The Magical Chair

Beni Narayan Chaturvedi aka Benny got selected as Income Tax Officer in the late 1980s and enraged his mother by accepting posting at Delhi. The Mother knew that he had accepted the posting because of Roma, his college romance, since Roma was working in Delhi. Benny's Mother imposed the condition of marriage before joining the job and Benny had to bow before her orders. Roma, a free bird and child of staunch feminist parents, wanted to roam around India for a couple of years before entering into the institution of marriage. She even dared to demand those years from her future Mother-in- law. The demand was replied by a repugnant refusal as well as repressive one liner - forget Benny. On an auspicious day of January, marriage happened. The enforced marriage initiated ferocious rivalry between the Mother and the Bride. 

Benny's grandfather was a renowned poet of Hindi. He was conferred the highest literary award by Indian Government. There was a rocking chair in their ancestral house which was labelled as a magical chair by the poet since he composed all his poems while relaxing in that chair. Benny's father, a reputed lawyer, added more myths to the magical chair by awarding the credit of his court wins to the chair. Benny never liked the law, but there was a secret wish in his heart to follow the footsteps of his grandfather. His ambitions to establish himself as a poet was out rightly rejected by the grandfather due to his naive poems, full of sexual temptation. The desire of a budding poet met a drastic end due to a great poet, and we lost a great poet. 

Roma vowed to never visit the ancestral home of Benny after marriage. She thought of her this step as a great punishment for her mother-in-law, who on the other side of the relationship was unaffected by her refusal to visit the ancestral home. However, The Mother kept on visiting her son and daughter-in-law at their Delhi home. In the summers of 1987, the marriage of the youngest brother of Benny arrived. The Mother, finally surrendered her ego before Roma and requested her to come to the ancestral home citing the marriage as the last one in the house. 

The couple decided to use leave travel subsidy scheme of Roma's office to bear expenses of the visit. Tickets were booked, bags were packed and journey started. Benny was elated that he would meet the magical chair after ten years. Roma rejoiced her win. 

The Train arrived at the Junction. The ancestral home was ten miles far from the junction. Roma was dejected due to the scorned heat of the city. Her problem increased multi fold when Benny told her that there was no taxi available in the city due to a strike by taxi drivers for their demand to increase fare. The only option available was the cart propelled by a retired marriage horse. The mayor of the city was a corrupted fellow. He diverted the whole road fund to his bedroom over which his fat wife used to sleep. The road was rough and full of pits. With every going mile, Roma cursed the horse and her Mother-in-law. The mayor got spared. 

The house was old yet shining with the prosperity of old times. The presence of all relatives made the house lively after years of solitude. Roma got busy with customs and traditions, being the eldest daughter-in-law. The age-old rivalry between both women melted like ice in the warmth of love. The Mother presented a beautiful gold necklace to Roma and she won the award of most lovable mother in the world. The mother's bosom filled with pride when distant relatives wished for a daughter-in-law like Roma. Both women got what they wanted. 

Throughout the marriage, Benny remained glued to the magical chair, dissolved in his poetic dreams. In the last ten years, whenever Benny visited the ancestral home, obviously alone, he expressed his wish to bring the magical chair to Delhi but Roma always refused. This time, Roma was in the best moods of her because of the heavy gold necklace and Benny's request was accepted. In the return journey, the magical chair travelled magically. Roma even allowed her favourite corner of drawing room to the chair.

Three days after returning, Roma joined her office. She submitted her travel tickets and bills to TA-DA Clerk, Mr Bisht. Mr Bisht, was an eccentric personality, known for putting his nose into every matter of the office and for creating gratuitous queries in travel tickets and bill of even prominent officers. Roma had an intuition that he would definitely create some nuisance and he did. He asked for the taxi bill for the journey undertaken from the junction to the ancestral home. Roma clarified to him that she had travelled in a horse cart from the junction to the ancestral home, hence unable to produce any bill or receipt. Mr Bisht was adamant. He told Roma that under such circumstances, the journey from Delhi to Ancestral home would not be accepted as a complete journey and he would not pass the bill. Roma got aggrieved and she stopped pursuing her TA-DA bill. After three months, Mr Bisht came to her department for his personal work. He knew that without Roma’s approval, his file would not move even a bit. Tit for tat. Until and unless, he would not pass her bill, his file would remain entangled. He called Roma on intercom and told her an alternate way to get her bills reimbursed. 

Roma asked Benny to arrange for some lines written by a third person in illegible writing on a piece of paper. Roma kept on reminding and Benny kept on forgetting. One Saturday evening, Roma was not at home and Benny was enjoying his weekend drinks with his friend Gattu. Gattu aka Dr Govan Narayan Sharma became friend of Benny during an income tax raid at his home, five years back. During raid, he invited Benny for Drinks and from then their friendship developed. Dr Govind Narayan was an Orthopaedic of good repute in Delhi. Gattu was enjoying his drink while relaxing in the magical chair. Benny asked him to write those lines on a piece of paper and Gattu obliged. Who can write more illegibly than a doctor? Benny took that paper, packed in an envelope and gave it to Roma. Roma took the envelope and gave it to Mr Bisht. 

When Mr Bisht opened the envelope and read the piece of paper, he laughed almost rolling on the office floor. He told Roma that her horse cart driver was a learned person and given back that paper to her. Roma read the paper. Gate had written the lines told by Mr Bisht on his prescription. The lines read……Rx….I, Gattu, the horse cart driver hereby confirm that Mr and Mrs Chaturvedi have travelled in my horse cart from the Junction to their home and paid me thirty rupees in cash. I wish them speedy recovery. Roma was amused and annoyed simultaneously. 

That evening, Benny received a big lecture from Roma. Suddenly someone knocked on the door. The person arrived was the person who always arrived without prior information and always increased pain in Benny’s heart. None other than, Joginder aka Jugad, brother of Roma. Joginder was born in a train and hence his father named him “Jugad”. He proved his name and has made lot of money by “jugad”. Roma always sung praise for him, being a man of multiple talent who was always able to find solutions for any problem by his method of “jugad”. 

Roma told her the problem. He told that he would write the lines but he need to arrange “jugad”. Roma asked him about his solution. He told that he needed a rocking chair so that he could write the lines so that it appears as if the lines had been written by the horse cart driver while riding the horse cart. He had a point.

Benny shown him the magical chair. Next day Roma’s Bill were passed. Till now, Benny is unable to understand that why the magic of chair never worked for him.