A Coin Says... II

-->

From the State Treasury I was sent for public circulation. My first owner was a wealthy trader who, as far as I can recollect, felt no good getting a brand new coin. Quite obvious, he was after all an established businessman dealing with large transactions. So he put me along with his other cash and back home, gave me to his wife. Even she gave no cordial response which I much awaited for. The lady, fat and plump, took me to the market the next day. There she quarreled with a shopkeeper over the price of a commodity. She demanded a price which the shopkeeper wouldn’t agree for. He wanted six rupees more from the lady. Both of them seemed adamant for some time. A little later, the woman got sick of the phenomenon and hastily took me out of a tiny pouch inside her purse along with a one rupee coin which was, though newer, not as shining as me. We were handed in absolute disgust to the shopkeeper. The next sensation I felt was that he pulled a drawer and threw us among a pile of already ‘thrown’ coins amidst abusing the lady. I must admit it ached my back to have been thrown this rashly. I looked around and saw the other coin that arrived with me. It was muttering ‘the lady never showed contempt to the shopkeeper. She did us all the harm’.

That night, before the closing of the shop, the shopkeeper counted his profits and while doing it saw me for the first time. But being too busy with his work, he hardly must have realized his intemperate rage of the morning. After counting he put me back at my place. The next morning, barely after an hour of opening of the shop, a kid came to buy some groceries. Post transaction, the shopkeeper had to return eight rupees to the kid and so out came I, from the drawer along with another two coins. The kid happily handed us, put us in his shirt pocket and started to leave. Back home, he gave the articles to his mother and removed my friends from his pocket and thrust them in his mother’s palms. I waited for my turn but he didn’t bring me out! Slowly and stealthily he crept forward, trying to avoid being caught but the very next moment his mother called him.

He turned back and started walking towards his mother. Poor boy, he has no guilt I said to myself. His mother stood stern as he approached her. Then the woman spoke ‘dear, what class are you in now?’. The kid trembled for a moment and then said ‘fourth’. ‘So haven’t you been taught yet that stealing is a vice? The invoice says Rupees one hundred forty two and you returned me three rupees’. Without any hesitation he took me out and handed her and walked away. She must have felt sorry for reprimanding such a sweet boy. Then her eyes fell on me and she at once knew why he dared do the thing. I stood still while her hands trembled close to her fat belly. A moment later a drop of tear came down her cheeks & landed on top of me. I felt a deep attack. The little drop shone bright over my shiny surface and there was a tiny reflection of her face in it -which I admit- was the most affectionate face in the world.

That night she tiptoed quietly to her son’s bedroom and headed towards her shelf. There she found his little piggy bank standing at a corner. She stealthily slid me into it and then she must have left the room. Now, I was imprisoned! I got myself in a dark chamber which was filled by many of my counterparts. They were busy chatting among themselves so my arrival must have gone unnoticed. Nevertheless I had managed a new home for me, though I never wanted one. Early next morning, I heard voices from outside. I looked up. There was a tiny slit in the roof from which a faint streak of light entered inside and why, all of us had entered inside from the very one. Then suddenly there was tapping from outside. Barely had I managed to stay upright when I heard someone saying ‘Bye piggy. I am going to school. I wanted to give you a new fiver coin but… sorry. Why is mum sometimes so dodgy? I never intended to spend it’. Then I heard footsteps which gradually became fainter and then… silence was everything. The boy was gone. I felt a huge desire in me to stop him and say that he has got a wonderful mother but I couldn’t. 

I wished I could be human.

***********************************************************************************************************

‘Hey! There’s an earthquake. God save us!’. I opened my eyes from a deep slumber. Indeed our home was shaking like anything. There was panic all around. A fifty paise coin had already started chanting hymns and saying ‘God! Send me back to Mexico. I don’t want to stay here’. Then voices perceived our senses. ‘How much do you think have you saved all these years? Will this be enough?’ asked someone. The tone was feminine. Then a boy spoke ‘I think I have saved enough. It’s been eight years since I was gifted this and I had started saving right then. Let’s open it. Hope for a jackpot!’. There was a loud thud as if the heavens had come crashing down on us. Then all of a sudden we were exposed to bright light. I couldn’t see for a while. Then as I opened my eyes slowly, I was shocked. We had been opened and it was the same kid. He was much bigger now, tall and handsome. Beside him stood a girl, much like him, of younger age and anyone could guess she was his sister. Soon they started counting us. Suddenly she remarked ‘you had this when you were in your fourth standard. Right now I am in my fourth standard. But I have no piggy bank, not a single one!’. His bother smiled and said ‘okay. On your coming birthday. That’s my word.’

