The Waiting Room

 

On a three-way junction of a remote country lane, somewhere near the river Kosi in Bihar, stands a somewhat dilapidated and hulking waiting room for weary travelers to nearby villages. Here, big forests surround the small, human endeavor as far as the human eye can see. This can be a waiting room in the eyes of the world, but for one man, this is a peaceful and permanent home. A beggar, with a tattered cloak and a blanket, lives here. The grey-haired, hump-backed beggar does nothing but sings aloud all the time with a mixed feeling of joy and devotion. He is considered a beggar by the people, but no one has ever seen him asking for anything from anyone. Whatever people give him out of sympathy keeps him alive. After watching him singing, one can conclude that he is a man of the present and lives the moment. However, he stops singing abruptly sometimes, as if the long-forgotten pain returns to him with more intensity. He feels the memories and feelings of the people of the past. But since that time has passed, the people to blame are gone, and the only one remaining to witness the scene are the travelers in the waiting room.

He doesn’t talk to anybody, and people consider him anti-social. But I don’t. Someone said, ”Sometimes those who don’t socialize are not actually anti-social. They just have no tolerance for drama, small talk, and fake people.” Anyways, local people say that the place is not very safe. Perhaps, they have seen many dangerous animals visiting the area, and they wonder why the beggar has not become the food for some of them. Perhaps the animals do not rob him of his life because he is already robbed of everything. And he is fearless, unlike the common people with strong walls of their houses making their hearts weaker. Fear comes with attachments to your life, and when there is only life left, without any attachment to anything or anyone, fear doesn’t find anyplace.

His life has been the same for the past twenty years, with no change in the routine, song, and place. However, soon a dog starts sharing his place. He starts spending the whole of his time in or around the waiting-room. He goes to the nearby villages to fill his appetite in the morning and returns to the waiting-room within four to five hours, sleeping mindlessly after that. The beggar does not say anything to him, just like the passengers on a bus who share the place for a brief period of time and have no interaction. The time passes by and the monsoon arrives in northern India.

One day, the sky rages in fury and begins dropping water bombs manufactured in the Arabian Sea on the great soil of Bihar, infuriating the river Kosi. Also, the Kosi is not falling short in showing outrage. It seems as if the water in the river overflows the banks in response to the loud thunder boom in the devilish sky.

The rain has been pouring down heavily for the last four days now. The Kosi rises gradually as it is fed with water from the smaller rivers. Water starts covering enormous areas. Roads get blocked and the waiting room gets isolated from the rest of the world.

The beggar and the dog have not eaten anything for one week. The cold winds blowing through the waiting-room are sending shivery tingles up and down their weak bodies racking with pain. The beggar stands up and puts his only blanket on the cold floor, lighting the fire. He knows that the blanket will not last for more than an hour. Despite knowing that he will need this blanket in the future, he lights the fire in the blanket, his foresightedness kneeling down against the bodily demands. As soon as the fire begins devouring the blanket, the dog drags himself towards it. Both sit there quietly, waiting for the rain to get over. One hour is over, and the never-satisfied Agni Deva has devoured the blanket. Fire in the blanket is extinguished, but the fire in the stomachs is intensifying with each passing hour, gradually pulling the life out of the two bodies.

It is morning now, and the rain is not over yet. The beggar is continuously staring at the dog with hunger in his eyes. The devil in his mind, getting more powerful with acute hunger, wants him to kill the dog and satisfy the hunger. However, the unknown fear of God doesn’t let him do so. He has sung hymns in the praise of God for the whole of his life. How can he do such a devilish act? Now, he is not only fighting hunger and cold but also a devilish thought who wants him to survive. If he listens to God in him, he will die, but if he listens to the devil, he will survive. What an irony! Gradually, the hunger is weakening his logic and reason, his vision going blurred. He does not only have the craving for food but also for some heat. He stands up again and takes off all his clothes, exposing his whole body to the cold wind. He lies down on the floor after putting all of his clothes on fire, closing his eyes.

The dog is whimpering in one corner of the room and after noticing the beggar’s act, his eyes light up. He drags himself to the fire and sits there with his nose between his forelegs. He looks at the beggar and seems to understand the beggar’s pathetic condition. Suddenly, he stands up and starts moving about the room endlessly. In a matter of seconds, he jumps into the fire purposely, burning himself to death. The beggar understands the situation and doesn’t open his eyes. The dog, while burning is looking at the face of the beggar. It seems as if he is saying, “O beggar! Your food lies here. Save my body for your food before it is turned into ash. One of us had to die to give life to another. That’s the law of nature and it will forever be like that.”

The next day, the waiting room has collapsed due to flood and the two corpses are floating in the water. It is still raining cats and dogs.