He threw the letter down after reading it.
“Money! Money!” He muttered under his breath as he gulped down his beer in frustration. He opened his suitcase and took out another bottle. He took a few gulps, feeling it go right to his head, making him feel hot all over. What a miserable life! Here he was working hard in a foreign country to make his fortune, so that he could go home one day and provide his family a better life, and that was his wife’s way of showing her appreciation and encouragement! Send money! Send more money! Rajoo gulped down more of the beer as he thought of his youngest son lying in bed, waiting for death - or treatment – if Rajoo could send some money home.
Rajoo flung the empty beer bottle down onto his mattress. It rolled over to Siva’s mattress. Rajoo reached over for it, and saw something sticking out from under Siva’s mattress. He looked around to make sure nobody was in the room, and reached underneath the mattress and pulled out an envelope. Sitting with his back to the bedroom door so as to shield his actions, Rajoo opened the envelope slowly. Money! The envelope contained money!
“Hey! Give that back!” Rajoo felt a wet towel whacked across his back, and a naked Siva leaning over his shoulders to reach for the envelope in his hand.
“I need the money. Lend me the money!” Rajoo held the envelope out of Siva’s reach.
“No! My hard-earned money! No cigarettes, no beer! All for my family!” Siva reached for the envelope desperately.
Rajoo held the envelop in his fist in a tight grip, as he turned to face Siva.
“My youngest boy is dying! I NEED the money!”
“No! You lazy bone! You would have money if you didn't spend it all on cigarettes and beer!” Siva was desperate and pounced on Rajoo.
Rajoo lost his balance and both men fell onto Rajoo’s mattress, with Siva on top of Rajoo. Siva tried to pin Rajoo down while one arm reached for the envelope in Rajoo’s hand. Siva was a big man. Rajoo felt out of breath, with Siva’s weight upon him. He tried to push Siva off with his free arm, while still extending the other arm above his head so that the envelope was out of Siva’s reach. Siva kept his weight on Rajoo, while at the same time frantically extending both arms towards the envelope. Rajoo felt himself gasping for breath. He waved his arms wildly, trying to push Siva off. His hand touched something! It was his beer bottle. He grabbed it by the neck, and brought it down on Siva’s head.
“Crash!” Fragments of the glass flew everywhere. Thick blood trickled slowly down from Siva’s head. It reached his eyes, which were opened wide with shock and disbelief. Rajoo pushed Siva off. Siva’s lifeless body fell onto his own mattress. Rajoo watched in horror as the circle of blood beneath Siva’s head grew larger and larger, slowing dyeing the dirty mattress red. Siva’s eyes remained open, staring vacantly at Rajoo. The air in the room hung thick with the odors of blood and sweat intermingled.
Showing posts with label foreign worker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label foreign worker. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2007
Friday, March 2, 2007
Tragedy in a Foreign Land (2)
“Honk! Honk!”
“Ouch!” Rajoo squealed as his hammer fell from his hand and hit his left foot. His working boot was old and worn-out, providing little protection from the impact of the fallen hammer. Rajoo cursed himself for falling asleep. He also cursed the truck for startling him. Packing up his tools, he followed the others out of the almost-finished house, and limped towards the truck.
Rajoo lit a cigarette as the truck pulled out onto the road. He could feel the wind against his face, as he sat cramped at the back of the truck with the other workers.
“Hey! Spare me a cigarette!” Siva nudged him.
“Get your own!”
“Spare me a puff!” Siva pleaded.
“No!” Rajoo refused.
Siva’s face fell. Rajoo felt a little sorry for him. He decided to show Siva a little charity. When he exhaled the next time, he made sure to blow the smoke at Siva’s face. Siva closed his eyes, inhaling the smoke Rajoo had exhaled hungrily.
