October 2020
7
ISSN 2278 0742
Sunshine is not lost Anita Konwar
―Deuta, are you fine?‖Mr. Baruah did not know when he fell asleep while reading a book. He suddenly wakes up at the call of Jishnu. For the last eight years, Baruah has been living a solitary life in his ancestral house. Jishnu is his only helping hand. Jishnu is an unemployed educated youth of the village Heujpur. He has his own family with his old mother, his wife Kamala and two years old son, Kripa. He cleans the house, cooks food for Baruah and gives him medicines at scheduled times. Sometimes he stays with Baruah at night. ―Deuta, will you take a cup of tea?‖ Jishnu asks Mr. Baruah. ―Yes, give me a cup of tea‖ He replies, ―How is your mother now?‖ ―She is not well, Deuta. It‘s such a difficult time. I took her to the local doctor. He advised me to take her to Dibrugarh for better treatment. But I have no money to hire a car to go to Dibrugarh,‖ Jishnu sighs. ―Don‘t worry Jishnu, I will try to find out a way,‖ Mr. Baruah says. Baruah helps Jishnu in his difficult times. So, he is always grateful to Baruah. Three days have passed. There is no news from Jishnu‘s side. These days, Baruah does not go out for a morning walk as lockdown was imposed. He has confined himself to the four walls of the house since the last two months. In these lonely hours, Baruah remembers Ila, his deceased wife. His son Rakesh is working in a multi-national company in USA and his daughter Bela lives in Bangalore. They are busy with their own lives. Since the death of Ila, Baruah is living a solitary life and is now accustomed to it. His only company was Jishnu but since last few days, Jishnu has been going through some difficulties. In the absence of Jishnu, Baruah does not feel like cooking for himself. He cooks his meal only once and uses it for his dinner too. One day Mr. Baruah was found worriedly standing near the gate. He sees Nirvan, a boy from his neighbourhood riding a bicycle. Nirvan calls out, ―Kaka, how are you?‖ ―I am well, Nirvan. Will you do me a favour, if you don‘t mind?‖ Baruah hesitantly asks. Nirvan stops and enquires what Baruah needs. Baruah wants some groceries from the nearby shop. Baruah asks Nirvan if he knew anything about Volume 9 Issue 3
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