Scars of my old age

Scars  of my old age

By

Asok Kumar

Translated by

P.R.Ramachander

(translated with eye filled with tears)

I am one of those very old   men of   seventy seven,

In whose  life   the rain  of love  has forgotten to wet ,

I live one month with each   of my four sons  ,

And in another four days  I have to go  to my last son.

I am counting  days   to go there because  ,

The dhothi presented  by my second daughter in law ,

During  last   deepavali  festival has  become torn and faded,

And the  spectacles bought by first son has   broken three  weeks back.

Since my third son is very short tempered   and miserly,

I have hidden my spectacles   and am tottering round the home,

I have   to get it changed  only through  my last daughter in law

And since there  are only  four more days  I  have another job.

After every one has gone to office    and school ,

I would have to   wash all  my cloths one by one,

Though there   is a washing machine in my son’s house,

My daughter  in law   has told me not to put  my dirty cloths in it.

Though old   and tottering   and though I find it  difficult to wash,

I never tell about it  to my son as my DIL  has forbidden me to do it.

So just like   a young child counting    working   days  of School,

Before the   vacation starts , I am counting days to visit my last DIL.

My last    son is not  as wealthy   as my other sons,

He does not own a house or car   and  any other such things,

He lives  in a rented house  and  both  have  mopeds 

IN which they   travel everywhere and do all their  jobs.

Whenever  I go to their home , my Dil   would come,

To receive me  and with great joy , i travel on her pillion,

And she   will be asking me  many questions   and I would answer,

By telling her everything  without  blaming   my other sons

Since she is smart   she will buy me rose  milk  on the way,

Since I like it very much   and find out   everything from me by constant nagging.

Ands as soon as  we reach home  , she will see  whether I have,

All the medicines  that i take and if not chide me,

When she sees that I have  purchased  her pet sweet,

She would laugh  and  I would have  fought with my wife,

That she had not  given a  daughter like her   to me ,

But unfortunately she has  left me alone and has  gone to God.

After four days   I reached   her place riding on a bus  ,

And she was waiting for me  as  was her  habit,

She got my bag from me  and made  me sit safely,

On her moped and asked me  several things

“Do they  not have time    to take   you for shaving ?

And even before  I could    tell some made up excuse ,

She took me to the saloon and afterwards   asked me,

What happened to my  specs  and frowned at me.

Just like a   child showing his   failed  report card ,

I showed my broken specs and without showing her  anger,

She took me   to a spectacle shop  and told  me ,

“Only for this  I always fight with you not to go from here”

She got a new specs   and opened my box, saw my cloths ,

And told  “Your cloths are clean that  means they made  you wash them”,

And when I laughed sheepishly  , she too laughed  with me  ,

And  I told her  that I am dizzy  and wanted to lean on her   and asked her.

She said,” Okay Be careful   and lean on me  “ and I actually   told a lie ,

So that  I could  to lean on her  who was  my daughter,

But not born to me  and for another  one month ,

Those scars of my old age would become  invisible in her teasing.