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Since quite some time this idea was gradually taking a firm grip on my thinking.I have started feeling that my days are being numbered and soon my limbs and different parts of my body will stop functioning,they are going to lose their rhythm..the very essence of my life.
Lying in the corner of a room of a desolate house,with closed doors and windows,where hardly there is any difference between day and night,where all sorts of mites and insects are having their field day...mocking at and sprawling over me-which they could never dared to do during my hey-days. I have waited for quite some years,expectantly,with a hope that days might change..perhaps I will again get the warmth of the feel of life..of joy and sorrow..of laughter and despair but with the passage of time the elixir of hope has hit the bottom and now only the Leese is left behind .Before that too gets emptied,I was thinking of writing an epitaph.But,alas,I am not a living being and I can not write any epitaph and apart from that I still feel that with the touch of a caring hand,like that of my last mistress,I can still have a long lease of life.
But over the years, I have come to know that hope and reality-these two step brothers are not in best of the terms.
So at last,I have decided to do some thing which I heard long ago from the discussion of a boy of this house with his friends during my golden bygone days.They had been discussing about the fate of a wretched fellow,like me,who was debarred to go out to his beloved from a plague infected settlement and ultimately that desperate man had gone to the fringe of that quarantined place, floated his words and gave vent to his feelings in the air with the hope that his message will be carried to the intended ears.I heard them talking that this fantastic idea was the brain child of some Albert Camus.I have decided to borrow this idea,fortunately still lingering with me,and I have resolved to resort to a soliloquy(like some tragic heroes,about whom also I had heard from them at that time) as I have got a trove of tales to tell.
I was not born in any hospital or under any medical care as a total entity,since those are meant for,so called, living beings.Different parts of mine were assembled together and I came into being at a place which is termed as factory.Just after my 'birth', I came to know from other members of my clan that how we have pushed the wheel of civilisation of mankind by so many leagues.I also came to know that before our arrival, human folk used bones and guts,painstakingly,to do the things which we are doing with ease and speed.I also came to know that a gentleman at a far away place known as France tried to do something similar like us but he could barely get away with his life and all his crafts and belongings were burnt to ashes by the enraged crowd,afraid of losing their lively hoods.Listening to this, I got scared of that hostile terrain.But my 'siblings' comforted me.I was told that things have been sorted out through a process known as 'Industrial Revolution'
I was told by 'senior members' of my clan that since 'life' has already been instilled,we are likely to be taken away from the present location,which they told to be the city of New york,in a country known as America,to different parts of the world.
Naturally my 'young mind' was excited and expectant to see New places and New people.
Very soon each of us were dressed for the occasion,put in beautiful jackets,embossed with golden monogram of our common generic name, a name given by our 'father'.In fact he had taken out a part of his own name to give it to us so that we can feel the pride of being associated with him.
Issac Merritt Singer was not an ordinary man and we,his children, were also determined to have our presence felt all over the world.
Initially,I was not very much respectful of my 'father' because of his little care for scruples in business but,afterwards, I changed my views when he amended and atoned his attitude.
Presently,silently,we took leave of each other and, as we could come to know that hardly there will be any more chance of seeing each other again.
I started my journey,crossing the vast expanse of blue water,which they called ocean,boarding on big floating object,which I came to know to be a ship.
The ship intermittently stopped at different places.I lost count of days and then the ship came to a halt,at a place known as the city of Calcutta,in a country known as India.
I came to know that India,at that time, was ruled by a British King and as well the city of Calcutta was the most precious Jewel of the crown of the Monarch.
When we had been taken out of the hold of the ship I saw people of different complexions,Black,White,Brown,dressed in different queer dresses,talking in languages which I had not heard before.
Finally the first phase of my journey came to an end and I was taken and placed on the displaying counter of a big shop,proudly flashing the hoarding 'Army Navy Stores',situated on one of the main boulevard of the city.
I knew that my real life was about to be started,the sole purpose of my coming into being will be put to test.Although I was apprehensive about my new phase of my life,I was determined to hold the banner of our clan aloft and resolved to remain faithful to my new would be master or mistress as I had come to know from one of my brothers,who had also come with me in the same ship and presently kept at a place adjacent to me,that soon we will find our places at different places of the city.
At last that fateful arrived.One bright complexioned gentleman,having features similar to Nordic people,along with a companion,came to the shop, had a look at me,paid the price and took me along with him.
Friday, January 30, 2009
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