Reality struck me. It has been eight years since the day I was put inside –after that emotional encounter between a mother and her son. And then here is a girl. So the woman was expectant at that time. Just then I was picked up by the girl. ‘Nine hundred and thirty… five. Wow! It’s a shiny coin’. The boy looked at me and said ‘I had a great craze for such coins when I was of your age. But mum never allowed me to have them without asking’. ‘Exactly. That would have meant stealing. Had you rather expressed your desire, she would have herself dropped a coin or two for you!’. Aha! I exclaimed, thinking of that wonderful day and this conversation so many years later. Finally, the truth unveiled itself in a different fashion and by a small girl, who had, eight years back, experienced the melancholy of her mother from inside the womb… ‘Okay, okay. Let us not waste any more time. We will buy that beautiful portrait and a saree and then present her early tomorrow morning’ said the boy. ‘Done. The first Mother’s day we are celebrating. She will be so happy!’ said the cute, cherub girl. So, this was the entire scenario. I couldn’t help admiring God. The greatness of the mother was finally being rewarded, handsomely. God has His own ways of rewarding His children. 

A mother relives herself through her daughter.

So, all set and done, I was handed over to the gift shop owner. Finally, I was back into business. I felt the outside air, the sun, the people around, the vehicles and everything quite refreshing. After so many years of being held captive, I was a free bird once again. Again, I shall be exchanging hands, visiting new people and new places. The shopkeeper paid a small glance at me. I was still shining and sparkling. I was so much happy thinking about my freedom that I didn’t realize when I was put into the drawer. Again, I was surrounded by new coins, each with different experiences. I don’t know, for reasons that were unknown, I had forgotten what sadness meant. I was full of energy now and nothing seemed bothering. But little did I know then, that the real happiness was only hours away…

When the shopkeeper was on his way home late that evening, he stopped at a betel shop and ordered a cigarette. We parted ways that very moment and I was thrusted into a dirty hand smelling strongly of betel and catechu. He quickly threw me into a drawer, which I had become so familiar with, now. There was no shiny coin inside and this ameliorated my feelings. I started to look around. The place was dusty and dingy. I was surrounded by dark looking coins & half-soiled currency notes. I didn’t want to be here for long. It was so suffocating. I had just started of dreaming a better owner when somebody started moaning. ‘Oh God! Its paining all over. What has come over me! All my expectations are gone and here I am, lying in dirt and filth. What if this place isn’t muddy and soaked, I am all screwed’. I turned to look at it. It was a fiver coin, quite dark and gave me the feeling that it had been terribly tampered with. It had lost all its shine and gloss and had become a mere piece of currency with no self-identity.

I approached it and said ‘hello. Don’t mind but what has happened to you? Why are you so dejected?’. The coin turned to me. ‘I came to this country eight years back. I was minted in Russia and as a commemorative one. You understand what does it mean?’. I simply nodded. ‘So I reached this country as a very special coin. I expected that there would be somebody who will take me as a prized possession and keep me protected and comfortable. But alas! I started off with a bank manager who, without having the slightest pity, gave me to a butcher the very next day. He kept me for some time thinking of me as a good omen. But he gave me no special attention. I saw the slaughter of animals everyday and blood-stained coins befriended me every other day. There was no comfort and no joy at all. Then one day, there were terrible rains and strong winds. The box, my home, toppled over and opened up. I lost my balance and rolled down. My owner reacted immediately and put all the money inside but he couldn’t notice me. I had already found my way into dust and rain water’.

The coin continued ‘Since then, I have been a refuge to the soil underneath. Sometimes I am kicked by a lad and yet some other times rain carries me to places unknown yet bearing the same soil. I was never picked up by anyone. Mud and dirt took away my shine and settled in my grooves. Then one day I got stuck near the roots of a tree and never got a chance to free myself. The soil was tough near the roots and so, no rain or wind could release me from its clutches. I stayed there for what appeared to be ages. And then only yesterday, some kids found me while searching their lost ball. Their happiness lay only in the sense of their discovery. They hardly turned to check the imprint at my back. And very soon, they parted off with me at this shop to eat and make merry. And I have now reached this goddamn place. If only I had known I had to endure all this!’.

My eyes gleamed. I got reminiscences of long past when I had come to this country, my own country. I had met a similar coin who had said high about itself. A voice inside me roared and I couldn’t stop asking ‘would you mind if I ask you what imprint you have at your back?’. The coin said ‘I bear the face of Mahatma Gandhi. I am the finest coin minted at Moscow till date. But look at my destiny!’. I learnt everything. It was the same coin I had seen as a fellow mate in my journey from Russia. He was still the same proud one even though he had nothing now. I had already started feeling happy. Just then, the drawer was pulled outside. The shopkeeper looked at every one of us for a quick second. Then his eyes met mine. He picked me out to hand over to someone. But suddenly he stopped. Another quick second and then he pulled the drawer out again, put me inside and drew the proud coin out instead and said ‘here you are sir. Your change’. I smiled looking at my owner from the slit of the drawer. I was happy. It was my day after all.

He laughs best that laughs last.