The Rocking Chair

Gopal was all of 9 years. He obviously was not living the life of a normal 9 year old. His father was dead long back and he had to polish shoes to help his mother take care of the house and his younger brother who was 5. Responsibility beyond his years made him cranky and throughout the day, he would be screaming and using cuss words. He would be sitting at a designated place near the town hall and shopkeepers around him would be cracking a joke or two which would irritate him further. An adult like child is an amusement to adults and he would be the butt of jokes of the entire area where he sat all day long.

He had many customers who were regular. He did his job well and had a special technique of rubbing a cloth over the shoes that made them shine. He was particularly fond of three. An elderly lalaji who wore Indian fashioned leather shoes which was pointed and tapering at the front end. A doctor who worked for the government and wore these formal Oxford shoes. A school child who his mother would bring every alternate day who wore artificial leather shoes but had to be shinning considering their infamously strict Principal.

Work was sparse and his day was mostly idle. He would be thinking about how unfair life was to him and how lucky others were, especially the three whom he would meet almost every day and his belief would get reinforced.

If he was scared of one thing in the entire wide world, it was a mysterious old man who lived alone in a big house alone which fell on his way back home. He had purchased the house from an elderly couple who left for America to be with their son a year back and no one in the town knew exactly about him and his past. He rarely came out of the house ever and had no servants who worked there. How he managed to live without interaction was something that baffled everyone but they all attributed it to the strange looking visitors who would come once every month or so and would laugh and sing together and then leave as they would come. Suddenly. The man had wrinkled skin, a pointed nose and large ears and was thin. In fact he was the thinnest person that gopal had seen ever.

He would be sitting on his rocking chair in his courtyard which would creak as it moved. Gopal was sure that he had seen the chair move and creak on its own once without the old man sitting on it which made him more scared. He would walk the entire way back home except for the house and a few meters before and after where he would run. On days when he had not done much of business and was extra cranky, he would see that the old man would be at his front gate watching him intently as he ran across his house.

That day started terribly. His mother slapped him for suggesting that his younger brother be stopping from going to the school and start a job like him. She told that they should try getting gopal to school rather than removing his younger brother from it. Gopal started from his home rather cross and got infuriated further as he had no business that day. Gloom and despair filled his mind as he walked back. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he forgot to run. As he was crossing the house of the old man, he came out of his house and held his hand. Gopal shivered and a chill ran down his spine. However he had never seen the man from close quarters and now observed that he had so immensely kind eyes and a warm smile accompanying his bright radiant face. Gopal forgot that he had been scared of him ever.

He spoke in a kindness that was unknown to Gopal. He asked him why was he sad. Gopal spoke like he had known him all this while. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he said how unlucky he was and how lucky others were. The old man smiled and said it's all relative. He spoke so calmly that it annoyed gopal further and anger took place of sorrow in his head. He started shouting and suddenly the expression on the face of the old man got cold. He asked slowly what he wanted. Gopal told he wanted to be some one else. The old man took him to the chair and told him to sit on it. As soon as he sat, the chair started rocking on its own and he had a strange reeling sensation of the head. The old man's voice echoed in his head, think about the person you want to become.

Gopal thought about lalaji and everything went dark. He woke up from sleep and was surprised to be in a majestic house with a large lawn, multiple servants and all facilities that gopal had ever imagined. He went and saw in the mirror and found that he was lalaji. He walked a few steps and was stopped by a servant who told him that it was time for medicines. He had to take dozen of tablets of various colors and when he went for breakfast he was surprised to see some tasteless salad of vegetables prescribed by some doctor He was not allowed to eat anything tasty by the family members. He started to feel a strange fear of an incoming danger. He remembered the tax fraud that he had done and shivered to think that he could be cought by tax agencies. He was gripped with guilt of cheating multiple people to reach the position he was in.

He saw the shallow relationship of the household who would fight on trivial issues and do things to make each other look smaller. He could not find a trace of true love. He felt heavy with the various diseases that he had and went to sleep. He kept thinking about the school kid as he fell asleep. He woke up next morning and was surprised to be the school kid. But he had a dragging sensation on his belly. He spoke to his mom and she told that it's normal in his condition, and today was the day for his scheduled blood transfusion. He looked surprised and the mother reminded him that he has a particular type of anaemia which caused the pain and requires a blood transfusion regularly for sustenance. He had multiple things to eat but he could not because he felt full and continuously in pain. He also felt breathless when he tried to run. He hated the life of the school boy and went to sleep thinking about the doctor. Next morning he woke up as the doctor which did not surprise him much. As soon as he woke up he got a call for some patient who had passed away before he could reach the hospital.

He hardly had any time to eat and speak to his wife as calls kept on coming and he had to instruct the nurses on phone. He had breakfast which he hurriedly finished without enjoying it at all. As he reached the hospital he had appointments with many patients including the lalaji and the school boy. He saw the reports of both and instantaneously realised that they both had around a year to live. He however could not convey the same and kept it to himself thinking that telling them would make them stop coming to the hospital and decrease his earning. He saved lives but had the guilt of giving unnecessary medicines just to sell them, hiding facts from patients and manipulating scenarios according to his own convenience.

He hated the doctor's life as well and cried that night while sleeping. As he woke up, he was rocking in the same chair which had started the events. The old man was curious and asked him how he felt. He then said that he had the option to be anyone he wanted to be out of the three. Gopal remembered his home, how his mother waited for his return, how she would kiss him as he gave her the days earnings, how she would not eat herself but shared everything that she had between the brothers. He remembered running at full speed without any breathlessness, how he beat every other kid of his age. He remembered how he earned his money truthfully and without harming anyone. He realised whose life was the best. He gave a smile to the old man and said no thank you and ran back home. He had decided that after the day's work, he would study and try and become better each passing day. He wanted to live his life and the consequences of his own actions rather than dreaming to be someone else.