‘Black fume circles’
Sudath Jayatissa Hewamadduma
Sirisena, though disabled, being the sole breadwinner of the family,
oared his life-boat despite inconvenience and severe hardships. His
whole life was full of ups and downs since his childhood but he never
abandoned his efforts whatever difficulties rested on his way. He was so
courageous that his will-power never left him alone. He left no stone
unturned to keep up his confidence and run the family without much fuss.
Sirisena’s sister, Soma, was the only companion who shared the
burdens. She too had to undergo a lot of pains because of her disabled
brother and aging father who had been bed-ridden for a long period. She
has been an affectionate sister and an obedient daughter to her brother
and father. Because of the inexplicable domestic chorus and bountiful
duties, her education was also held up. She dedicated her time and
energy completely on her father and brother which she thought was a
great merit.
The chief incumbent of the village temple who realized the pathetic
situation of this family sincerely offered them a helping hand through
their thick and thin. Had it not been for him, things would have been
more aggravated. So they respected him with great veneration.
”No one can fight against the destiny. Sins we have committed in our
previous birth come after us like a cart dragged by the bull.”
Chief priest often tried to console the minds of Sirisena and Soma by
explaining the teachings of the Buddha. His valuable admonitions were a
great relief to their depressed minds.
”Soma, you are doing a great service that other women can’t be proud
of themselves. Ministering to the sick is a great meritorious deed. You
are lucky and can be proud of yourself in that way.”
Whenever the kind words of the Chief Priest echo in her ears, she was
silently sobbing. She felt she had been stranded in two worlds. Her
ailing father and disabled brother. Her youth is covered with black fume
circles most of the time spent in the kitchen preparing meals and
heating water. Cobwebs all over the dilapidated roof and the cracked
walls were similar to her emaciated life. This she felt at times but
endured somehow.
Sirisena made his mind not to bother his sister except for a
particular need. He was fully aware of the troubles and pains she had
experienced because of him. Whenever he sees the sorrowful face of Soma,
his heart was filled with inexplicable sorrow for he could not perform
his role of a brother. Though she was in a marriageable age, she was
never a thorn in his side. Her sole determination was to treat her aged
father and disabled brother.
Her decision to remain a spinster was a terrible blow to Sirisena.
When he sees the wrinkly face and grey hair of his sister, the agony
born in his heart was unbearable. The painful murmur of his ailing
father too intensified his agony.
Soma’s fate on and off induced her to contemplate the plight of her
family for which she had no resolution. She would remember everything in
the past just like a flashback of a movie. The day she attained puberty
was a red letter day in her life. She remembered how her mother gifted
her a pair of earstuds, bought from the money she had saved by doing odd
jobs from door to door. The one and only frock presented by her father
was used throughout the week after cleaning. Sometimes she had been
abhored and cornered by some students from well to do families but never
did they sympathize with her for being poor.
She had a great fear that her future would be bleak for her poverty
and depression had combined to shatter the mirror of her thoughts.
Though she tried to smile through the tears, severe discriminations and
insults fenced around her making matters worst. Had it not been for the
Chief Priest, her life would have been destroyed by now.
”Soma, you must not give up your studies. I will stand by you
whatever obstacles come on your way.”
”You must not compensate for my sins ape hamuduruwane. This is my
fate.”
”Don’t let your worries rally round your soul. Everything will be
settled for better. What you have to do is, that you must lead a life
free from conceit and engaging in religious deeds.”
The hospitality and the sympathy of the priest were not tolerated by
some rascals and fabricated stories against the priest through jealousy.
But the priest being a philanthropist and a pious monk, never stopped
his association with Soma’s family.
The wattle and daub hut which was on the verge of collapse was
gradually renovated with the assistance of the priest and Soma was
offered an opportunity to start a day care centre at the temple for
which the priest paid something to make the both ends meet, even at a
small scale.
Sirisena’s plight was assuaged too when he was donated a wheelchair
by the Social Service Association of the area, with the interference of
the priest. Sirisena, despite his deformity, made every possible effort
to run the family.
”Nangi, this is our fate, we must have done a lot of sins in a
previous birth. Although I am disabled my will-power is strong. You must
not worry about me. My only fear is that our father will not last long.”
Sirisena sometimes uttered in pain but did not let his tears pour down
in the presence of his sister.
”Let’s face the reality, aiya, you must not feel sad about me and
father. We have performed our duties and responsibilities to the best of
our ability.
Priest will never look down upon us but we must have courage to stand
on our feet...” she tried to console his brother’s heart.
Soma was a girl to be proud of. She tolerated every plight that stood
on her way. Whenever Sirisena saw the withered look on her face, an
inexplicable sorrow throbbed in his heart. He thought seriously of her.
“She should have been married by now but how unfortunately she had to
experience the wicked sins like me.” Sirisena’s train of thoughts was a
terrible hell.
The benevolence of the Chief Priest brought consolation whenever they
faced the bitter realities of life. They had a feeling that the priest
would have been a brother of their own in a previous birth.
”Ah... Soma Nangi, priest has got a very keen interest in you, hasn’t
he?”
Young men in the vicinity passed unpleasant remarks on Soma through
jealousy.
”He must be treating you well without much fuss.”
”What’s the business he is having at your place till dead of night.”
”Be careful of him. He is a peculiar type of person.”
”Sure, sure, you will be ordained by him before long.”
The remarks were disgusting.
Her anger on such occasions knew no bounds and came out with harsh
words for she could not bear up the insult.
”You rascals, go to hell and do your worst. Don’t you know that he is
a very disciplined character. Don’t insult such a pious among who is
indispensable for all the villagers.”
