Soutrik Ghoshal

Abstract Drama

3.2  

Soutrik Ghoshal

Abstract Drama

The Brownie E

The Brownie E

8 mins
348


Once upon a time, in not so distant past, lived a girl named Aru, short for Arunima; as that’s what her friends called her.

It was a hot summer afternoon and after the school was over, all her friends rushed to the ice cream parlour which had opened recently just opposite to their school, for a savoury relief from the heat. While Aru, as she was running low on her ‘budget’ pocket money, made some excuses and wandered around meaninglessly in the side streets of New Alipore.


She entered a deserted blind lane. Not many people were around, in this heat, anyway. There were rows of gulmohar trees who bend their big branches over the street like a bower; as if they were hiding some secret from the world. Through the thickly woven leaves and branches summer sun rays spilled in, like tiny dancing spotlights on the shady pavement. The silence and composure welcomed her. She started walking towards the small lane; as if drawn by some uncommon power.

She could still hear the indistinct voices of her friends, horn of the school bus; but somehow it all seemed remote.


Arunima was a little upset that day. Before coming to school she had an argument with her mother for her monthly pocket money. She wanted more money to spend on stationary, ice cream and other trinkets her friends buy every day after school – but her mother would not hear any of her pleas. She was very strict about these rules so Arunima was very angry with her. If only her father was here…. but after his transfer to Noida, her mother is being stricter towards her and so, Aru was left with no money for the ice cream.


With her mind filled with so many thoughts, she wandered deep into the lane and suddenly her eyes fell on a jet black cat, with one blue and one yellow eye…. wait!! Is that even possible? The cat was sitting unusually still by the side of the road, watching Aru curiously with its blue-yellow eyes. As soon as it got her attention, it hitched its back up, purred and went through the window of a shop with a bright red door. Never had she seen an animal with two different eye colour, and with the idea of genes taught that day in the Biology class: her favourite subject; still fresh in her mind, she had an overwhelming desire to follow the cat. And without thinking twice, pushed the door and went inside.


She could hear the ding of a distant bell, somewhere interior and was temporarily blinded by the darkness of the store. When her eyes adjusted, she could see it was some sort of an antique store, stocked with all sorts of old and weird stuff.

Aru suddenly felt tensed for no apparent reason. It may be because the air smelled different with all the articles everywhere. She had goose bumps as a chill ran down her body. “Is the place air conditioned?” – she thought, “must be, it’s so cold out here.” After some time, with a shaky voice she called out: “Hello, is anyone there?” Suddenly as if out of nowhere, an old lady conjured herself from below the counter.


She had a wrinkled face with rough salt-pepper hairs sticking out in every direction like a halo. She was wearing a sort of a robe filled with many patches of numerous fabrics that it was difficult to ascertain it. She had beaded garlands of every possible colour worn around her neck. But oh! Her eyes…. one was completely white, suggesting a radical cataract condition, Aru thought. The old lady fixed her functional eye on Aru and asked with a voice as rough as a sandpaper, “What are you looking for child? Are you searching for a clear vision or maybe the correct angle?”

There was a riot of emotions inside Aru – fear, shock, surprise, anger towards herself for entering an unknown shop without giving it much thought. She was transfixed at her spot, all she could mage to say was, “Sorry to bother you… came for the cat… must go back now….” in broken phrases.


“Ah! The cat! It has the habit of guiding wayward strangers to their destination”, the lady said.

By now, Aru was so terrified that she was ready to turn back and run for the door, but some unseen force got her feet glued to the floor. The lady left the counter and came closer saying, “Now you must have something from the shop.”

“No, no. Thank you… no money…” Aru was still unable to construct complete sentences.

The lady took out a small rectangular packet and held it towards her and said, “Twenty rupees only! It will solve the problem with your mother!”

“Wait! How did she know that?” …. Aru could not think any more. She was already starting to feel dizzy, as if someone was sucking out air from her surroundings. She put her hand in her side pocket of her red and white checked tunic, pulled out a twenty rupee note, handed it over, took the packet and ran! She ran through the door, the shady bowers, and the deserted afternoon street-until she reached the bus stop. She was sweating and gasping like anything.


Aru did not tell anything to her mother when she reached home. She went straight to her room and opened the packet, it felt heavy.

Out came an old fashioned camera, the name was almost rubbed off but after some effort Aru could make out the name, “Six-20 Brownie E, Kodak Ltd, London”, she read aloud. She also found a paper with the basic instructions to handle the camera, written in a very crooked handwriting in a pale blue coloured fading ink.


She followed the instructions and clicked a few snaps of her room. It seemed that the camera was already loaded. Curiosity got the better of her and she tiptoed out of her room to where her mother was sitting in an armchair by the window, reading a book. She clicked a few pictures of her, while she was engrossed in reading.

For the next two to three weeks Aru kept on clicking pictures of various objects in her room or from her window, the adjoining balcony…. but mostly she would click pictures of her mother when she was working, completely unaware of the deed.


Once she was sure that she had exhausted the film, she took her camera to her friend, whose uncle owned a photography shop. She didn’t take out the film herself for fear of exposing it. Her friend’s uncle was very surprised to see the camera, he said, “Curious! Very curious! Either this model is a limited edition or an anomaly. I cannot put my finger but something is very special about your camera, Aru. Let’s see if it could take a good shot!” Aru knew better than to elaborate about the specialty of her camera, so she kept on waiting quietly while the film was being developed in the dark room.


Aru’s heart skipped a beat when her friend’s uncle handed back the camera along with a white envelope containing the photos. She could hear her heart hammering against her chest as she returned home. Sitting by the edge of her bed, she took out the photos with a shaky hand and spread them on her bed.

On the top of the lot was a mynah siting on the balcony’s railing. “Nothing special, absolutely normal, though a good shot; I must say…” Aru thought absentmindedly and started leafing the others. Then she took out the snapshot of her mother, sitting in the armchair by the window.


“Oh God!!” – A muffled cry escaped her lips as she dropped the photo from her hand. Her mother’s face was contorted as if she was in extreme pain. There were no tears in her eyes but the suffering was clearly evident from her expressions. As if, an untold, invisible force was sucking out the life from her. Aru quickly surfed through the rest and found out other photos of her mother. Every picture had the same weirdness. The camera had flawlessly captured her mother’s various poses through her household chores but the addition was the painful expression on her face. “Why? Why!” Aru wailed silently, as a tear rolled through her cheek. And just then, like a curtain had been raised, everything became clear to her. She remembered how she misbehaved with her mother, their arguments, fight tantrums she had thrown…. everything. She then knew the reason of her mother’s tremendous pain, which only her camera’s lens could see. She dropped everything and rushed to her mother. Hugging her, she said, “I’m sorry Maa!” over and over. Her surprised mother held Aru tightly and said, “Everything will be alright, I am here.”


 From that day Arunima was a changed person. She did not try use the camera again, was she was afraid that it would not work anymore or were there other reasons; only she will be able to tell you. She never went searching for the cat, the lady or the shop, because, she knew, just like the fading blue ink of the instruction sheet, which is absolutely blank now; they do not exist anymore. But she could tell you now, that she knew exactly, what the lady meant by – a ‘clearer vision’ or a ‘correct angle’.


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