Gopal Dhakan

Others

4.8  

Gopal Dhakan

Others

Asha : A Short Story

Asha : A Short Story

4 mins
2.7K


It was an early morning of a sunny Indian summer day. It was a holiday. So, there was quite rush at vegetable market of that town of Saurashtra. The continuous movement of mango fans was disturbing traffic also. Because , outside of the market , mangoes were sold on the both side of the road . People were busy in buying mangoes sold in some lorries and rickshaws. Some of the vendors were selling on the ground also. They were trying to attract customers by calling them that their mangoes were the cheapest and the best among all. So, the road was quite busy that day.

A young man; with short sleeves , loose fitting clothes, dark hair , slippers in feet, was walking in slow speed. He was looking every heap of mangoes. His steps were slow and short. He was observing how vendors were praising mangoes and buyers were bargaining.

In the meantime, all the traders did not get tired of praising their mangoes as they didn’t want that their customers pass through without buying.

One of them said to the young man, “ hello sir, welcome. How much will you buy? tell me. ”

Though the young man was not an expert of buying mangoes, he pretended to be knowledgeable enough. So, he picked a mango in his hand and observed well as he had good knowledge of mangoes , he politely asked, “ where is it’s origin ?”

“ From Dharagani ( A village of Saurashtra, Gujarat ).” The vendor took a mango in his hand and started praising it. “ its very sweet, like honey. You are the first customer today , sir. How much do you need ?”

The young man didn’t get interested . Then , he put it down on the heap and started walking slightly away from the lorry. Calling him back , The vendor said , “ wait sir, please. At least , tell me , how much do you want to buy ? I’ll give you good discount.”

But young man didn’t stay there and walked a few steps without looking back. In the same row, he saw a small heap of mangoes , about 20 K.G., well arranged on the ground. After walking some steps he saw, about fifteen years old girl was sitting on the ground with mangoes in a basket. She was sitting on five by five cement berry ‘ Aasan’ (the Aasan is made out of waste cement berries.) All the vendors were busy in attracting customers in too much loud voice , this girl was sitting silently keeping her head down. It looked strange to the young man. So , he went nearer to the girl.

The girl’s hair was tidy and well combed. Physically , she was medium in height and slender. Her skin became quite dark due to sunlight. The colour of her dress was an awkward combination. A five year old ; child on the other side ; may be her sibling was playing. When the young man reached nearer , she placed something under her seat. She looked up and said , “ welcome , sir !”

The young man said , “ how much for these mangoes ?”

“ the same as each vendors selling in the market. “ there was a resonance of wit in her speech.

Taking a mango in his hand , he smelled it and said , “ where have you got it from ?”

“ From gangada ( a village of saurashtra, Gujarat ). Before she spoke anything more, he said, “ give me five kilograms from these. “

The girl started putting good size mango aside. Youngman asked, “ you do not have weigh. Then , how will you weigh it ?”

“ I will use my neighbour’s. They’re familiar to me. “

Then , she quickly weighed mangoes and put them in his bag. She was very quick in doing all this thing. Her wit as well as her accuracy was remarkable.

Young man took his bag and paid her money without asking for any discount. She gave change. While putting his money back, he asked curiously ,“ Every vender is busy in calling customers , praising their mangoes , why are you sitting silently keeping your head down ?

“ Eh , I was reading this.” She said and took out an English text book of Std. XI from her seat.

Even in that loud atmosphere , the young man was able to hear his heart beats clearly. After staring the girl for a moment , he said , “ What is your name sister ?

With smiling face , that girl said , “ Asha “ ( Hope).

The young man was mesmerized by the courage and dedication of this girl. The young man was curiously observing all these things.

Then ,She took her brother in her lap and put a mango on the page of the book as a paper weight as pages of the book were moving with a breeze. . He just came across a line in the book , “ Kalpna Chawla becomes the first Indian Woman to hit the space.”


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