Soma’s non stop scolding made all the rascals silent and through her
inability to bear up the pain she burst into tears. She, with her much
reluctance, determined to lessen her visiting to the temple for the good
of the priest.
”World is not a place to live in with hopes. Everything is subject to
decay.” The priest very often reminded them the truth of the existence
and they acted accordingly. Sirisena and Soma never induced themselves
to mortgage their poverty and innocence to others but the priest.
The most sorrowful day, all of a sudden dawned in the presence of
their eyes. The heavy rains had no mercy with thunders. Water poured
down through the gaps of the cadjans in the roof, wet the whole floor.
Father, who was in a critical condition, trembled with severe cold.
His painful murmur gradually decreased the hopes of them. Soma prayed
for a speedy recovery to his father. Sirisena applied some medicinal
ointment all over the chest of his father and he felt into his palm the
breathing was becoming lesser and lesser.
The dim light of the oil lamp was at once blown out with the cold
breeze. Sirisena embraced his sister and began to sob in pain. Soma’s
heart began to beat very fast and her voice mixed with the lamentation
of her brother and rose to the empty sky.
”Everyone has to face this destiny. Even the Buddha was unable to
prevent the death although he consoled the whole world with his
teachings of emancipation. You both have done a great duty and achieved
merits with no limits. So you must not weep and worry over the demise of
your beloved father.”
Kind words of the Chief Priest at the funeral brought some sort of
relief to the minds of Soma and Sirisena. The whole environment had been
silent when Soma’s wailing floated is the dusk. The flame of the candle,
lit on the grave was swaying this way and that way with the swift wind.
Sirisena, with great difficulty, accompanied his sister back home where
solitude was prevailing to the extreme...
”Subject to decay are all component things, strive on with diligence.
If we are to cry to the extremity we will destroy both our physical and
mental health. It’s true that we find it difficult to bear the loss of a
dear one. Death is inevitable. No one can afford to prevent it. That’s
the doctrine.”
The commemorative discourse after seven days of their father’s death
delivered by the priest assuaged their hearts. But the sobbing of Soma
on and off throbbed the hearts of visitors. She heaved a sigh of pain
looking at the burial ground of her father and her eyes began to fill
with tears.
Time passed like a swift wind. They left no stone unturned to make
their lives fruitful. The chief priest offered them a helping hand
through their thick and thin with the noble purpose of encouraging them
to achieve the success of their lives despite of all the impediments by
unscrupulous people.
The pathetic story of Sirisena and Soma written in tears, was just
reaching towards its end with the dawn of a new era of their lives. The
will-power, determination and commitment of the two, stood in their
journey forward to the future. Selling lottery tickets brought them a
consolation beyond their expectations. The shadow of the kindness of the
Chief Priest was always sheltering above their strength.
Fortune, never expected so soon, smiled gracefully with Sirisena. He
felt that his dreams have come true. An unsold lottery ticket had made
him an instant millionaire. Innumerable lovely feelings filled his
heart, vanishing the dark memories.
He made plans to give his sister in marriage without further delay
and donate some money to the priest to improve the standard of the old
temple as a mark of gratitude. The priest was the livewire behind their
success.
”You got this unexpected wealth because you treated your parents
well.” The kind words of the priest and the advices on how to use money
wisely, enlivened his hopes.
The news that Sirisena became a millionaire was not tolerated by some
villagers. Their hearts were always filled with pessimistic ideas and
jealousy. The ill-bred characters tried their best to hoodwink
Sirisena’s family. Unprecedented dangers were fencing around them but
the priest stood like a giant amidst all risks.
But the cruel hands of the surrounding were more powerful and on and
off they broke into Sirisena’s house and plundered all the valuables by
threatening their lives. Sirisena and Soma had no other alternative but
to surrender to them.
Troubles came in battalions again when they were making efforts to
keep their heads above water. Jealousy, cruelty and hatred had combined
together to destroy them.
It was the darkest day of the family. Sirisena never thought his
doomsday would dawn so soon. He was returning home from his daily
routine in the dusk. Gangsters who were impatiently waiting for his
arrival in a dark corner of the lane plundered his money. When he was
struggling to escape from the danger, his mouth was covered with a piece
of cloth very tightly so that he could not raise his voice. But through
his will-power, ignoring his deformity Sirisena fought back with them to
save his life but unfortunately all his efforts ended in smoke. Severe
blows with iron rods and clumsy logs of merciless murderers could not be
prevented. His body was laying in a pool of blood and the debris of his
wheelchair had been spread all over the place.
Hours after the pathetic incidents, when police arrived with the
chief priest, Soma was lying unconscious embracing the feet of her
brother. The priest, through utmost sympathy, got closer to her and
tried to console her. On hearing the priest’s kind words as if in a
dream, she, by and by opened her tear-filled eyes. When she noticed the
yellow robe of the priest her lamentation was aggravated.
”This is his fate, no use of crying over the death. Be cheerful and
try to face the life...”
Priest’s compassionate but sorrowful words entered her ears. She
opened her eyes clearly. She remembered her dead parents and brother’s
priceless affection, above all, the sympathy of the priest who had been
a shadow behind them. She knelt down at the feet of the priest and
resting her head on those noble feet, cried like anything. When tears
were struggling in priest’s eyes through unbearable pain, he turned his
head towards the brutal assassination of poor Sirisena and remembered
his innocence.
Soma departed the priest with great difficulty and saw several unsold
lottery tickets had been scattered around. She picked some of these
blood stained tickets and raised her feet towards the burial ground of
her father.
The priest, through his tear-filled eyes, was looking at Soma’s
staggering figure disappearing far away in the darkness.
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