A woman of eighty found herself standing in front of a
mirror in her living room but the reflection on the mirror was odd. The woman looked like her, the plain saree was the
same, so were the lines and wrinkles on the face, the loose skin, the messy
thin greying hair but her posture was different, the lady in the mirror was
erect, she had an unusual glint in her grey eyes and she smirked at the lady
standing in front of the mirror who was lost in deep thought, she looked worried
and sad. She didn’t seem to be aware of her surroundings. Suddenly, the
reflection in the large ancient mirror spoke, “My dear” she said with a
peculiar smile “trying to solve a problem, are we?” The woman was startled,
“What on earth… What is…? Where am… Who are…” she gasped.
“Try again, we have all the time in the world” she said with
a giggle, “God knows, I am going nowhere unless you are going somewhere.”
The lady caught her breathe and with a lot of effort managed
to whisper the words, “Am I dead?”
“Dead?” said the reflection. “Sarita, use your imagination,
your reflection is talking to you. Does this look like heaven or hell?” She
continued not expecting an answer. “This is nothing but a reality check, my
lady.”
“So is this all in my head? Am I hallucinating?” Sarita
asked, now finding the strength to talk. “Have I gone mad?”
“No, you’ve not gone mad?”
“So, is this real?”
“No.”
“So what the hell is going on?”
“You ask way too many questions!”
“Final question. Why
am I here?”
“You have put yourself
in this position.”
“What do you mean? I didn’t mean for me to be hallucinating
or dreaming or whatever you want to call this. I was fine till a while ago. I
was in Ahmedabad in my beautiful house reading…” suddenly she looked worried.
“No that’s not it. A while ago I was…”
“You were crying at your daughter’s house in Mumbai” her
reflection finished the sentence for her. “You were regretting every single
decision you made since she had left the house. You were cursing your son and
were willing to kill him, you were screaming your lungs out, telling everyone
who would hear about your problems and yesterday while you were having a pity
party you fell on the sofa and slipped into a comma. So yes, you did this to
yourself, a series of your decisions have brought you here!”
“But how is it my fault that a son I trusted and raised
turned out to be an ungrateful piece of shit! I didn’t raise him to be this
mean, conniving, selfish man.”
“Oh! Don’t lie to yourself! You knew he was a cheat and
would always be one when he lied to you about giving Tina her share of the
property. And that wasn’t even the first sign. You never confronted him when he
stole money from your closet or when drugs were found in his drawers. You let
it pass and now here you are in a mess you have fashioned for yourself waiting
to die.”
“Don’t shout at me, I thought he will know better once he is
older!”
“And wasn’t it worth the wait.”
“And yes, I do want to die! I have lost everything I ever
cared about. My house, my books, my son, my grandchildren and my husband. I
miss him the most, I haven’t made love since twenty years! Twenty long years!
Even my wrists are numb with all the fingering! So, yes I think it’s time.”
“Oh! That is not why you want to die! Admit it, you are
running because of the mess you have created for yourself. The will. And woman
seriously get a dildo!”
“He made me sign the papers when I had my first heart
attack. I was scared.”
“You are always scared. That is the problem don’t you
realise it. You were scared to die then and you are scared to live now without
all the money.”
“It is not about the…”
Suddenly, Sarita could feel electricity running through her
body, her chest started burning and she felt like her body is going to crumble
down to the floor. She screamed with eyes tightly shut and when she opened them
she saw a fan but only for a moment.
“So you were saying” said a familiar voice. And she was back
in front of the mirror.
“I feel…”
“They shocked you but you didn’t wake up and let us not get sucked
in a long conversation about how you feel.”
“Fine!” She said glaring at the mirror. “I was saying I
should die! I deserve to die! Have I not suffered enough?”
“Your son was a monster you created for yourself and you
will have to deal with it. You were his creator and now he is your master.”
“Frankenstein?”
“Yes.”
“Anyway, I don’t want to deal with the monster. I lived with
the monster remember and all I want to do is die in peace. Mostly, because I
can’t take the peer pressure of going to the bloody temple again. It’s hot and
noisy! Poor God!”
“Stop trying to change the topic! You will die. You are old,
you are going to die eventually. But this is a chance for you to finally stand
up for yourself. Get him arrested and make sure he suffers. Don’t let the beast
have all the power.”
“Fine. I suppose you are right. I suppose I could teach that
arse of a man a lesson and die comfortably in Ahmedabad. But as soon as the
police get him I die!”
“It’s a deal! So are you ready to wake up?”
“Yes. Okay just wait.”
Five minutes pass.
“Anytime now” said the reflection.
“I suppose we could sit and chat because I really wanted to
know why I don’t like Dhokla because I am a Gujarati and since you are me with
clarity you could tell me.”
