Like this:

Redemption

My younger sister who had always been at home would be pursuing her studies. And that meant to leave Mom home, alone. Of course Dad would be around, but our village’s administrations and school teachings would sometimes consume him.  I worried that the stillness atmosphere would remind her about the memories she shared with her late son.

Every semester breaks, Mom would talk about him. It had been hard for all of us, and even harder for her. One year felt like yesterday. This holiday, however, she talked less about him. I was relieved thinking that she had overcome the poignant tragedy. Till one day, when I told her I wanted to ‘burn’ rubbish.

She went out in rush and prepared something. She told me things were ready. I was wondering whether she really heard me.
It was a statement and, I didn’t ask her to do anything.  I was confused a bit, but she handed me the fish tray and all. She misheard that I wanted to grill the fish. And that made me anxious. Big time.

I still remember how she told me that Bang Mad (my late brother) had once requested to grill his favourite fish. Yet, my parents couldn’t find the fish anywhere at market. What a coincidence. And It happened a day before the very day. We believed that once a person has destined for death, there were things that were not granted anymore. It was completely closed.

And her actions of preparing the stuff for grilling made me feel sad. As if Mom wanted to redeem something that wasn’t her fault, after all. She looked satisfied, though, and we enjoyed the meals together.

Redemption is a novel by Tariq Ali

Advertisement