Joy!!! (a short story)

Madi was a Graduate in Economics. And now a clerk in a post office. His work had weighed him down. He developed a kind of hunchback. His head remained full of sums and accounts, all day, all night. Following the same old routine, slowly life seeped out of him as he worked mechanically.

He had married some years ago, and his wife died giving birth to their daughter. His little daughter was now 5 years old. He looked miserable owing to all the sorrows that had fallen upon him. All that he cared about was his daughter. He loved her more than anything in life. The sight of her gave him reason to live, and his accounts gave him all the reasons to die. Her daughter was a beautiful little dusky girl with lively eyes. He had named her Mannat. She was a talkative girl, full of questions from the day she started talking.

One Sunday, while he was sitting, brooding on his life, he asked the real question. A liberal, dangerous question. He asked himself whether he was made to do this. Wasn’t he good for some other cheerful work? Like the artists, who paint their heart out and look so happy. Like the poets, who also look cheerful. But he reprimanded himself. It was really a very dangerous chain of thoughts he was getting into. These were immature thoughts for a man of limited income. And very bad for he had a daughter whom he loved, and whom he had to feed and care that she studies well.

Next Sunday (for it was only on Sundays that he could think, being extremely busy on other days) he started his thoughts from where he had left them last week. He started brooding on his past life. He missed his childhood more than ever. Not like memories, or places, or things, but in a more poetic way. He missed what he felt in those leisurely, carefree days. Now, he had all the cares in the world to his name. Then, he had none. Now, he could not get even a day’s holiday. Then, it was a continuous holiday for he loved school and friends when young, and schooldays were better adventurous holidays. He had no time to spend with his daughter. And he really wanted some. He was on the point of collapsing, of giving up on life. Suddenly, while brooding like this, he remembered something – he had worked a week extra last year and maybe he could get some holidays as compensation if he asked his boss.

Next day, he went to his fat, big, frugal boss and could get 3 days off from work. Now he was thinking while returning. No work, for at least three days. And he would at least remove this cloud of misery hovering over his head in 3 days. 3 days are 72 hours. He would live every minute, every second of these hours. He would spend time with his lovely daughter (who was having her holidays) and these 3 days will be for life….

Next day, they went to watch ‘Jungle Book’….

And when the familiar song from his childhood showed on screen….Oh Oh Oh….Mannat was dancing…and Madi stood dancing frantically and suddenly, everything was enveloped in joy….everyone in the theatre looked surprisingly at Madi.…Madi danced, for he remembered his own childhood all of a sudden…he was not born to be a clerk!….But did it matter, did it matter??….he was the happiest man! had a little daughter, a little soul to care about!!….all that waited to be expressed in joy came out and how?…in ecstasies!!….And and when he was full…he started crying…and danced more crying and crying…in tears, in tears…Mannat looked at him for a second…thought why is he crying and asked the same very innocently….He gave a scream of joy…threw his daughter in the air….and everything was joyful joyful…she understood…for kids understand, the fellow cinema watchers (who had come just to pass their time, and not searching for any real joy) didn’t…then there were all tears and tears…all joy and joy…little Mannat leaped towards him and kissed him repeatedly…it was all tears and tears…kisses and kisses….god blessed them in those moments…this joy was the result of how hard he worked and yet kept the hope of joy in his heart, the desire to live inside him that nurtured itself continuously…he had three days and on the first day itself, he had lived all that there was to live…..!!

Manan sheel.