Slender Thread

by: Anand Shekhar   

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She would never understand why. Life had always been unfair to Rajesh. Nothing had ever been given to him. He always had to earn whatever he got. He always got less than he deserved. Rajesh walked out of the room in a rage. He slammed the door as hard as he could. He stormed out of the house. Her words had wounded him deeply. He had always stuck by her and had immense love for her. He could not stand the thought of her hating him. But somehow her words seemed to hurt more because they were true. But were his sentiments really that "silly"? He needed to think. He walked fast taking long rapid strides that ate up the distance. In a few moments he reached his destination.

He stopped, took a deep breath and took in the entire landscape in one sweeping glance. The sun was just about setting and the sky was a brilliant mixture of red orange and yellow. The sea below was calm and reflected an almost perfect picture of the sky. It was difficult to find the horizon in all the colour and brilliance his shirt flapped in the salty breeze. His mind was beginning to clear now. The black rage was leaving him now. He looked over the steep cliffs and for the nth time marveled at the smooth vertical cliff face. For a brief moment there was an impulse to jump and end it all. But it remained only an impulse. And she wanted to sell all this. To give this away for money was a crime. Here was nature at its unspoiled best and she wanted to sell it to some hoteliers! The idea was preposterous. "Why does she want to do this" he thought bitterly. But he knew why. It was the money. She wanted to become a doctor.

But he would not sell this land. It would become a grand hotel. A tourist resort. A vulgar show of nature's riches. There was more to it than that. This was where his parents had died damn it. Didn't that matter at all? Rajesh had never gotten over his parents death. He was an old adolescent on the threshold of youth. His sister had been even younger. The parents became tragic victims of a killer disease. Relatives suddenly disappeared and Rajesh and his sister were suddenly left alone and stranded in a hostile world. Rajesh had somehow managed to scrape through life so far. He took up a job that gave but a meager wage and managed to pay for his sister's education. He made many sacrifices, all to bring up his sister well. But he wasn't able to. He had struggled and toiled but he simply could not find the money. Then this second chance. Some big shots from some company came to them one day. They offered them a substantial sum that would pay for medical school and leave a little to spare for them to live comfortably on. All they had to do was to sell the land. His sister wanted to sell. But there was one hitch. The land belonged entirely to Rajesh. And for some reason she could not divine he would not sell. All their life they had dreamed together, fought together and shared everything. Rajesh had always protected his sister. Now they were fighting with each other. He hated doing this. But he had never gotten over his parents death and he felt that by selling the land he was betraying them. The land was the only thing they had left him and he did not want to give it away for some strangers to walk over. Every inch of that land held a special significance to him. That his sister would never understand. He was so confused. What was he to do?

The rage returned. He kicked the ground angrily. And suddenly the ground gave way below him! He was thrown into a free fall towards the rocks far below! He had kicked too hard. The earth had been kicked loose and he had lost his balance and fallen over! "I am going to die." He thought. Suddenly he stopped with an abrupt jerk. He felt something pull hard at his right hand. He looked up. It took him a few moments to realize what had happened. His rakhee had caught on to a single boulder that jutted out of the cliff. He stared at the rakhee for some time. His sister had tied it on a few weeks back. It symbolized the bond between brother and sister. Now it was almost as if the vermilion symbolized the bad blood between them now.

How that frail little thread managed to bear the solid flesh blood and bones of Rajesh was a mystery. It was nothing short of a miracle. How long he hung there by the thread, he did not know. But he hung around. He had just narrowly escaped death. Somebody would miss him soon. He would be found. With these thoughts he comforted himself. Suddenly he breathed hard and swore softly. It struck him then. God had sent him a message. It was physically impossible for that thread to hold him. It was certainly a message. The symbol of the bond between him and his sister had saved his life. It was all symbolic. God wanted him to sell the land. "That's it "he decided. "I will sell the land. " The Thread snapped and Rajesh plunged to his doom below....