BEYOND BORDERS JANUARY 2018

BEYOND BORDERS
LOVE, PRAY &
LITERATURE | SHORT STORY
MIRACLE
SOWMYA RAMKUMAR, AHMEDABAD
Kush and Anjali cannot put a finger even today on who proposed first but every soul around
them could drench themselves in the all-encompassing warmth of love they manage to
radiate. Anjali smiled at everyone, was a chatterbox and Kush felt like he got paid to talk
less! Interesting contradictions, they had built a cosy nest in Kathmandu, Nepal and were
absorbed in each other most of the time. There was a knot in every story and theirs came in
the form of extended family and society. Kush could not care less for opinions but Anjali
became the personification of a slowly drying twig yearning to engage in the most divine
status, a mother.
After a three year struggle of multiple needle pricks and nights slept on drenching the pillow
with tears, that news was nothing sort of a miracle, but little did they know what awaited
them in less than six months? Anjali was taken care no less than a queen, every whim
considered an order by Kush. Anjali harboured the common fear that everything was too
good to be true, but she could not have fathomed even in her wildest dreams the events that
were waiting to unfold, a blow at a time. Anjali was taken into the best nursing home in the
city and was awaiting her bundle of Joy and Kush worked more from the hospital room,
glancing over Anjali for the slightest of the signs, first time parent you see! Kush was at the
tiny eatery outside the hospital when the rubble hit his forehead and could not comprehend
for a whole minute the horror that had unfolded. The damage was done before he could rush
and the entire hospital was just a decapitated reminder now. A man defeated Kush lamented,
the worst of the sounds that matched his were all over the place. Nature, with immeasurable
patience sometimes chooses to retaliate!
Hope was the only anchor Kush was holding for the first three days and even that started
evaporating on the fourth. Strong men were being pulled out lifeless from the rubble and
Anjali harbouring another life, stood not a chance. Kush, prone to logical thoughts wanted to
believe in the goodness Anjali called wishful thinking. Kush broke down completely on day
five and collapsed near the rubble, a man consumed by the flames of immeasurable loss.
Every story cannot have a “they lived happily ever after!”
“Then what happened grandpa?” the impatient kid queried! With a mischievous smile Kush
said “I was shaken violently awake at the hospital tent only to cry in the loudest tone at the
sight of Anjali holding up your dad from the opposite bed! You Grandma had come out of the
hospital to take a walk and the quake hit. She had braved five days of hunger on the road
side with only a broken pipeline for water, holding her most precious treasure!”
“So now you know what’s the meaning of Miracle”, a crisp smile filled the room for Anjali
Granny was her!