The birth of a baby, living or dead, is not for celebration. It only adds to the miseries of the parents under the thick cloud of worries, as to how they will feed the child. Parents did not think of a lucid dream. The moment of birth was not joyful for them. Rawal’s birth caused multiple pangs and pains for his mother. The birth was viviparous. Rawal’s birth made his sick mother pale. With powdery cheeks, Rawal was lifeless at his birth. Rawal’s hair was combed though the skin of skull was thoroughly velvety. Eyes were closed but not misty. Thin blue veined hands and spotless feet were still and lips on eternal rest. Many warts were invisibly seen under the glow of amniotic fluid; amniotic sac had already weeded out. Rawal was dead by birth. The endurance of the birth pain was over but the sufferings of the parents did not come to an end. The bearing mother had many fears. The future and survival of the baby concerned her more. The repetitive pangs were of psychological, physical and emotional nature.
The name of the forthcoming baby was conceived much earlier than his birth. Rawal is an allegorical name, nobody ever tried to find its meaning and origin. Parents hoped to have a third baby boy but the assumption soon had to evaporate. Rawal never breathed, hissed, sighed or even wheezed. Low or high-toned crying did not occur. Mild sobbing and wailing were left only for the frail father and the muttering mother. Fate of the Rawal, if born alive, must not have been different from that of his parents had and his two brothers.
The society has two shimmering traits: hypocrisy and lies. Lies chased more lies. Hypocrisy had to lose nothing, because it had no rivalry.
Rawal’s household depicted what the life of the downtrodden looks like. He had nightmares, not dreams. Hopelessness was the only hope for him. Society was certainly prospering by trapping hope against hope. Hope is a torpedo if you believe in hope.
His father worked at a factory. The factory was extracting and bottling blissful water. The firm had a thriving business. Rawal’s wages were the only source of sustenance. Its owner always pleased inspecting officials and regulators. In return, his profit was immense. Impunity from any check was guaranteed. Bottles were filled with tap water, labeled and packed with brand name- meaning heaven water. Factory owner paid wages to Rawal regularly but the money was far less than he agreed to give him initially. The owner would say that the factory was facing losses since the commencement of the production. Once the wife of the factory owner questioned her husband over the tap water and how it can be heavenly. The reply was easy to understand. All underground water needs no further purification. It is purified by the heavenly design and since its formation. If treated mechanically, it will no longer be pure. Any treatment will deprive it from heavenly implanted ingredients. A faith healer had inaugurated this business. The enterprise made more business than three rivals had claimed collectively. The rivals would sell treated water, many times though forbidden by the regulators to sell. Regulators had only objections on the purity of regulated water.
Rawal did not survive. But he wants all other creatures to live their lives. The colonial masters have been plundering his country for the last three hundred years. The succeeding native King’s rule lasted over sixty years. The king himself, queen, court minders and spoonies are the wealthiest and most protected in the society. Rawal’s parents were among the browbeaten and beaten, his siblings are forced to follow the footprints of the parents. Did they have any other choice? None!
Rawal was laid to rest besides the village brook in a graveyard meant for the ‘poor’. Burial rituals were not held publicly. Next morning, a Sandpiper yawned at the grave of Rawal. Sandpiper had food and feed but no company. He finds the company of a goldcrest. Goldcrest needed some solace. Many hunters had been chasing him. Goldcrest’s feeble body did not entice sandpiper to hurt him, even though sandpiper was powerful enough to attack his chin to snatch butterfly chewed by gold crest. Instead, he offered him to save and store some pieces of it for future meals. Perched on a bush with parched lips, sandpiper loved gold crest. Goldcrest did not agree with the advice but have had no fear of any sort of harm from the stronger and muscular sandpiper. Rawal enjoyed the agreement reached between the weaker and virile. One vampire and the living vampire bat offered a deep amusement to Rawal. The person buried near Rawal, was the head of the justice corporation of the country before losing his life. He noticed a vampire bat used to sleep on the trunk of a tree above his grave. Vampire made the bat agreeing to allow him to cocktail his blood. Vampire had no taste for blood. He wanted to have some company regularly. Vampire bat used to roam about all day. At dusk she regularly settled among the companions. Vampire had stopped going out for blood and flesh. Vampire bat was enough to satiate him. Rawal was the only spectator.
Sandpiper and goldcrest were not scared of the vampires. Goldcrest had deep faith in the company and companionship of Sandpiper. Sandpiper acted like a towering patriarch. There would be no fear when he was around. Rawal did not enjoy the amusements of the nearby hamlet of his two living brothers. In the graveyard, his time was memorable. Rawal was far willing to revel in the ongoing amusement. His living siblings were far from such sublime performance of peaceful beasts. Fearlessly, the goldcrest enjoyed the morsels of butterfly. Faithfully vampire enjoyed the blood of the vampire bat or borrowed from her. This part of the world was in harmony compared to the one consisting of humans across the brook. Rawal’s father, who was fatigued, barefooted and mostly groggy sometimes visits the specter and felt thankful that his son did not live to bear the ugliness of this part of the world.
The writer is an alumnus of Potsdam Centre for Public Management Germany and of Geneva Centre for Security Policy Switzerland. He can be reached by [email protected]