A Wink of Wisdom

Dose of wisdom for all

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Me
Menu

Guilt

Posted on July 5, 2014 by Namrata Kumari
It was almost midnight. Kamla could not sleep. She kept tossing from one side to the other on her bed. On a frail wooden bed beside hers, lied her five year old son Ratan and seven year old daughter Chinki. They lived in one of the dilapidated tenements of the city. Kamla’s husband Mahesh, usually spent night out to earn a little more for his family. There was nothing so special about this night but it seemed sleep had abandoned Kamla’s eyes.

Mahesh and his first wife, Geeta with their three year old son Ganesh, had migrated to city. People in village find cities considerably promising for some reasons. After spending a few days in slum, Geeta’s health began to deteriorate. She died within a month due to lack of proper medical facilities. There was no one to look after Ganesh. Mahesh had to stay out all day to earn his livelihood. Hence, he married a poor girl Kamla from his own village and brought her to the city.

Kamla got up from her bed to look out through the small window. Like all the other nights, ten year old Ganesh was sleeping outside under the shadow of starry sky without having dinner. According to Kamla, he was the eldest of his siblings and must first let Ratan and Chinki eat. Hence, Ganesh savored anything which luckily remained unconsumed by them.

But tonight Kamla couldn’t sleep. There was some unusualness about the night that she felt creeping in. Tomorrow, Ganesh would go to work for the first time in a nearby packaging factory. Kamla had persuaded him for this by saying that if he would earn, his brother could get into a school. Neither Ganesh nor Chinki had ever stepped into a school.

Ganesh didn’t even have the slightest of his mother’s memories. Anyone closest to mother who he had was Kamla whom he really loved and cared about.

Kamla stealthily pulled the door and slid out of the house, trying not to wake her children up. She stood beside Ganesh’s bed and kept staring at him for a while. Ganesh was resting in the arms of deep sleep. Starvation had become a part of his daily life. Kamla thought, what his life would have been if his mother was alive. A tear trickle found a way through her eyes. She went back to her bed but remained sleepless for hours.

Next morning, while Mahesh could have reached home any moment, Kamla bathed and got neatly dressed up to go out. She went out to Ganesh who was already awake and asked her to remain at home with his brother and sister. She went out in search of a job. Perhaps, some greater feeling than selfishness had taken over her.

0 thoughts on “Guilt”

  1. moviesofthesoul says:
    July 5, 2014 at 3:51 pm

    Nice 🙂 Some emotional stuff for the night? 🙂

    Reply
  2. Ankur Anand says:
    July 5, 2014 at 5:18 pm

    simple yet so greatly narrated ! wonderful 🙂

    Reply
  3. chaitalibhattacharjee7 says:
    July 6, 2014 at 7:28 am

    Very nice….selflessness….greatest form of love I guess

    Reply
  4. Anusree Burman says:
    July 7, 2014 at 5:27 am

    Nice Namrata.. It's beautifully scripted and narrated.. 🙂

    Reply
  5. Red Handed says:
    July 7, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    Powerful. Like Ankur said…its simple but beautifully narrated!

    Reply
  6. Bikram says:
    July 8, 2014 at 11:09 am

    I dont know how to explain but as others said SIMPLE.. and BEAUTIFUL.. (sorry stealing other's comment here) .. Bikram

    Reply
  7. Saru Singhal says:
    July 8, 2014 at 5:26 pm

    What a beautiful story! I think that's what a woman is – always understanding and sacrificing for greater goods.

    Reply
  8. Anita says:
    July 10, 2014 at 1:16 pm

    Oh! Touching tale, Namrata… Someone has to sacrifice & her guilt made her do so…

    Reply
  9. R Miglani says:
    July 25, 2014 at 7:21 am

    Heart Touching take written with words which spoke a lot.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories

  • Productivity (4)
  • Random (58)

Archive

  • January 2018 (1)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • April 2017 (1)
  • July 2016 (3)
  • June 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (2)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • November 2015 (2)
  • October 2015 (3)
  • September 2015 (3)
  • July 2015 (3)
  • June 2015 (8)
  • May 2015 (1)
  • April 2015 (4)
  • March 2015 (6)
  • February 2015 (1)
  • January 2015 (5)
  • October 2014 (1)
  • July 2014 (4)
  • June 2014 (3)
  • May 2014 (3)
  • April 2014 (8)
  • March 2014 (7)
  • February 2014 (2)
  • January 2014 (3)
  • December 2013 (2)
  • November 2013 (5)
  • October 2013 (5)
  • September 2013 (1)
  • July 2013 (1)
  • June 2013 (2)
  • May 2013 (1)
  • April 2013 (1)
  • March 2013 (1)
  • January 2013 (2)
  • December 2012 (3)
  • November 2012 (3)
  • October 2012 (2)
  • September 2012 (2)
  • August 2012 (3)
  • July 2012 (2)
  • June 2012 (1)
  • May 2012 (1)
  • April 2012 (1)
  • March 2012 (1)
  • February 2012 (2)
  • January 2012 (2)

Poetry

Find me here

  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Contact Me

  • mail@namratakumari.com

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

© 2021 A Wink of Wisdom | Theme by Superb WordPress Themes