Pathetic! Rajoo thought. His friend was a fool. He would not spend a cent of what he earned. The fool sent his whole paycheck back to Bangladesh – to his wife and ten kids. Not Rajoo! He spent a large part of his pay on cigarettes and drinks. He felt pretty sacrificial for sending anything back at all to his wife and kids in Bangladesh. Anyway, his wife had a job and unlike Siva, he was not such a fool as to have ten kids. He had only five.
The truck finally reached the apartments where the workers lodged. Rajoo shared a two-bedroom apartment with five other guys, including Siva.
“Mail for you, Rajoo!”
Siva passed him a letter from Bangladesh. Rajoo’s wife was a good correspondent. She wrote regularly, updating him about all that was happening in Bangladesh. In almost every letter, she asked him to come home. Rajoo wrote whenever he felt he had not written in a long time. Whenever he did, he assured his wife he would come home once he had made his fortune. He chucked the letter, unopened onto his mattress. He wanted to get into the shower before the other guys.
Rajoo got out of the shower, with just a towel wrapped around his waist. With the smell of soap clinging to his freshly washed body, he felt stifled by the smell of sweat in the room. Siva was sitting on his mattress. When he saw Rajoo, he quickly hid something under his mattress, as if afraid Rajoo would see it. Pathetic fool! Rajoo thought as he sat down on his mattress, which was next to Siva’s. The workers slept on thin, old mattresses, which probably had been used by numerous “pioneers” before them. Brown stains covered all the mattresses. Rajoo unlocked his suitcase which he kept at the head of his mattress, and took out a bottle of beer. This was his favorite part of the day. He took a sip of the beer. Heavenly! A well deserved luxury after a hard day’s work. Slowly, he opened the letter from his wife.
“Ouch!” Rajoo squealed as his hammer fell from his hand and hit his left foot. His working boot was old and worn-out, providing little protection from the impact of the fallen hammer. Rajoo cursed himself for falling asleep. He also cursed the truck for startling him. Packing up his tools, he followed the others out of the almost-finished house, and limped towards the truck.
Rajoo lit a cigarette as the truck pulled out onto the road. He could feel the wind against his face, as he sat cramped at the back of the truck with the other workers.
“Hey! Spare me a cigarette!” Siva nudged him.
“Get your own!”
“Spare me a puff!” Siva pleaded.
“No!” Rajoo refused.
Siva’s face fell. Rajoo felt a little sorry for him. He decided to show Siva a little charity. When he exhaled the next time, he made sure to blow the smoke at Siva’s face. Siva closed his eyes, inhaling the smoke Rajoo had exhaled hungrily.
Pathetic! Rajoo thought. His friend was a fool. He would not spend a cent of what he earned. The fool sent his whole paycheck back to Bangladesh – to his wife and ten kids. Not Rajoo! He spent a large part of his pay on cigarettes and drinks. He felt pretty sacrificial for sending anything back at all to his wife and kids in Bangladesh. Anyway, his wife had a job and unlike Siva, he was not such a fool as to have ten kids. He had only five.
The truck finally reached the apartments where the workers lodged. Rajoo shared a two-bedroom apartment with five other guys, including Siva.
“Mail for you, Rajoo!”
Siva passed him a letter from Bangladesh. Rajoo’s wife was a good correspondent. She wrote regularly, updating him about all that was happening in Bangladesh. In almost every letter, she asked him to come home. Rajoo wrote whenever he felt he had not written in a long time. Whenever he did, he assured his wife he would come home once he had made his fortune. He chucked the letter, unopened onto his mattress. He wanted to get into the shower before the other guys.
Rajoo got out of the shower, with just a towel wrapped around his waist. With the smell of soap clinging to his freshly washed body, he felt stifled by the smell of sweat in the room. Siva was sitting on his mattress. When he saw Rajoo, he quickly hid something under his mattress, as if afraid Rajoo would see it. Pathetic fool! Rajoo thought as he sat down on his mattress, which was next to Siva’s. The workers slept on thin, old mattresses, which probably had been used by numerous “pioneers” before them. Brown stains covered all the mattresses. Rajoo unlocked his suitcase which he kept at the head of his mattress, and took out a bottle of beer. This was his favorite part of the day. He took a sip of the beer. Heavenly! A well deserved luxury after a hard day’s work. Slowly, he opened the letter from his wife.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tragedy in a Foreign Land (1)
"Pass me the hammer! Hey! I say, pass me THAT hammer!"
