Unquenchable fire ( Telugu Original Chedabattani Agni by Dr. Kondapalli Niharini)

Unquenchable fire

( Telugu Original Chedabattani Agni by Dr. Kondapalli Niharini)

(Original: చెదబట్టని అగ్ని (From Raachippa – A collection of stories by Dr. Kondapalli Niharini.)

Translated by – Padmavathi Neelamraju

“Pramila… Pramila… what are you doing?” Anasuyamma said loudly,

A heartfelt attachment alone knows the difference between shouting and calling, all that is expressed whenever she gets angry or whenever she is happy, never diminishes Pramila’s respect for her mother-in-law.

“What do you want?” said Premila pleasantly.

Ansuyamma said “Shravya hasn’t woken up yet? Is she still a child? wake her up.”

“It is a festive day. During the festival, waking up in the morning is inauspicious.” she groaned.

“You both maa-baap (father and mother) are pampering her too much, wake her up”,she passed an order to Pramila. On any day that it is a festival, she starts screaming, telling her Bahu to follow all the festive rituals stringently.

That day it was Sankranthi, and the front yard of the house had to be swept and sprinkled with a mixture of water and gobar, and the floor had to be decorated with beautiful Rangoli. In the centre of the Rangoli, gobar balls, made out of cow dung, decorated with pasupu-kumkuma and pumpkin flowers, had to be placed. All this had to be done before sunrise. If not done, Ansuyamma usually became restless and went on nit-picking. She wanted her granddaughter to learn all the customs and be a good girl. But she never thought that a girl needs to be groomed to become an accomplished woman in all aspects, socially independent and thoughtful, not always subordinating herself to either her father or her husband.But Pramod was quite different from his mother, Ansuyamma. He believed religiously in letting his daughter have liberty in her life and always expressed his complete trust in her decisions. That is why he always condemned his wife, Pramila, whenever she said, “Our Shravya, being a girl, should learn all types of domestic work; only then shecanmake her family happy.” He argued, “A girl must have a good education, financial independence, and the freedom to mould her own life.”

“Nowadays girls are smarter than boys in learning many things equally. Such smart kids, can’t they cook? Do they need any special learning? When Madhukar is managing his food by cooking himself and doing his job simultaneously, why not others? Times are changing. Necessity makes everybody learn anything,” he spoke like a learned father.

Following her mother-in-law’s screaming, Pramila went to the bedroom, “What’s wrong? Sleeping till 12’ o clock. Wake up?” she shouted at Shreya with an intention that Ansuyamma should listen.

Later, she slowly reached to Pramod who was reading a newspaper in the verandah.

“Despite my attempts to convince her, I failed to bring her out of that depression. She is not sleeping thoroughly. She’s going to rot. What should we do? All day and all night, she is lost in her thoughts. I feel helpless.” Pramila said toPramod, worriedly.

“Can we take her to a doctor?” said Pramod thoughtfully.

“Ayyo Rama! Why doctor? Is there anything else you know better than consulting a doctor ?” she said, pulling a chair closer to him, at a hand’s-away distance.

“Why not a doctor?” sharply he looked at her.

“Many of our relatives go to that doctor. Like what and why, they will ask endless questions. We cannot answer their queries, you know, I’m not just saying that. Many of our relatives go to that doctor,” she said fearfully.

“Hey! What are you talking about? Who will know when we go to that doctor? Is that doctor going to make a fuss about it? Think a little before you speak,” Pramod said.

“If you know that you are in a state of depression or clinical stress, there is nothing else to be done other than meeting the doctor!”

“I don’t know. Think of another good idea.  It would be better if you take her somewhere.”

“Who is another good doctor?” doubtfully questioned Pramod but sensing the tears in his wife’s eyes. Very sympathetically, he sighed, patting her back, “You go and finish cooking quickly, I’ll take care of it,okay? Don’t worry. We will surely bring her out of that state of mind.”

Pramila left. But Pramod was swarmed over with the thoughts of his daughter,Shravya.A few day before that day, Shravya was a very cheerful, easy going girl, full of determination to fulfill her dreams as a bird flying into infinity without fear and doubt on its own wings. Now, she hadcollapsed like a withered leaf,a wilted flower. She remained as silent as a muted flute. No matter how educated or modern-minded she was, she could not betray her conscience.

Since her college days she had had no other evagations other than studies. She would spend her time joyfully with her granny, her best companion Anna, Madhukar, or watching TV sometimes, listening to songs on her cellphone. She was brought up in a decent environment having no prejudices or inhibitions. She has been enjoying the love of all her family members. She never experienced any loss till then.That was a doomed day that changed her life completely.

***

Shravya joined her friends on a visit to Nagarjuna Sagar, along with her friend Sushma’s parents and another friend, Vivek, his wife, and their baby.

It started at 6 am. After picking up everyone, the Innova got on to the Sagar Road. Everyone was talking excitedly in a happy mood. Vivek was controlling the steering wheel and the brakes under his feet, laughing at the jokes they were cracking. The journey was on a happy note.

