Manoj was in deep debt and was
threatened by recovery agents with dire consequences if he failed to return the
money. He was the sole breadwinner for his parents and younger siblings. He
could see no way to clear the debt except to seek refuge in God He left a few hundred of
rupees with his parents and told them he would be back in two days.
He travelled to Tirupati
ticketless and stood in the long queue for a free darshan safe from the
recovery agents for two days. As the queue moved slowly, he prayed with closed
eyes, “My lord, show me a way out, other than suicide. I cannot think of any
other way to resolve the problem. The ruffians have given me the ultimatum that
if I do not pay immediately, they will break my limbs and throw us all out of
our house. If I am freed of this burden of debts, I promise to renounce the
world and be your devotee and at your service forever.”
Everyone around in the vicinity
saw the handsome and young Manoj praying intensely with tears flowing from his
eyes.
When the queue pushed him, he
opened his eyes and was surprised to find a bundle of yellow cloth lying hidden
behind a pillar. Someone must have dropped it, meant for the Hundi, by mistake.
He hid the bundle securely in his dhoti. All his problems vanished in a trice like
snowflakes before the sun. God in his infinite mercy, he thought, had answered
his prayer. He rightly decided to honour his promise from the very moment he
found the bundle.
As he left the temple and walked
into the bazaar the thought, of missing fancy dress, a motorbike, and a binge
of good food with beer, tormented him. Undeterred, he wore an ochre robe. His
mind was restless as he sat again in the temple in his yellow clothes. Tears trickled
from his eyes as he realised it would not be easy to take to Sanyasa.
It was a promise he foolishly made in haste. He was now in a quandary not
knowing how to get out of this tricky situation he had invited upon himself.
His eyes with tears flowing were closed in deep thought.
Then he heard a voice,” Pack up.
The day’s shooting is over,” even as the director patted him and said,” Well
done, Manoj.”
Fantastic twist akin to the classics of Maupassant. Regards - Mahesh.
ReplyDeleteDid not expect this ending.
ReplyDeleteThat was an unexpected twist. Loved the story. Typical of man to pledge in haste and retract when granted favour. Honestly, in awe of your capabilities in bringing the twist to the story.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting a twist in the tale... Sandhya
ReplyDeleteThe author keeps the audience guessing till the end with supeb suspense!
ReplyDeleteFor an youngster, to renounce all worldly things would be very hard. Thank God it was a shooting of a movie.
ReplyDeleteRead through.. so this is a scene from a movie shoot? - or a dream? As usual makes interesting reading- wanting to know what is coming next! Waiting for the narrative to end in an exciting event , the climax was the simple: Pack up !!😊😆Rama Sampath Kumar
ReplyDeleteThough the twist was expected, as usual from KP's pen, not this way of a super suspense of film shooting ! Waiting for the next thriller !
ReplyDeleteWhat a twist in the tale of a Lotus eater !
ReplyDeleteHmm... that was an end I wasn't prepared for! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!
Best wishes and warm regards
Hemantha Kumar Pamarthy
Loved the twist :). Back to the old twist in the tale KP :)
ReplyDeleteNice story. Sudden end.🙏
ReplyDeleteNice story.ramakrishnan.a.
ReplyDeleteSurprise ending! Good one.
ReplyDeleteSo cool.
ReplyDeleteMovie story! The great actor sincerely immersed himself in his role :)
Amazing story! Loved the completely unexpected twist! 👍👍👍
ReplyDeleteSrikanth
The only words that came to one's mind after reading the story were 'Good Lord!'.
ReplyDeleteNice twist after building up the suspense!
ReplyDeleteAwesome twist to the story. Loved it. We should remember at all times that promises made cannot be taken back. So we need to cautious when we speak. Keep rocking!!! Very exciting to read your stories.
ReplyDelete