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The Unspoken Truth
It's the year 1960 in Goa and Caitan lays still on his bed. Nobody knows what really happened to him. From a well built man in his youth to a corpse like man in his early 40s, not even his family understood the reason for this condition. For a long time he worked as a baker on the ship at sea, but when he returned back home few years ago, he was a changed man. A man who was once full of life had now turned into a shadow of his former self, with weary eyes and a soul weighed down by the burdens of time and circumstance.
The family did everything to help him get better, but all was futile. They became frustrated overtime and eventually, stopped taking care of him. One late evening, Caitan suddenly woke up and started crying out loudly. He informed his son to call over the family of Paulo quickly.
The son did just that and as soon as Paulo's family reached Caitan's room, he started sobbing deeply and poured out his heart in telling all about an incident that was embedded deep within him. All who were present were shocked and angered as he narrated the incident and the time felt like it had stopped. Once he had finished narrating, he breathed his last as death greeted him and he closed his eyes forever.
The Backstory: Caitan was a tall and muscular man with a determination to achieve something great in life and what better than to have someone who shares the same determination as he? To compliment this nature, he had a true and a loyal friend called Paulo. Paulo and Caitan were good friends since childhood and having been brought up in the same neighborhood, they shared countless memories with their bond deepening as years passed by. They were not like other kids, but worked quite hard to sustain their families and themselves.
After a long time, their hardwork was paid off as one of their neighbours took notice of the two and impressed by their work asked if they would be interested to work on a ship as he had work, but had just recently retired from it. Both the friends gleamed with joy and nodded yes. Once all their documentations were finalised, they were employed on the cargo ship as bakers.
They not only worked hard at this job but also contributed to various other works on the ship such as cleaners and even servers to the captains on the ship when their comrades were sick, earning them a good reputation not only among their fellow-mates but also with their higher-ups. Due to this, not all were happy with the amount of appreciation the two friends were receiving, especially Paulo.
Paulo mastered the art of baking much quickly than others which earned him the title of Head Baker all within two years of working. Caitan was really happy for his friend and also learned a great deal about baking from him. The two returned to Goa and after three trips of voyage decided to settle down. For many years prosperity followed them, however, on one such occasion tragedy was bound to struck.
Not all approved the attention and high praise Paulo received. Rumours about the company owning the cargo ship, who were deciding to cut cost by downsizing was spreading like wildfire. Some of them were already let go before the start of the voyage which left all of the crew feel uneasy. Nobody knew what was to come, but one of the Head Bakers caught a sniff of the news that he was to be made jobless which meant that the kitchen would now have only one Head Baker rather than two. This made him all the more furious as he served the ship's kitchen way longer than Paulo did.
On the day of Caitan's birthday, Paulo and a few other people on the ship decided to prepare dinner and have a few drinks after their work shift to celebrate this occasion. They played cards and even had music playing in the background on the radio. It was a good night sharing light-hearted jokes, talking about their good old days and much more. Caitan was made to drink alot of alcohol to his heart's content.
After a while, the Head Baker along with other comrades decided to play a game. However, Paulo and Caitan decided against it, as they already had a good amount of drinks and wanted to rest for the night for an early shift the next morning. Despite their protests, their colleagues went ahead with the game.
They took Paulo and tied his wrists and ankles with a metal chain and challenged him to find a way to free himself. Paulo did just that but in vain while everyone laughed at this plight. Caitan was almost half asleep and unfazed with the amount of booze that he had and even chuckled along with others at this game.
Then, the Head Baker called out to the others and told them to come to the edge of the ship. Although, Paulo too was a bit drunk, he became suspicious and started hesitating to approach the edge of the ship but despite this they pushed him forward. When he reached the edge of the ship, the other comrades tied a heavy metal box to his already chained ankles which they had fished out from the cargo compartment prior to this day.
He let out a big cry as he called out in Konkani, "Caitan, pav re maka!" (Caitan, please help me), but they quickly gagged him with a cloth. Caitan got up with a jolt and before he could reach his friend, they had already picked him up and thrown him into the sea. This all happened so fast that Caitan did not have any time to register and by the time he could do something, the goons grabbed his collar and blackmailed him saying, "If you ever dare open your mouth, then you will meet the same fate."
The next day, a missing report was filed for Paulo and as the ship touched the American harbour, it was then given to an inspector on shore. The investigation revealed nothing, as everyone claimed that they had no idea regarding Paulo's whereabouts and when the time came for questioning Caitan, he was unable to speak as he was still in shock of his friend's death.
