NO fear incapacitates man more than the fear of death, and dying.
The impact of Friday 14, June’s devastating bomb blast was so terrifying that the residents of the buildings within the proximity of the holocaust took couple of days to regain self-assurance to look around and assess what had happened! Some of them peeped from the balconies and bay windows of their apartments to watch the aftereffects of the devastation. Others mustered up courage, and moved closer to the barriers around the affected zone. They looked with awe at the damaged vehicles, bloodstained pavement, a deep crater in the road, and personal belongings of the dead and the injured scattered all over the place. The elderly among the residents preferred to climb up to the rooftops to take a bird’s eye view of the aftermath of the frightening blast that reaffirmed man’s faith in frailty of life.
The residents of the Club View Apartments were left aghast on spotting a severed arm lying on the rooftop. The crows and the eagles had left it barely covered with flesh. The presence of a severed limb substantiated opinion of a blast analyst, who, on inspecting the site, had remarked, “Go, and look for the limbs on the rooftops, and the electric poles within a radius of one kilometre.”
While the horror stricken residents of the Club View Apartments stood appalled, an elderly person slowly walked up to the stinking arm. He leaned over, and gazed at it for some time. Without turning his face to the residents, he spoke in an apparently loud but trembling voice. He asked, “Gama, what date is it today?”
Gama, an elderly friend of his age replied, “It is 16th June, Lala.”
“Then it is Father’s Day!” He asked, “Isn’t it?”
Gama replied, “Yes Lala, it is Father’s Day.”
Lala slowly sank to his knees. He carefully picked up the arm. He caressed it, and hugged it. The old man’s gesture sent wave of uneasy shivers within the neighbours. When he kissed the arm affectionately the residents couldn’t help exclaiming, “Oh no, Lala!”
Lala laboured, and then rose to his feet. He held on firmly to the arm, and turned around, and looked at his innumerous neighbours. He again kissed the severed arm. The onlookers stepped aback. Gama said, “The arm is decomposed, Lala.”
Lala started at Gama, and kissed the arm again, and said, “It is my son’s arm, Gama. It is my Madan’s arm. Have you forgotten him?”
“I have not forgotten him”, Gama said, “but, how can you say it is Madan’s arm?”
“I am Madan’s father”, Lala said, “I know it is Madan’s arm.”
“You have no seen Madan since he deserted you 25 years ago.” Gama said, “Quarter of a century is a very long time, Lala.”
Severed arm held firmly to his chest, Lala bowed his head, and receded into his thoughts. Neither he, nor anyone from his caring neighbours spoke during an uneasy pause. Lala slowly raised his head. He indulged in monologue, “Madan was exactly 25 years of age when he married his dream girl, and left me. By now he would be 50, and a father of beautiful children, and I a grandfather!”
“Would you recognize him if you saw him?” Gama asked.
Baffled, Lala looked at the arm tucked to his bosom, and replied, “But, I know this is my Madan’s arm.”
Everyone felt sorry for the old man who had lived alone in a flat in Club View Apartments for the last 25 years. Gama touched him tenderly, and said, “Let us go back to our apartments.”
The residents paved way as Lala moved towards the stairs. Gama said, “You better leave this limb here on the rooftop. They would come and collect it.”
“They who?”
“The local and foreign investigating agents.”
“They don’t have anything to do with my son’s arm.”
“It is not your son’s arm, Lala.”
“It is my son’s arm, Gama.” Lala insisted, and said, “It is my Madan’s arm.”
Gama accompanied Lala to his apartment. Lala gently placed the stinking decomposed arm on his bed, and lay by its side. He mysteriously smiled and said, “Isn’t it baffling for a father to receive son’s severed arm on Father’s Day!”
“Since when have you begun observing Father’s Day?” Gama asked.
“Madan lives in States. He observes Father’s Day, not I.” Lala said, “Once in a decade he sends me a gift on Father’s Day.”
“Try to understand, Lala,” Gama pleaded with him, and said, “Why do you think it is Madan’s arm?”
“Who knows, Madan might have thought of seeing me on this Father’s Day after 25 years.” Lala broke down. With a vacant look, he said, “I believe he had arrived two days earlier to be with me today, on Father’s Day, and his arrival coincided with the bomb blast. This is my Madan’s arm.”
