Anita Konwar

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

Jishnu‘s mother. He is shocked to hear the news about her. She was found Covid-19 positive and her condition was very critical. In spite of the treatment she passed away in Dibrugarh medical college hospital the day before yesterday. Jishnu does not have a mobile phone, so Baruah does not have any option of calling him. Nirvan continues, ―Kaka, the disease is very fatal. Senior people should be very careful.‖ The tragedy is that the mortal remains of Jishnu‘s mother were not even allowed to be brought back to the village. She was cremated in a particular place which was fixed by District administration in the presence of only two persons from the family. After coming back from Dibrugarh, Jishnu and his family are now in quarantine. They are not allowed to mingle with their neighbours. Baruah is very sad to know this. He has been thinking about extending help to Jishnu in this hour of crisis. Jishnu‘s mother was a very kind-hearted woman and she used to work at his house when Ila was alive. Baruah decides to provide some groceries to Jishnu. Knowing about his plan, his daughter warns her father not to go out and take the risk. But Baruah could not stop himself. He cycles to Jishnu‘s house with some groceries. He has gone out of his house after two months. The street seems to be deserted and sad like the winter trees. The surrounding atmosphere too looks gloomy. He feels very tired while riding his bicycle after a long time. After reaching the hut, he calls out to Jishnu from the bamboo gate on which a big banner is displayed, ―Containment Zone‖. On hearing the voice of Mr. Baruah, Jishnu rushes out, ―Deuta, why have you come out? You should not have taken the risk. The situation is not good. I am very worried about you.‖ Baruah replies ―Don‘t worry Jishnu. I am alright. Take these groceries.‖ ―Deuta, you should instantly go home. You should take care of your health. This disease is very fatal. I have lost my mother. I do not want to lose you‖ says Jishnu. At the request of Jishnu, Baruah returns home instantly. The neighbours of Jishnu stare at him. They have started talking to one other, ―This old man is out of his wits. He is taking risk at this age. If he falls ill, there is no one to look after him.‖ Baruah overhears the conversations and does not heed them. He is not worried about his

own life. To him, ―It‘s all God‘s wishes. If the Almighty wants to keep him alive, nothing will happen to him.‖ For him, Jishnu means more to his biological son who

do not have time to think about his old father. If Jishnu is taking so much care of him, he also has the same responsibility to help him in his hour of need. On his way back, Baruah meets Jiban who is a constable in the local police station. ―Sir, this is not good for your health to come out of your house,‖ Jiban says to Baruah. Baruah explains to Jiban why he had to come out. Jiban was once a student of Mr. Baruah. So he warns his teacher not to take any risk and offers to help him. He gives his contact number and asks Baruah to inform him if he needs any help. Feeling grateful, Baruah returns home. ―Humanity is not lost. God is there for his help‖ Baruah thinks. In absence of Jishnu, at least Jiban will extend his helping hand to him and the sun keeps shining.