WRITINGS ON THE WEB - FEMINA - FEB 2010

I am very happy to share with you that a story of mine "Lightening Hapless Lives" written under my pen name 'cherrycorp' has got published in the Femina magazine Website and it is also one of the Editor's pick out of the many selected this week. I had sent the same story to The Times Of India, Delhi Press and Femina months back and forgotten the same. Last Friday I was really surprised and happy to see the response from Femina.

Please visit the link below to read the piece and kindly post your comments if any right there in the Femina magazine website.
http://readerspost.femina.in/stories-poem/lightening-up-hapless-lives/

Pasting the site's content as the link has got deactivated.

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Stories/Poems: Lightening up hapless lives Feb 01, 2010 - 02:24 PM

(7)
It was a starry night and the moon looked bright and beautiful. Sandeep was on the street taking a stroll and a gentle breeze engulfed him. He could see the sky painted with beams of colourful light, while the sound of fireworks reverberated faraway. He presumed that it was some kind of celebration happening out there somewhere.

In the small interludes between the sounds of the fireworks, he could hear the feeble cry of an infant!! He made his way through the dark street, and looked around frantically. Soon, he found the source from where the feeble cry was coming. He spotted a tender little girl child on a garbage heap. He knew that it was one of the abandoned ones. “Oh God!” he cried. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he took her up, hugging her with the entire dirt, as her tender fingers clasped firmly on to him. He looked at her poignantly and muttered while weeping, “O’ sweet one, who gave birth to you? How could they leave you like this”? He looked up at the sky and wept saying “O’ bright moon and you twinkling stars!! Does your beauty mean anything to me now? All the beams of light out there; it’s not the time for you to decorate the sky. It is a time of sorrow. Disappear…please disappear.”

And then the scene seemed to have changed suddenly. It was a bright day and faraway he could see a celebration. Melodious music reached his ears. He could see beautiful women and men in their best attire, and some with sufficient amount of their skin, exposed to grab attention, almost banging on the thresholds of decency. As the basic human in him was lost in a world of fantasy, he spotted a frail woman just outside the celebration venue, in tattered clothes, that was hardly enough to cover her body. She was carrying a little child in her arms, and begging for food, while gourmets at the function were showering compliments on the best dishes. Her hold on life seemed tenuous, contrary to the little one’s tenacious hold for its feed, on her breasts, for what would have been the only lavish intake, it could ever dream of. It struck him hard deep down his heart. “Alas!! Here is an irony, here is a nudity that kills my fantasy and bleeds my heart”, he moaned. “O’ you beautiful women out there….my eyes are blind to the fantasy that your skin offers?” he wailed.

“Bang,Bang…oh!!! Fireworks ? Where am I?” he wondered for a moment. He could hear the children scream again, and his body shook as he was taken unawares with the cacophony of the crackers bursting all around. His eyes strained through the darkness, and out through the window. He could see colourful fireworks pierce the sky, in the yielding darkness of early dawn. “Alas!! It was a dream, a dream drenched with sorrow and soaked in irony!!” he mused, as he got up and sat on his bed.

It took time for him to realize all that he went through was a dream, and that Diwali was here for sure that day!! It seemed to him that the human mind was desperately trying to lighten up and colour, the obvious gloom of the world that the dark sky portrayed. Yes, it was as though the entire colour and the light, which the human mind tried to fill the dark sky with, was but too little to wipe off the gloom. Alas!! Every time the fireworks dressed the sky, darkness followed again!!! The world to him, seemed to be festive on the outside, but deep inside it had great loads of sorrow of all kinds.
In a few moments Sandeep was up, and an hour later, ready to join his family, for the celebration of Diwali. An atmosphere of festive mirth filled the hearts of the people around. On the streets, amidst the cracker fire, and the fumes of smoke, he saw men, women and little ones, dressed in their best attire. And so was he, dressed in a new set of clothes and busy working on his bag full of fireworks.

And then there came a knock, on the door of his conscience. Right there, approaching him were a mother and her little son, adorned by fate with tattered clothes. She begged for food with her frail hands, while the little boy was busy, searching the garbage of littered paper that lay all over the road, for unburned fireworks that Diwali had left for him. Sandeep felt as though that this situation was just a continuation of the similar ones he had seen in his dream. It moved him.

He gave them sweets, a set of old clothes and a packet full of fireworks specially for the little one. Later a few yards away on the street, Sandeep found the boy with the fireworks, making a celebration of his own, while the mother was busy, feeding the boy his share of sweets.

That night after all his fireworks were done, and as he lay down to sleep, Sandeep was happy that he was able to bring, not just the light out from those fireworks, but also some light of compassion, into the darkness of a few suffering human lives. He also did realize how blessed he was with shelter, clothing and especially food every day, so much so that he could say “Enough”.

Posted by: cherrycorp

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COMMENTS

Posted by reji 2010 04 13

Definitely a story that cannot leave you untouched.

Posted by Aruna 2010 04 13

We all are fortunate to say Enough. Let us do that..

Posted by Rajesh 2010 04 14

Most of them would have come across this situation and the writer has expressed as what has appeared. Very good and lively.

Posted by Binu Ittyerah 2010 04 19

Reminds us in the hustle and bustle of every day life, how much in abundance we are blessed by God.

Posted by SIVASUVRAMANIAN 2010 04 28

Very nicely told in simple words. Humility is what is required in this present world. Good work by the writer.

Posted by Sekhar 2010 04 28

Nice one !
Posted by Vijayy 2010 04 28

Nice one Roy.

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I have also pasted the story as submitted, below.