When the ship finally returned to Vasco Da Gama port in Goa, he was not himself and did not return to work on the ship again. There was indeed nothing he could do to bring his friend back, but to let his silence and bitter sorrow slowly and viciously consume him for days on end, hoping to one day meet him and ask for his forgiveness, if not in this life then maybe the next.
© Shania(shazeel)
The family did everything to help him get better, but all was futile. They became frustrated overtime and eventually, stopped taking care of him. One late evening, Caitan suddenly woke up and started crying out loudly. He informed his son to call over the family of Paulo quickly.
The son did just that and as soon as Paulo's family reached Caitan's room, he started sobbing deeply and poured out his heart in telling all about an incident that was embedded deep within him. All who were present were shocked and angered as he narrated the incident and the time felt like it had stopped. Once he had finished narrating, he breathed his last as death greeted him and he closed his eyes forever.
The Backstory: Caitan was a tall and muscular man with a determination to achieve something great in life and what better than to have someone who shares the same determination as he? To compliment this nature, he had a true and a loyal friend called Paulo. Paulo and Caitan were good friends since childhood and having been brought up in the same neighborhood, they shared countless memories with their bond deepening as years passed by. They were not like other kids, but worked quite hard to sustain their families and themselves.
After a long time, their hardwork was paid off as one of their neighbours took notice of the two and impressed by their work asked if they would be interested to work on a ship as he had work, but had just recently retired from it. Both the friends gleamed with joy and nodded yes. Once all their documentations were finalised, they were employed on the cargo ship as bakers.
They not only worked hard at this job but also contributed to various other works on the ship such as cleaners and even servers to the captains on the ship when their comrades were sick, earning them a good reputation not only among their fellow-mates but also with their higher-ups. Due to this, not all were happy with the amount of appreciation the two friends were receiving, especially Paulo.
Paulo mastered the art of baking much quickly than others which earned him the title of Head Baker all within two years of working. Caitan was really happy for his friend and also learned a great deal about baking from him. The two returned to Goa and after three trips of voyage decided to settle down. For many years prosperity followed them, however, on one such occasion tragedy was bound to struck.
Not all approved the attention and high praise Paulo received. Rumours about the company owning the cargo ship, who were deciding to cut cost by downsizing was spreading like wildfire. Some of them were already let go before the start of the voyage which left all of the crew feel uneasy. Nobody knew what was to come, but one of the Head Bakers caught a sniff of the news that he was to be made jobless which meant that the kitchen would now have only one Head Baker rather than two. This made him all the more furious as he served the ship's kitchen way longer than Paulo did.
On the day of Caitan's birthday, Paulo and a few other people on the ship decided to prepare dinner and have a few drinks after their work shift to celebrate this occasion. They played cards and even had music playing in the background on the radio. It was a good night sharing light-hearted jokes, talking about their good old days and much more. Caitan was made to drink alot of alcohol to his heart's content.
After a while, the Head Baker along with other comrades decided to play a game. However, Paulo and Caitan decided against it, as they already had a good amount of drinks and wanted to rest for the night for an early shift the next morning. Despite their protests, their colleagues went ahead with the game.
They took Paulo and tied his wrists and ankles with a metal chain and challenged him to find a way to free himself. Paulo did just that but in vain while everyone laughed at this plight. Caitan was almost half asleep and unfazed with the amount of booze that he had and even chuckled along with others at this game.
Then, the Head Baker called out to the others and told them to come to the edge of the ship. Although, Paulo too was a bit drunk, he became suspicious and started hesitating to approach the edge of the ship but despite this they pushed him forward. When he reached the edge of the ship, the other comrades tied a heavy metal box to his already chained ankles which they had fished out from the cargo compartment prior to this day.
He let out a big cry as he called out in Konkani, "Caitan, pav re maka!" (Caitan, please help me), but they quickly gagged him with a cloth. Caitan got up with a jolt and before he could reach his friend, they had already picked him up and thrown him into the sea. This all happened so fast that Caitan did not have any time to register and by the time he could do something, the goons grabbed his collar and blackmailed him saying, "If you ever dare open your mouth, then you will meet the same fate."
The next day, a missing report was filed for Paulo and as the ship touched the American harbour, it was then given to an inspector on shore. The investigation revealed nothing, as everyone claimed that they had no idea regarding Paulo's whereabouts and when the time came for questioning Caitan, he was unable to speak as he was still in shock of his friend's death.
When the ship finally returned to Vasco Da Gama port in Goa, he was not himself and did not return to work on the ship again. There was indeed nothing he could do to bring his friend back, but to let his silence and bitter sorrow slowly and viciously consume him for days on end, hoping to one day meet him and ask for his forgiveness, if not in this life then maybe the next.
© Shania(shazeel)
