Karma Interpreted

KARMA INTERPRETED.

He saw his mum's favourite brown cat slowly approach him. For him it looked like a toy. A privileged toy which can even hunt. He already had a white toy cat that walked and meowed but never did any hunting.

The brown cat looked much different and disobedient whereas the white cat was so cute and obedient. He loved the white cat more than this brown cat that belonged to his mum. His mum always talked to this cat but never talked to the white cat. She even fed the brown cat. The white cat was given to him by his sister who is more than 8 years elder to him. She was not playing with toys anymore. Her toys are books now.

He saw no difference between his mother and his sister and neither did he see any difference between his dad and his brother, who is 12 years elder to him. They all belonged to another world. They all were demanding and shouting at him for nothing. He did not hate them because even after shouting at him they all laughed together. He had to behave and obey all four of them.

For him the white cat and the brown cat both are toys. Toys for him to play with. When his mum or dad shouted at him he shouted at his cats. He just acted dad or big brother to them. When he was occasionally punished for what they called being naughty he punished the cats. The white cat accepted the punishments but the brown cat purred just the same way he cried at times when he was punished or taken to the bath by his mum.

The brown cat looked quite dirty today and he thought he should clean him. He was looking for a way to clean him. It is not easy to wash him. He had washed the white cat once and it never meowed again. Neither did it walk since then. Surely it loved the water and the soap. He made everyone at home laugh when they found that out. He usually makes everyone at home angry with whatever he does. Today he made them laugh but did not understand why. Maybe he should bathe the cats more often to make them laugh.

His brother opened the still wet white cats belly and cleaned it thoroughly with a towel after throwing out the contents into the bin. Probably that is how it relieved itself ; the same way he relieves himself sitting on the white coloured seat in the toilet. He even used the hair dryer used by his mum and sister to dry the cat.

After washing his back his mum turns the silver handle while he peeps into whirling flow of water with interest. A stream of water flows and makes the seat brilliant white. He remembered the day he was once bathed in a river. The flowing water swirled and cleaned him. It was fun bathing in the river although bathing in the toilet was gruesome. He was also free to play around in the shallow waters freely.

He caught the cat and put him into the seat ; turned the handle while the cat struggled to get out. He remembered how his mum holds him while bathing him everyday. He hated his daily baths. His baths are either too cold or too hot. Moreover he hated water. Just like the purring cat, he cried out loud each time a bucket of water is poured on his head held tightly with an iron fist by his mum. Sometimes his sister or brother joins his mum in holding him down from escaping the escapade. His father never joins his mum to hold him while being bathed.

Everyone at home watched him bathing and laughed making him angry. Making the unpleasant daily bath worse his mum takes a hard brush with soap and bushes him all over. It is so painful especially when soap enters his eyes. The only consolation comes when his mum says that he will get a fair skin with the daily baths just like the fair skinned rest of his family.

His mother appeared at the door and pulled the cat out of the seat. “You are trying to kill the cat” she complained. He did not understand his mum. Next time she bathes him he will die. He did not understand what happens when the cat dies. The cat was shivering the same way he shivers after a bath. That could be what she meant. His sister and brother were laughing. Probably that is what people did when someone dies. He too laughed.

He did not want his mother to bathe his cats. She would hurt them just the same way she cleaned his ears while bathing him. She puts her finger with soap deep into his ears and cleans them not sparing each and every crevice and corner of his body. He screams and shouts while his dad laughs at him.

Three decades later.

He was on a ship maneuvering through the Indian Ocean and later anchored at the out-harbour in Hong Kong. He was relaxing and having a chat with his captain inside the cabin when a red alert of a ferocious typhoon was announced on the radio. The level of the announced typhoon froze them for a moment and he realized that his ship was on the path of the typhoon. Circumstances indicated that they are in fatal danger and started getting prepared for the worst.

Shit hit the ceiling and all hell broke loose when waves hit the ship and swerved it from its anchor hitting the rocks. The nightmare continued by wrecking the ship and they found themselves soaked in salt water on a rock they climbed with great difficulty after abandoning the ship. Rescued by choppers he managed to get into the next available flight to Sri Lanka with zero baggage and clad with the same clothes he was in when the devil took his turn on all on-board. Thankfully the only casualty was the wrecked ship wedged between huge rocks protruding from the ocean like giants hands.

Back home he related the ferocity of the disaster to his family while enjoying the bottle of Chivas Regal he bought at the duty free shop at Katunayake with his brother and dad. On Skype was his sister in UK along with her teenage daughter Vidushi listening to his narration. Pin drop silence that prevailed at the narration was disturbed by his brother with a question.

“You only pissed in your pants right….and even that was not visible….you were totally soaked...correct?”

Vidushi remembered the day she, as a 4 year old baby asked her mum why her uncle is working dangerously on a ship. When her mum retorted, “to make money for a living”, she started innocently collecting money to stop his favourite uncle from going away so that she can play with him, climbing on his herculean body, using his humpty dumpty stomach as a trampoline. His uncle’s screams were heard as that of the school's cheerleaders enthusiastically cheering at the playground. She jumped higher and higher.

A smile crossed his dad's moustached, tough looking but innocent face when he read the message from UK on Viber.

“Today Vidushi realised why her favourite uncle had to face that typhoon in Hong Kong. He served his karma for flushing a cat inside the commode”