shrini stark

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4.3  

shrini stark

Others

Star Crossed

Star Crossed

7 mins
214


"Many a slip between the cup and the lip”. Almost every villager shows this man as an example to the above proverb. This man, a barber, was in his late twenties. He was regarded as the unluckiest person in the world by his relatives and friends. A few incidents happened in his life made others think so. But one woman loved and believed him and against the opposition of her family, married him. The new couple moved to a new village and had started a saloon. They earned quite enough to meet their daily needs. One fine evening as Mother Nature patted the world with her gentle breeze; Mr. Vidhur was sitting outside his saloon and gulped a glass of tea still waiting awfully for his first customer. It was already 7.00 yet no one came. He thought of returning home. Suddenly the doors opened and an old man came in.

"Are you the barber," the old man said "l need a haircut, quick, I got to hurry "while he jumped on to the chair.

"It's a rupee sir. said Vidhur immediately after trimming. The old man told him that he was in a hurry and promised him to pay later. But Vidhur did not want him to leave without paying.

"You are the first customer of the day sir, so, please

don’t do this.”

 “No. I don't have money now. As you say I was your the first customer has this” said the old man holding a lottery ticket on his hand.

"But sir, I need money."

"Oh, come on. Please understand. I am in a hurry.

Please take this”. Vidhur reluctantly took the ticket. Later that night he told his wife about the ticket. His wife told him that everything is for good and suggested he check the lottery result the following week. One evening while one of his customers, sitting outside the shop, was complaining about his life, the thought of the lottery ticket struck his mind. He immediately grabbed a newspaper from the adjacent chair and checked for the lottery result of the week. He quickly closed his shop and rushed to his house and looked for his wife.

"Reshmi, " cried Vidhur "where are you? "

"In the kitchen”

"Come out. I have the happiest news for you “

"Wait. I am not resting here to dance as you like".

But this harsh reply of his wife has not reduced his enthusiasm.


She came out of the kitchen looking annoyingly at her soul mate. He brightened and told her that their sufferings have finally come to an end. She was in total confusion and asked him,

"Are you drunk? Don't just blabber something. You know how much debt we owe. Have you forgotten that uh? "

"Yes, I do know. But I assure you that our life is about to change."

"But what could possibly change this life of ours?"

"Well, this can, " told Vidhur holding the lottery ticket in his hands.

"Ah...uh...has....has this won?"

"Yes, dear. Yes. We are a lakh rupee richer now “. Reshmi's eyes filled with tears.

"Now who will say you star crossed. You were

never an unlucky person" said Reshmi hugging Vidhur. Both were in tears. Vidhur wiped his tears and consoled his wife with a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine. Yet I am

hungry. What's the dinner?" 

"As usual. Wait I'll get it".


She came out with a bowl of hot porridge and gave it to him. He carefully got the bowl without being cut by the rugged edges. He had it and went to bed. Though he was tired of the day's work, he couldn't sleep. The next morning he rose before dawn and went to his shop but dressed completely different. He hung a board on his shop stating a holiday and went to the tea stall next to his shop. Mr. Vamsi was shocked to see Vidhur dressed neatly in white that day and took a look at the saloon.

"What's the matter? Are you heading somewhere?"

"Yeah, to the bank "

"Has your father sent you money again?"

"No, I don't need his money anymore. From next month I'll send him more than what he sends," said Vidhur in a rough tone.

"What happened to you Vidhur?" asked Vamsi. As they were talking a horse cart took a halt in front of his shop. A middle-aged man dressed in white stepped out of it.

"Two tea please" ordered the man and sat on the bench.

"I'll be back in a sec," told Vamsi and went inside the shop. He came with the tea and handed them to the man and his driver. Then he turned towards Vidhur and asked what the matter was.

"At last luck showed her face to me. This ticket here has won a lakh rupee. My life is about to change” said Vidhur. The man let out a silent giggle. Vidhur noticed that and got angry at him. "Why are you giggling?" asked Vidhur in an angry tone.

"Sorry brother. I didn't mean to. I just thought of my experience." Said the man.

"So, what is it? Your experience" asked Vamsi "tell us."

"Oh well," told the old man and started narrating his story.


"My name is Parishith. Basically, I am a farmer. Three years ago, I worked on the land which I had bought for lease. You know very well that nature sometimes gambles with us. The rain had failed that year and I did not have enough money to buy motor pumps for my land. I could not makeup well with the land. Ultimately, I had a huge loss that year. I was only able to harvest 50 sacks of rice. I had to pay 100 sacks as a lease amount. I didn't know what to do. Days passed and the due date too expired. Suddenly one day my landlord demanded my presence. I was walking on the road lost in my own thoughts. The gentle breeze blowing across the road kept me calm. The road was lonely and suddenly the silence was disturbed by the growling of the only bus through my village. As I was looking at the bus a piece of paper hit right at my forehead. It was a lottery ticket. It came flying from the bus. I took a look at it and kept it in my pocket and went on my way. When I reached my landlord's house, I found him engaged in a meeting with the panchayat heads and I could clearly see it from the gate. He saw me and called for one of his assistants. His assistant came to me and asked me to wait in the coconut grove and told me that the landlord would meet me there. I went to the grove and stood near the chair of the landlord. The heading of the newspaper lying in the trail cot got my eyes. The news was about the assassination attempt on M.G.R by his co-actor M.R.Radha. I took the paper in my hands and took a glance at it. I saw the lottery results column and remembered about the lottery ticket. I took the ticket out and checked the result and to my surprise that ticket had won 25 lakh rupees. I lost my senses and was in a dream. A voice calling out my name disturbed my dreams. It was the landlord. I got to my senses and tied my towel around my waist and greeted him 

    “When are you planning to pay the lease Parishith, asked the landlord while he dropped himself on to the chair.

    “Tomorrow, sir. Believe me" 

    “I believe you. But how are you planning to pay?"

    “Sir, trust me. Tomorrow I'll pay in cash to you"

    “Ok. But not a single day extra"

    "Sure sir. Bye the way what will you expect to sell that piece of land"

    "Why do you care?"

    "Someone is willing to buy it."

    "Bring him to me. I'll deal with him."

    "l think he might be standing in front of you." He was surprised by my reply and I nodded my head.

   "Well it'll be ten thousand"

   " We'll meet tomorrow", I said and left that place. 

And that's how my life changed and I worked somewhat hard to earn this place. "


Vidhur was quite amazed to hear his story. He thought that his life will too change by the ticket and left for the bank. He headed to the bus stop and was dreaming about his future while waiting for the bus. He then boarded the bus and was lucky enough to get the window seat. He took the ticket out of his pocket and looked at it like a beggar looking at a 1000 rupee note. He kept the ticket in his pocket and again resumed his dream. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped off his seat. It was the conductor. He informed Vidhur that, that was the last stop and asked him to get down. He had slept the whole one hour journey. He got down and made his way to the bank. He stopped at the entrance and looked at the bank.

 "This is the last day I will ever suffer" he thought to himself and reached for his pocket. His face went pale and his hands shivered. His eyes filled with tears and were bloodshot. His body trembled and he yelled "Why to me……"


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