Rajoo awoke from his day-dream with a start! Irritated and yawning widely, he bent down slowly, picked up the hammer at his feet, shuffled over to Siva, who was working at the other part of the house, and handed him the hammer. Dragging his feet, Rajoo turned back to continue the work where he had left off, before he lost himself in his day-dream.
He was about to lift his hammer to drive in a nail when he got distracted by an ant crawling up his shirt. He watched it make its way slowly from the bottom-last to the top-most button of his shirt. Then, he reached out his hand and squeezed it dead between his thumb and finger. He held his thumb and finger slightly apart to check if the ant was dead. He watched its mutilated lifeless body just long enough to be satisfied that it was not moving. Ha! The foolish creature thought it was going to make it! Feeling pleased with himself, Rajoo wiped the dead ant onto his pants and took up his hammer again.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!" The monotonous knocking sounded like a lullaby to Rajoo. He looked around at the other guys busy at work. With these guys working so hard, there was no fear the house could not be finished on time. His boss would have no excuse delaying payment for his hard labor then. With that happy thought, Rajoo decided it was time for an 'energy-booster’.
He walked behind one of the pillars and lit a cigarette. Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, he felt proud of himself. He was certainly one who knew hard labor. After the puff, he felt rejuvenated. He definitely deserved that little break. This was hard work. He walked back to his spot and picked up his hammer and a nail. He could feel the heat of the sun on his back.
“Knock! Knock! Knock!” The other guys were still hard at work. When Rajoo caught sight of the big heap of nails on the floor, what little amount of energy he had gained from the smoke vanished. Then a thought hit him! Why not spread the nails further apart when he hammered them in, so that he would have less hammering to do? Cheered up, Rajoo took up his hammer again. Before his hammer reached the nail, his eyes caught sight of a trail of ants making its way along one of the ledges. His eyes followed the ants.
Rajoo awoke from his day-dream with a start! Irritated and yawning widely, he bent down slowly, picked up the hammer at his feet, shuffled over to Siva, who was working at the other part of the house, and handed him the hammer. Dragging his feet, Rajoo turned back to continue the work where he had left off, before he lost himself in his day-dream.
He was about to lift his hammer to drive in a nail when he got distracted by an ant crawling up his shirt. He watched it make its way slowly from the bottom-last to the top-most button of his shirt. Then, he reached out his hand and squeezed it dead between his thumb and finger. He held his thumb and finger slightly apart to check if the ant was dead. He watched its mutilated lifeless body just long enough to be satisfied that it was not moving. Ha! The foolish creature thought it was going to make it! Feeling pleased with himself, Rajoo wiped the dead ant onto his pants and took up his hammer again.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!" The monotonous knocking sounded like a lullaby to Rajoo. He looked around at the other guys busy at work. With these guys working so hard, there was no fear the house could not be finished on time. His boss would have no excuse delaying payment for his hard labor then. With that happy thought, Rajoo decided it was time for an 'energy-booster’.
He walked behind one of the pillars and lit a cigarette. Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, he felt proud of himself. He was certainly one who knew hard labor. After the puff, he felt rejuvenated. He definitely deserved that little break. This was hard work. He walked back to his spot and picked up his hammer and a nail. He could feel the heat of the sun on his back.
“Knock! Knock! Knock!” The other guys were still hard at work. When Rajoo caught sight of the big heap of nails on the floor, what little amount of energy he had gained from the smoke vanished. Then a thought hit him! Why not spread the nails further apart when he hammered them in, so that he would have less hammering to do? Cheered up, Rajoo took up his hammer again. Before his hammer reached the nail, his eyes caught sight of a trail of ants making its way along one of the ledges. His eyes followed the ants.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)