The Overcoat
‘I could have been one of them’, he always thought to himself whenever he saw someone wearing shirts and trousers but with each passing day such feelings kept wearing off. Since his shop was making him good money the recollection was less painful. ‘Only if Totth had let me study further.’ he thought
He passed by a young man selling coats on a cart. He rummaged through them and found one overcoat that really impressed him. ‘Totth will really like it and I will also buy him some socks, weather is getting really cold’, he thought. He was totally devoted to his father despite what he had done to him, partly because of the social and religious constraints and partly because of his own forgiving nature and respect for blood relations. He was exploited and deprived by his father throughout his life but he never went against him or displayed any kind of ill behavior. No matter what he did his father was never pleased with him enough. As a result Salam felt he lacked something thus tried too hard to make up to his father.
On the way back in the Taanga he once again remembered the day when he had passed Matric and had went to his father asking him to let him study further but he declined.
‘You know how much this will cost? The college is twenty miles from here; you will waste all the time in travel who will work in the fields? Then you will fail and say because I worked in fields besides what do you hope to attain from it.’
Salam had said nothing then. He wasn’t kind of a person who will throw tantrums to get his demands met. He was mature in that sense. Also you can throw a tantrum for toys or clothes not for something like education which no one needs to be told about its essentiality. It was late in the afternoon that day that Salam sat in his spot, a small conical hut in one of his family’s fields. He had started building it a few years back and improvised it from time to time. Sad and dejected Salam sat inside the hut his forehead resting on his knees. It wasn’t that his father lacked money. His father was rather stingy and deprived his family of things as much as he could. Salam never pried into how much money his father had thus he lived in this notion that he belonged to a poor family so can’t afford higher education. He spent some time in the hut coming to the terms with the sad “reality” of his life. Though this will hurt him often for the rest of his life but for that moment the pain had subdued from the satisfaction he felt by sacrificing his dreams to avoid unnecessary pressure on his family. He came out of the little hut with a bit of difficulty. Only a couple of years back Salam could get inside and come out easily from it but he had grown bigger and was still growing.
Salam’s wounds opened up again when Khaliq his younger brother passed Matric and even though he didn’t express any ambitions or competence of studying further still Rahim Khojj told everyone at the dinner that he was going to send Kahliq to the town to study and he will be living there with a friend’s family. Salam’s doubts at that moment were right. Where did the money suddenly come from even though nothing has changed? If you really care about someone then there is always a way out for doing something for them. It isn’t just about money but who you are willing to spend it on. Salam felt angry. It was his dream that was snatched away by his father and gifted to someone else. But what could he do now. He was happy for his brother though. Khaliq wasn’t to be blamed, Salam understood it but anything he said at that time will be presented in a manner to show he felt jealous of his brother. He didn’t want to remain in the house any more so he went to his hut to take some time for himself. He cried and cried and cried. It was a mixture of feelings. It was anger. It was inability to do anything. To cry was the only thing he could do and he did it as much as he could. Finally, when he had no energy left to cry he thought with a clear-head and reached the conclusion that becoming financially independent will ensure that he is not left at others’ mercy for realizing his ambitions. He also imagined himself working in the field while his brother becomes a Babu. It motivated him further. ‘I will ask father for some loan and set up a small shop in the land by the village road .No matter how little I earn atleast I will be able to take care of my needs and also we are poor so a bit of extra income will make things better.’, Salam’s selflessness not leaving him even then.
A few days later he told his father about it. He did not expect his father to be happy about his decision. He never cared about him but alteast the guilt which Salam thought he should be feeling for not allowing him an education will atleast make him provide some help but his father avoided any discussion on it after hearing him once. That evening he went to his hut again and resolved to take loans and little bit of funding from here and there and set up a shop. He was known for his honesty. Something even his father could vouch for. If Rahim Khoujj gave him money to buy things from market he will give an account of every paisa. If the shopkeeper let him keep him an Anna or two for lack of change he will return it to him. His dad appreciated it but kept that those Annas even though it in a way belonged to Salam. He soon set up a shop in the no man’s land of the village where there were already a few shops. These shops were little shacks made of wood or tin. This village was totally dependent on agriculture and these shops only acted as transporters for things like spices, tobacco, tea, stationary etc which this village couldn’t produce. His noble manners and trustworthiness made people flock to him. He started bringing goods into the village they had never before heard of. He was soon doing so well that his mind got freed of the resentment he held against his father and consoled himself that his father wanted him to become stronger and self-supporting but on thinking deeper felt such an explanation absurd.
It hadn’t been even a year since his father refused him money for the shop that he asked him for money to buy some land. Land, which will be bought with Salam’s money and will be used for benefit of everyone. The land Salam will be working on while Khaliq “studied” in the town. But Salam had no inkling of such things and didn’t feel even a slight hesitation in giving him the money. It was mostly because he felt glad and proud that he was able to help his father also he hoped his father after seeing him readily give him the money may feel guilty about his reluctance to give him money for the shop, the very venture which enabled Rahim Khoujj to buy land. But the greedy Rahim Khoujj only cared about money. He was demanding it from Salam whenever he felt like it and sometimes when he felt embarrassed to do it directly he went for indirect methods. This way Salam had ended spending a big chunk of the expenditure on his sister Zareefa’s wedding which wasn’t even acknowledged by anyone. But he was happy and thankful to Almighty for being able to share the burden of his father.
Recently his father told him that Khaliq needed a small radio. ‘He gets bored being away from home some entertainment will do him good.’ Rahim had said. Salam had never even got a candy from him. Salam could buy a radio even for himself but even for his personal needs he would ask his father’s permission, except cigarettes. Meanwhile, Khaliq repeatedly failed intermediate and wasn’t even helping with housework. He didn’t even return home quoting one reason or another.
On reaching the village Salam loaded down the Taanga paid him off and kept everything in his shop including the overcoat and the radio. This time Salam had spent almost all of his savings on goods for his shop. He was famished and decided to do unpacking later went straight home and asked his mother for tea.
Sipping tea while his father puffed on the Hookah he suddenly remembered the overcoat and the radio. ‘I will give those to him later.’ he thought. His mother insisted on a second cup just after when he felt his father had signaled her for something.
‘I will bring you Kulcha wait. Why take Sout? You are hungry.’ said his mother.
‘No no, I am fine.’ protested Salam but she still went to get Kulchas from the other room and his father placing the pipe of the hookah against his cheek said. ‘Some money is needed?’
Salam didn’t ask for what purpose or why was he telling him this. Despite having almost nothing he was still eager to help. So he asked him how much.
‘One to two thousand’, his father said.
‘But I don’t have that kind of money’
His father......
