed.
His only remembrance nowadays is the lack of liquor on his birthday.So,you would either have to empty wads of green currency notes to the corrupt khakhi balls or go for the country made cheap hooch and end up dying most of the time.
So this man as I said was long forgotten except for teh politicians on his birthday or when the TV showed Munnabhai.And with him forgotten were our three ancestors.And sadly one day these 3 grand dad's were bulldozed because of a wrong road expansion plan.You see this happens most of the time here,plan A eats plan B i.e. to say the constructor opts for whatsoever plan that helps him cover his township costs that he has been building,not to forget quenching the thirst from all parts of the society,from the government peon to the minister in power.
Sometimes we think that who benefits from all this because as we know every inlet has an outlet.Oh,don't take it in your dirty sense it is just the moment of money from one hand to the other,although what you thought was worthier than the same.
So,after my ancestors and their last bits were scraped from the chouraha(the four sided crossing),the then minister had a very noble idea.He wanted four monkeys placed at the same spot i.e. the center of intersection of the four roads each one facing each road.He called us as the new symbols of peace and at peace we were.Cause as we said that the sculptor was a poor lazy independent moron,He slowly and infinitely worked on us and that too with such detail that he forgot to make the fourth of us.
So,here we were the 3 of us waiting for the light of the day when one day we saw the sculptors working on a set of a lady's chiseled torso,I mean a newer statue complete with a purse.News was ripe that the man who hailed us in his ideology had lost the elections and lost were we.So,we sat here in scum eating dust,the 3 of us.A few days back,all that which had the promise of a shining skyscraper in the midst of a towering city had now melted into lonsome meadows.
And then there was no one but us.
And it was the first time.
The first time when precisely the 3 of us started talking to each other.
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(3ww)erase, meadow, trace
Kindly be patient and let me know what are the flaws.Planning to give it some good shape:)
Criticism would be highly appreciated.
~Harsha
Criticism would be highly appreciated.
~Harsha
hi maniac..
ReplyDeletereally makes a good read . eagerly waiting for the subsequent chapters..
I really like the way this flowed.
ReplyDeleteI like the subtle satire of the piece.
ReplyDeleteTouching story Harsha...
ReplyDeleteI don't like politics!
I don't know much about India politics but it sounds like problems are similar the world over. Greed smashes over right.
ReplyDeleteStrong and touching. Nice piece.
ReplyDeleteWell, reading this nice bit of narratives I was reminded of Lord Jagannath. You know, the idols there are not fully finished. People have many stories to tell as to why the idols remained as such, but then there could be something either too philosophical or too artistic about it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Harsha.
Nanda
lemme tell you one thing...u got the right form at the right moment....n ur writings r damn good...evrytime i read, i feel a part of me...n that's what makes u different.
ReplyDeletegr888 harsha....keep writing....waiting eagerly for next one....
ReplyDeleteu can seriously be a serious writer man...gud one...and ya me too waiting for chapter 2...
ReplyDelete