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The Boy who Lived
Kartiyani amma was sitting outside on the verandah. Her gaze turning towards the room every other second. Her curiosity was getting better of her but she knew no one could beat the fates of heaven. For years, the Puthenpuzhackal family has been haunted by the same grief…no one, not a single one of the male child survived past the adolescent. She herself had buried her two sons, and watched her daughter part ways with her still-borne child. Kartiyani let out a deep breath as the memories flooded back. Her gaze turned towards heaven and the beads in her hand moved faster as if knocking doors of every divine entity up there who could save her family from the curse!
No one knew when the curse started…for in an era where child mortality was quiet high, it was no surprise if the heaven called back the children too early. So was for Kartiyani who herself had five children, two boys and three girls. She had lost a boy and a girl, both twins, early after the childbirth. While the other son died in the plague before turning ten. The incidents were not uncommon to be passed of as coincidences, and so did Kartiyani who consoled her grief just like countless other mothers. But when it was time for her eldest to bear the child, the history repeated. Luckily, the younger bore pretty girls (twins) and evaded the grief of parting with their child. The sad misfortune running in the family was never talked out loud and was forgotten with the passage of time after the birth of Karthik.
However, Kartiyani could not turn a blind eye to this. For her mother had let her known on her deathbed, the plague that was haunting the family. ‘Not a single woman over the generation would be able to caress her sons into the adolescence…’. There was no explanation nor any answers to the prophecy. All the women from the family had accepted their fate as it is and waited for the heaven to subside their anger.
Kartiyani’s train of thoughts were broken by sudden movements inside the room. Kartik, her eldest grandson is sick with pneumonia. Kartik had just crossed his twelfth birthday and was almost at the brink of breaking the jinx when a sudden attack of pneumonia gripped the boy. Even though she knew what the fates had in store for her, Kartiyani secretly wished for the misfortune to end and was willing to do anything in her power. Alas, the only thing...
No one knew when the curse started…for in an era where child mortality was quiet high, it was no surprise if the heaven called back the children too early. So was for Kartiyani who herself had five children, two boys and three girls. She had lost a boy and a girl, both twins, early after the childbirth. While the other son died in the plague before turning ten. The incidents were not uncommon to be passed of as coincidences, and so did Kartiyani who consoled her grief just like countless other mothers. But when it was time for her eldest to bear the child, the history repeated. Luckily, the younger bore pretty girls (twins) and evaded the grief of parting with their child. The sad misfortune running in the family was never talked out loud and was forgotten with the passage of time after the birth of Karthik.
However, Kartiyani could not turn a blind eye to this. For her mother had let her known on her deathbed, the plague that was haunting the family. ‘Not a single woman over the generation would be able to caress her sons into the adolescence…’. There was no explanation nor any answers to the prophecy. All the women from the family had accepted their fate as it is and waited for the heaven to subside their anger.
Kartiyani’s train of thoughts were broken by sudden movements inside the room. Kartik, her eldest grandson is sick with pneumonia. Kartik had just crossed his twelfth birthday and was almost at the brink of breaking the jinx when a sudden attack of pneumonia gripped the boy. Even though she knew what the fates had in store for her, Kartiyani secretly wished for the misfortune to end and was willing to do anything in her power. Alas, the only thing...
