I lay atop Dhaniram’s cold chest. It wasn’t moving and the beating of his heart had stopped. Lying flat on the checkered network of sewn bamboo sticks of the premier quality was MLA sahib, Dhaniram Gupta. Suited in the same kingly attire he wore while he was shot dead by the local mafia, his life had come to a rather subtle end. An end which people were very surprised to witness even though the inevitability of it all can hardly be questioned. For Dhaniram was in constant communication with the gang leaders and the “high-ups” in the government. He was the Middle Man but this time he had taken too much time, something the mafia couldn’t afford. Along with Dhaniram, my life came to a close. It had been a long life and I remember each and every moment of it. As people started piling up coarse wood on top of his body..
Out into the world! I travelled through the streets witnessing the society of homo sapiens, a splendid spectacle of generations. Years of evolution, technology and sheer intelligence brought me to play a role in the lives of a large number of people rather too significantly. The significance that took me sometime to completely comprehend. I was happy, like a toddler is when he speaks his first words or when a bird first learns to fly. The sheer excitement of what future promises. I settled into my first home stashed with my other friends. The house had long walls with paintings decked on them, people with effluent tastes and a Chihuahua who seemed to own it all. I had a special place to myself where only the adults of the family would be allowed. That was when I realized I happened to occupy a unique place in their lives.
Then I was woken up from my cozy bed and taken along with the lady. The chauffeur driven car stopped at a red light and in a jiffy appeared this little girl wearing a torn cloth blackened by the exhaust of the passing-by cars. Her face was hidden beneath the grays and the pearl like tears that fell unconsciously from her eyes. The lady drowned in sympathy for this ‘human’ and handed me over. I was shattered. I felt so useless, like a cover of an ice cream cup, so nonchalantly strewn away. I looked up at the girl with a snare but her expressions had taken a drastic change. The tears had vanished and a mighty grin took its place. She jumped up in the air and held me high. Then she continued to gaze at me with wonder. I was perplexed for I could never imagine myself being an object capable of inciting so much curiosity. I thought everybody knew how I looked like. She then held me close to her heart. I could hear it beating very fast. Running fast along with her, she took me far away from the madding crowd. Deep into the smelly lanes of sewerage laden shacks and entered one of them. She sat on one of the protruding stone and continued to look at me with amazement. She pulled me in close and touched me with her rough lips which hadn’t been cleansed for a long time. I felt out of place , really disturbed to be in this hole but the love with which this poor girl seemed to bestow me was nothing I had seen in my fancy house. Her warmth was overpowering.
Alas! The love was short-lived for my excited owner made the mistake of spreading the news of my presence. Soon the innocent girl was made to forcefully part from her life’s major accomplishment. There I went into a rollercoaster ride of the bullies, the workers to the middle class families to shopkeepers and to the rich brats. To the good and the ugly of society. Travelled through facets of the ugly structure that the humans had formed. My journey continued at the panwaala’s shop. The panwaala, took me in his hands which had been darkened by the gooey liquid that smeared it, the aroma of the herbs and tobacco that forms the basis of the delicacy which sells in millions every day, tucked me deep in his pocket. I could hardly manage to get some sleep in this olfactory explosion. But soon I changed hands and it was going to be for the better. For I was told I was going to be part of a pompous occasion. I once again felt that sense of significance. That feeling which satisfied my hunger for flattery. Taken inside a large shed and kept on the table for scrutiny, I began to wonder if I had been fooled. For here I saw large men laughing hard and pouring their tall glasses with a golden liquid. I had never seen it before but I was convinced it was the peculiar liquid that was responsible for their giggly extravaganza.
They started to push me into a line. I retaliated. They weren’t bothered to see me slipping away. One of the guys pulled me back, held me up and looked at me intently. “Arey, yeh toh asli hai” and all of them broke into a fit of laughter. That was enough to give me a seizure. I was terrified and fell back unconscious. The break of dawn woke me up. I couldn’t believe what had happened to me. I had been tied down by a thread! It was horrifying for I couldn’t move an inch. Then somebody pulled me out and I came down from the darkness out into a massive crowd. I saw people held back by a rope cheering their hearts out. “Dhaniram ki Jai! Dhaniram ki Jai!” everybody shouted. Soon I saw myself on top of Dhaniram, the leader of the region who had taken out a procession to address their issues. What problems were actually resolved remains a mystery. Bang! Bang! Dhaniram fell back onto the horse carriage he was travelling on and the deafening cheers were transformed into a shocking silence. Their leader had been shot…..
Dhaniram’s son came forward and lit up his pyre. Dhaniram always wanted to be covered with his richly possessions and so was his wish fulfilled. I am a hundred rupee note whose charred remains would mix with the ashes of a powerful leader….
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