Thanks much to all for spending time to read and to go through all my work. It's your backing that keeps me going everyday.
Hope you will enjoy.....

LIGHTENING UP HAPLESS LIVES

It was a starry night and the moon looked bright and beautiful. Sandeep was on the street taking a stroll and a gentle breeze engulfed him. He could see the sky painted with beams of colourful light, while the sound of fireworks reverberated faraway. He presumed that it was some kind of celebration happening out there somewhere.


In the small interludes between the sounds of the fireworks, he could hear the feeble cry of an infant!! He made his way through the dark street, and looked around frantically. Soon, he found the source from where the feeble cry was coming. He spotted a tender little girl child on a garbage heap. He knew that it was one of the abandoned ones.

Tears rolled down his cheeks as he took her up, hugging her with the entire dirt, as her tender fingers clasped firmly on to him.

“Oh God!!” he cried. He looked at her poignantly and muttered while weeping, “O' sweet one, who gave birth to you? How could they leave you like this”? He looked up at the sky and wept saying “O’ bright moon and you twinkling stars!! Does your beauty mean anything to me now? All the beams of light out there; it’s not the time for you to decorate the sky. It is a time of sorrow. Disappear…please disappear.”

And then the scene seemed to have changed suddenly. It was a bright day and faraway he could see a celebration. Yes, it was a festival of some kind, and melodious music reached his ears. As he approached closer, he could see beautiful women and men in their best attire, and some with sufficient amount of their skin, exposed to grab attention, almost banging on the thresholds of decency. As the basic human in him was lost in a world of fantasy, looking around with his dreamy eyes, he spotted a frail woman just outside the celebration venue, in tattered clothes, that was hardly enough to cover her body. She was carrying a little child in her arms, and begging for food, while gourmets at the function were showering compliments on the best dishes. Her hold on life seemed tenuous, contrary to the little one's tenacious hold for its feed, on her breasts, for what would have been the only lavish intake, it could ever dream of. It struck him hard deep down his heart. “Alas!! Here is an irony, here is a nudity that kills my fantasy and bleeds my heart”, he moaned. “O' you beautiful women out there….my eyes are blind to the fantasy that your skin offers?” he wailed.

Yonder he heard the scream of children, and the barking of dogs. Yes, he could see them and he walked towards them. He reached a street and the surroundings had a festive appearance. He could see decorations inside and outside several houses. “Is it a Christmas celebration?” he asked himself. He was not sure. He could hear the Catholic Church choir’s rendition. “Aha!! Such a melody!!” he thought while enjoying it.

He reached the spot. It was a garbage dump. A big spread of the remains of a huge feast, thrown out from several houses lay scattered all over the place. The little scavengers were pushing each other, in their scramble for the food remains. There were a few dogs, which also joined the fray. He saw not just dust and dirt, but also the sweet smiles that dressed these unfortunate little faces. It appeared to him that their fate was to share, crumbs of food waste, with stray animals; and like them, they were blessed with neither good food nor a state to say “Enough” to food. “O'God!! This Christmas seems to be just wide enough to bring me transient happiness, but is it deep enough to wipe out, these pictures of sorrow?” he lamented.

“Bang,Bang…oh!!! Fireworks ? Where am I?” he wondered for a moment. He could hear the children scream again, and his body shook as he was taken unawares with the cacophony of the crackers bursting all around. The sound of the fireworks, seemed to continue incessantly, as his eyes strained through the darkness, and out through the window. He could see colourful fireworks pierce the sky, in the yielding darkness of early dawn. “Alas!! It was a dream, a total dream!! A dream drenched with sorrow, a dream soaked in irony!!” he mused, as he got up and sat on his bed.

It took time for him to realize all that he went through was a dream, and that Diwali was here for sure that day!! It seemed to him that the human mind was desperately trying to lighten up and colour, the obvious gloom of the world that the dark sky portrayed. Yes, it was as though the entire colour and the light, which the human mind tried to

fill the dark sky with, was but too little to wipe off the gloom. Alas!! Every time the fireworks dressed the sky, darkness followed again!!! The world to him, seemed to be festive on the outside, but deep inside it had great loads of sorrow of all kinds.

In a few moments Sandeep was up, and an hour later, ready to join his family, for the celebration of Diwali. The sky was beautiful in the darkness of dawn, dressed with the colour of fireworks that formed beautiful patterns in the sky. An atmosphere of festive mirth filled the hearts of the people around. On the streets, amidst the cracker fire, and the fumes of smoke, he saw men, women and little ones, dressed in their best attire. And so was he, dressed in a new set of clothes and busy working on his bag full of fireworks, while his mouth did its incessant work, of munching the sweets that his mother had made with all love, and the best of her effort.

And then there came a knock, on the door of his conscience. Right there, approaching him were a mother and her little son, adorned by fate with tattered clothes. She begged for food with her frail hands, while the little boy was busy, searching the garbage of littered paper that lay all over the road, for unburned fireworks that Diwali had left for him. Sandeep felt as though that this situation was just a continuation of the similar ones he had seen in his dream. It moved him.

He gave them sweets, a set of old clothes and a packet full of fireworks specially for the little one. Later a few yards away on the street, Sandeep found the boy with the fireworks, making a celebration of his own, while the mother was busy, feeding the boy his share of sweets.

That night after all his fireworks were done, and as he lay down to sleep, Sandeep was happy that he was able to bring, not just the light out from those fireworks, but also some light of compassion, into the darkness of a few suffering human lives. He also did realize how blessed he was with shelter, clothing and especially food everyday, so much so that he could say “Enough” after every meal.