Sun-man
Ravi pulls a rickshaw for a living. With no parents and
siblings, the only company at home is Shanti, his hirsute pet.
He works for ten hours a day and the extreme heat,
especially in the summer months, makes him resent the job. He tried his hands
at other occupations, all in air-conditioned environments, but none turned
fruitful.
For instance, he slept at night whilst working as a security
guard in an Automated Teller Machine. Though no money was lost, the bank
manager woke him up the next morning and settled his dues. He couldn’t remember
orders whilst working at a local eatery, served chicken biryani to a vegetarian,
and yoghurt rice to a person that despised dairy products. His lack of communication
skills cost him the job as a sales person in a mobile selling shop.
He returned to the job that he did for years and pulled a
decade old rickshaw. He cursed the heat.
On a bright sunny morning, Ravi dropped off a customer at a
hotel and looked at the sky. It looked dark and a few droplets fell on his nose
and splattered all over the face. Precipitation commenced and he was all
excited.
Ravi parked the vehicle and danced in the middle of the road.
His joy and the rain didn’t seem to cease. After about 3 hours, with the rain
still pouring, Ravi decided that he was not going to gain another customer for
the day and started towards home drenched.
The deluge had completely inundated all pathways and the
ride was not smooth. Slowly, the rain’s effect started showing up and vehicles
parked on the roadside were half immersed in water.
With roads blocked and electricity cut, he reached home late.
His hamlet wore a desolate look with the yelling of women and running children.
He was shocked to see his house completely submerged in the water. His
immediate thought turned towards Shanti for she was nowhere to be seen.
Ravi searched for hours but he had to find a safe place for the
night to escape from the insects and reptiles that crawled in the water.
The entire city went quiet for a few days as water had flown
into all nooks and corners and none needed the services of a rickshaw puller.
Ravi was exhausted, ate whatever he could, and slept wherever he considered
safe. The generosity shown by some magnanimous people sank his heart for they
provided food and shelter to those stranded.
Six days had passed and the rain slowly relented but there
was not a semblance of Shanti. He heard a “woof” and turned to see only a mongrel
pass by.
Ravi managed to sort the remains of his house and built a
temporary shelter. He slept unconsciously and woke up the next morning. The
morning was bright and he was very relieved to see the bright sky and feel the
heat that dried up the water. Tears trickled down the eyes thinking how lucky
he was to survive the disaster.
As he closed his eyes, he heard a “woof” and saw a man at a
distance carrying a dog. Ravi shrank his eyes to see who it was. Nellai Mani, a
local resident, let the furry animal down. Ravi grabbed and hugged it looking
at the ray of light from the sky.
Written and pictured by
Navin Radha