The sun was shining brightly. Getting hungry, everyone grabbed some food item they liked from their bags. Sushma’s parents, the eldest of them all, brought plenty of snacks and cooked food. Sushma opened a half kilo chips packet and offered it to Shravya. In between playfully, their young baby caught the packet and tore the packet fully. Some chips had fallen down on the car carpet. Immediately Sushma dragged the chips packet saying ‘these are mine’ playfully.

Everybody laughed at her for her childish expression.

She casually dropped the cover out of the window, unintentionally. The plastic cover flew in the wind and hit the face of a rider on a speeding motorcycle who came from behind. It blocked his view, causing the handlebars in his hand to slip. The bike skid and he fell on the road, another van coming from behind hit him losing control due to the sudden fall of the motor cyclist, and in a few seconds the man was lying in a pool of blood and died on the spot. Neither Shravya nor anyone else knew that, everything happened in a matter of seconds. Shravya never imagined it. Unaware of what had happened, they headed towards their picnic spot.

***

Reaching near to the Nagarjuna Sagar, Shravya became more excited and immersed in the   natural scenic beauty with its greenery. Shravya and her friends went to Nagarjuna Hill by boat to see the barrage and dam. With a serene expression on faces, the onlookers wandered around, admiring the impressive Buddha statues and all the relics there, reading the historic information. Enjoying the beautiful locations, everybody was taking snapshots or sneak pics.

Till evening, they were happy and excited and around late noon they headed back. They stopped at the Sagar Bridge, entered a restaurant and had lunch. They continued their journey to Hyderabad as usual.

They engaged themselves in talking to each other on several aspects, expressing their opinions on marriage, politics, and society. Tired of the continuous conversation, they stopped the car for a while to refresh themselves. They ordered tea and snacks. Vivek walked away and returned with some information in about five minutes.

Everyone gathered and listened to Vivek in a tense wonder as he explained the details of the accident that had happened in the morning. He said that an eyewitness said, a plastic cover had hit his face and caused his motorcycle to skid.

Hearing all this, Shravya’s heart skipped a beat. Her eyes looked around involuntarily. She was suddenly frightened when she saw a plastic cover hanging from a tamarind tree branch at a distance. She was overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt and fear. Vivek continued, saying that people kept insisting the van driver was not at fault; it was the motorcyclist who had hit him all of a sudden. After some time, Vivek drove the car back to Hyderabad, dropping everybody at their homes. Sravya, stunned, arrived home laden with thoughts of sorrow. Even though she told her mom and dad and cried out in pain, the weight on her heart could not be relieved. She lost peace, became restless—no sleep, no hunger, and remained speechless. She had been burning inside with a feeling of guilt, blaming herself for her recklessness in throwing that plastic cover through the window, which led to a fatal incident.

***

Pramod, his fingers moving gently on Shravya’s head, “Talli!  Will you wake up, Shravya…”

At once she got up with a jerk and said, “Oh, father, is it too late?  Sorry, sorry!  I will get ready in a few minutes and come. You go.”  She jumped up from her bed and ran into the wash room. She finished her bath routinely and approached the dining table, she seemed to have recovered, she seemed fresh! Pramod and Pramila were surprised to see her looking fresh and relaxed.

She thought she had indirectly taken his life. She was guilty. She called her brother, thinking that she would surrender to the police, confessing herself guilty for the accident. She said, “I could not tolerate myself hiding this fact.”

I must surrender to save my conscience.” she said determinedly.

Madhukar thoughtfully said “Shravya!  Don’t be a murderer, if you go and surrender, you’ll go to jail, and that’s it. The case is closed. You remain in jail. What about the family having everything for you and secondly what about the deceased family? What was their social and financial status? They might be dependent on him. Instead of surrendering yourself to the police, it is better to get to know the family and support them. You are sound in earnings. You are an IT professional. You can adopt that family. Stand beside that family. Give them hope that you are with them. Obviously, these things are not so easy to gain trust or trust in a stranger. You must try. There are so many ways to help people by all means.” Shravya, who was mentally disturbed, has recovered a little after Madhukar’s advice.

In fact, even rich and well-educated people cause a lot of destruction to nature without even knowing it. Whom should we blame? As for ordinary people, they are not educated. Those who say that plastic covers should be banned often do not practise it themselves. They say, “Don’t litter on the ground,” but they do not follow it. There are people like Shravya who roam this earth, unaware of the dangers that a small mistake can bring. Shravya’s thoughts, deeply hurt after realizing her mistake and deciding to support the family that had been wronged, are an inspiration to many. Such parents are role models.

When he heard Shravya’s decision to take responsibility for the deceased boy’s family, which she felt was true justice, it made Pramod have a string of thoughts: Every human being has a social responsibility and should be honest. It has been proven by Shravya that the fire of resilience does not burn; it ignites souls towards the right path. If the youth are determined, they can bring about many reforms. This is what ‘Unquenchable Fire’ means.

*****