The Old Man and Earthquake
Short Story
Dear Chakanova – Since you have come to hear my story, what is that word, yes horse’s mouth, I will tell you the rest of the tale. you might have heard the first part. I hope it interests you. further, I had longed that I was writing for you even when I was not writing for you -so hear the other part of the chronicle. characters, an old man who left bad spoor-,a young man, newly wedded, harum-scarum. His wife, thin, wearing rudraksha and eglantine saree-both eloped. And an earthquake. and a couple of other faces. It is my habit to read my tales to the pug before I publish them in print. It is hitherto an old tradition practised by some writers in the past and I don’t know the validity or relevance of it in our present context. Still, I am doing it, or in other words, imitating this centuries-old habit just for the same as imitating a wise fellow. Sometimes it profits from imitating wise people even though we cannot grasp the relevance of such an ordeal. this much as an introduction- now coming to the story-
An eighty-year-old individual goes to the working environment late even and tells me that an expert has a disease. This kind of talk is personally familiar. I don’t look eyes him. he was insightful with white hair. He had kung fu steps and long hair. He wore white pyjamas and a free kurta. He spoke the regional tongue to me which I was getting. I was new to that spot. It has been many moons since I went to that spot.
2
I went to his home and I was wearing shades. The town had two seasons. a boiling summer season, frightful hotness. additionally, a long swirling season. pre-winter and spring and winter were by and large short. The storms wreaked havoc. there was a woods district past the borough. people lived generally horticulturally. For cooking, they used dry logs.
Around then he was working in a school. He was searching with the expectation of complimentary spots to rest. He had come here without the information on his folks. He had eloped with a young lady and married her. His wife had some work. He advised her to leave and the two of them left the country, this is the country to which his administration permitted section. He didn’t require any papers. In the prior periods, both the nations were under the same lord and there was and in the cutting edge time, the state-run administrations have permitted free entry recollecting the bygone eras. There is a great deal of joint effort in the instruction and the development circles. You needn’t bother with identification for a visa to enter this country.
Without further ado, before he and his significant other came-they were not hitched then-her mom removed all her gold adornments as she had a premonition of the elopement.
In the prior eras both the lands were under the same crown and they in numerous ways finished a common culture and the scenes were unique. The current spot of his living was set apart by high snowclad mountains with their well-known rings that are the parts for study for understudies imprinted in the chronicle. a similar ruler, so the current government permitted free trek and numerous instructive activities together were directed and by and by the two jurisdictions shared the concordant activities.
He finds a new line of work and the chief inquires as to whether his better half is an educated lady and he affirms and she too gets a job as a teacher. the school favours couples as some lone wolves in the past showed straying tendencies. He lets the spouse know that the two of them land positions and both are glad the foundations in this nation incline toward south Indian teachers. Not that the south Indian instructors are superior to the north Indian, but since in the prior ages the south Indian teachers had worked in a considerable lot of these schools and the specialists knew about their ways and styles. In addition, these applicants needed teaching occupations and were all set to different spots. He and his better half landed the position.
3
The[old] man presents his better half and who’d say that he was an instructor superannuated. His youth came from the military. He will come just one time per year. His family is in the line states. The other youngster is a scholastic person who wears a white dhoti and white shirt/he presents his partner and she smiles. He was albeit sad. He had foregone some money on the young people’s tutoring and they are not settled. Both are players. The first is a football player. The other one is a cricket fan. He said that there is a colossal difference between his dream life and real life. There is a significant opening.
Section TWO
4
There was a seismic conquassate in that fall. followed by rumbler and heavy rain. I didn’t realize that it was a seismic seiche. The residence was rocking. Since where I was dozing was singular from the rest of the bunkhouse. It was made of wood. I hyperbolized that the tiger had walked in. There were clambering steps. In the third story where I was dozing my bed was shaking. My significant other was apprehensive. I didn’t know what. The following day the paper conveyed enormous segments on the seismic tremor. About 200 houses got rattled and devastated by the seismic jerk. What’s more, many individuals kicked the bucket. kids from their folks. sections of the kids missing. some do. cows passed on and surprisingly a few yields. the trees have fallen.
5
I realized that it was a quake. I should quit going to the town. to the school to the inversions. The quake didn’t ingeminate that week. Yet, the seismologists anticipate another quake. yet, they didn’t know. The Mercalli Scale showed various surmisings. there were contrasts according to the specialists. average people said that they are not specialists. Be that as it may, I did accept it. according to one perspective, it will return once more. Indeed, the seismic tremor hit once again. this time it was an intense assault.
Jagdish sir said that he and his significant other seemed like entertainers in a film when they crossed the field, he giggled. the environment changes as of late, seismographic changes. The climate changed. Snow clad mountains tops and enthralling places of interest and the travellers visited ice-gowned mountains. the entire group, not the countenances and components, he swears.In the background,big trees,thistles,aegilops,river,chokecherries,argali.
6
He stayed in the course to locate ceaseless things for diversion. He was in the meantime joining in and realized that the condition in the family was not good. So he returned home, He was biting the dust hard to see his parents and the man came back once more. This time he had no issue. He was cool in a foundation organization. Come one day. I went there. He took me to a room and there were no chattels in the pad. three or four mats on the floor. He spread a mat and we sat on the floor. We reviewed the temblor. Will the tremor come? That was our concern. Silver hair, strong limbs, quick walk.
The seismic tremor came that year some other time. Many individuals kicked the bucket. We were among the survivors. That was how I met the eighty-year-elderly person another survivor.
7
He was asked to compose the song for the institution. He composed a horrible something and it was sung when the guardians showed up. and to the amusement of the wards. And a dramatic rendition of Happy Prince. the swallow was a girl. His understudies for the most part rested in the hostel and not precisely half were day scholars. the papa of the principal controlled the dorms, and as the students could not do anything, they made fun of him making him a character in their future compositions.
Another day.
. My wife and I. We visited a colleague’s home. A.G. should be his name. His wife was much younger than him and wore sarees from the garden. When they were both eating at the instructor’s home, and we were studying the books, he had a massive seizure and collapsed on the rug, writhing his body for a minute or two, startling everyone save his girlfriend. He rejoined the meeting after two or three minutes, as if nothing had happened. His significant other afterwards informed him that his spouse is suffering from a genuine brain tumour. came from Goa and, presumably, knows his last escape route in the event that the specialist’s decision is correct. She informed him that he was having cerebrum cancer and the specialists have allowed him a half year notice first. Furthermore, he is in the last phase of his life as when he beat an understudy and he questioned his mental soundness. his sibling’s financial specialists and he likely has issues, she tells. since his better half just has two sarees one extra and one uniform. He had likewise two sets of dresses including a uniform. had just two sarees, one the school uniform.
8
The quake came that year later. Numerous people passed on. We were among the survivors. That was how I met the eighty-year-older individual.
In that season he took momo from the eatery and he got amebiasis. In The break between the classes he battles to control the pain, still when he looked outside the scenes were delightful.
……….
THE END