Tears of Wonder
Tears of Wonder
It is a story with a difference. Adil is the principal male character of the story. He is about fifty wearing long pajamas and a long kurta. He bears a long beard and a short mustache. His hair is on the verge of turning grey. He looks as simple and innocent as a naive village peasant. In his right hand, he always bears a bead of the rosary which he keeps on counting with every word he pronounces. He especially keeps on uttering the most glorious name of God with his every breath. He speaks so little and seems to be on meditation even when he is on a walk or at his work. People say of him to be a saintly person and through the years he has earned the fame of being so. He seems neither to have any worldly passion nor has he seemed to be hankering after any worldly glory. People often go to him with the hope of getting blessed by the touch of his holy hand. He always seems to keep his look downwards and if he ever looks upwards he did it only to praise the omnipotent creator of the endless sky with its wonderful objects.
The other character of the story is a female. His name is Miss Nashiketa, a daughter of a village peasant and she is as naive as a donkey and as docile as a rabbit. She is a girl of sixteen- fully bloomed as a piece of rose. She is of medium height. She bears a tone like a nightingale and when she utters a word the wind makes an echo of it. Her hair is as black as the skin of an adder. Her forehead is as pretty as the mother goddess Durga and her complexion is like that of Helen or Sita. Her nose is as sharp as the nib of a fountain pen. Her thighs are as fleshy as the hips of a custard bull. Her two breasts are like a pair of red pomegranates. She is as shy as the beloved of Andrew Marvel. She seems always to be in a smiling mood though she scarcely makes a gap in her lips. She is gifted with a pair of tiny eyes like that of a mouse with the tint of seawater. She lives in a poor peasant village with her parents. By the side of the village, a river has been flowing silently. The river provides the villagers with the necessary water. It is, to say, the only resource of water for the poor villagers. The village women and girls fetch water in pitchers and carry them home on their waists.
One autumn evening the girl, Nashiketa was on the way home carrying the pitcher of water on her waist. She was wearing a simple sari that the Indian village maids are generally accustomed to wearing on occasion. The sun was shining brightly. The sky was as transparent as a piece of glass. The mellow west wind was blowing eastward. The wind was touching the black loose hair of the girl softly. The late butterflies were flying over the autumn flowers. At that very moment, Adil, the only male character in the story happened to walk on the street. Suddenly his eyes fell on her. He seemed to be startled and kept on gazing at her like a statue. The beads of rosary fell down from his hand, his mouth always kept on pronouncing the holy name of God seemed to become dumb. He seemed to be looking at a supernatural being or a strange animal that had been brought to a zoo recently from the Rain Forest of Africa. He gazed and gazed and after a while, it was seen that flow of tears was coming out of his eyes like the rain of summer. The shy girl, Nashiketa being fear-stricken, looked at the man and said in anger, “You look so a saintly man but what devil has caught you? You are gazing at me like a hungry lion gazes at his prey. Have you no shame? Fie!” Again seeing tears in his eyes she asked, “What passion makes you shed tears?
Then the saintly man replied, “Dear daughter, pardon me. I have been staring at you not being passionate about you but in praise of your beauty. You look so charming and beautiful that you seem not to be born of a human being but a creature created by the very own hand of God. And I wonder how beautiful the creator might be who has created a being as beautiful as you! And my tears that have been coming out of my eyes is the tears of gratitude to God for His all-powerfulness.” 0 0 0
Tears of Wonder
Tears of Wonder
N.B. The short story ‘Tears of Wonder’ originally belongs to the book ‘Neha’s Confession and Other Stories’ by Menonim Menonimus. Tears of Wonder
Tears of Wonder
Books of Composition by M. Menonimus:
- Advertisement Writing
- Amplification Writing
- Note Making
- Paragraph Writing
- Notice Writing
- Passage Comprehension
- The Art of Poster Writing
- The Art of Letter Writing
- Report Writing
- Story Writing
- Substance Writing
- School Essays Part-I
- School Essays Part-II
- School English Grammar Part-I
- School English Grammar Part-II..
Books of S. Story by M. Menonimus:
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