My Son's Last Letter

 

Dr. Geetha Raman, with her twenty-two years of service as a doctor, would have had enough experience to maintain her composure in a situation like this, but as a mother, Geetha’s hands trembled when she collected her son’s belongings from the nurse. Along with the things she knew were very much part of Amit’s possessions, was a neatly folded sheet of paper, which the nurse said, she had obtained from his pockets.

I am not a good mother was the first thought that filled Geetha’s mind, when she opened the letter her son had written.

I can hardly read this. I hardly understand my son’s own words.

Tears started welling her eyes when Geetha perceived that this probably would be the last chance she would get to behold her son’s writing. Though with difficulty, the mother realized that she had to read the letter. She wanted to know what her son had wanted her to know.

 

Dear Mom,

 

If all goes well, this might very well be the last letter I will ever trouble you with. And to honor my last writing, I have chosen the typewriter you had gifted me on my thirteenth birthday. I know, reading this letter itself is difficult for you, Mom, but as always, I leave you with no other option. You will have to read this, but this time, there is something I can assure you of. This is going to be the last time that you will have to suffer my writing.

 

Mom, I hope you know by now that I have never been a happy child. I know it’s no one’s fault, but just imagine Mom; it has never been easy for me. The things you did, big or small, which you thought would light up my world, have in fact, always left me in gloom. Take for instance; when other parents gifted their children with smart phones and laptops on their birthdays, you gifted me with this typewriter. In spite of Ammu being my twin sister, it was a Kindle that you had in store for her, when I had to be happy with this odd typewriter. I mean, it’s not fair, Mom. Life has never been fair to me. I know I have never told you of any of this, but how could I, when I know that I have let you all down all your life. There was never a time that I had appreciated the good things that you and Dad had done for me. I have always kept all my insecurities to myself and lamented over all the things that I never had, when I should have thanked you for all the brunt you had borne by raising someone like me.

 

I know I am making things worse for you by making you read all this at this point of time, but trust me Mom, this is the last time that you will have to bear me with my imperfections. By the time you read this, I hope I will be in a very different world; a world I had wanted to go to for so long; a world where I will be bereft of all my sorrows.

 

Your dear son,

Amit.

 

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“I don’t want to read this anymore, Arjun,” moaned Nima. ”This is so very depressing.”

“Oh Nima. Then what will you say once you read the whole story?” Rahul chipped in. “I think you will die of grief.”

“Arjun, you said this would be the first time anyone else would be reading your new story,” Shwetha wanted to know. “Then how come Rahul knows about it?”

“Common sense, Shwetha,” answered Rahul. “I think I know how the story would end.”

“Guys, I have an idea,” Akshay couldn’t hold his excitement. “Why don’t we come up with our own versions of Arjun’s story? It will be so much fun. And finally, we will find out who connected with Arjun’s thoughts the best. What do you say, Arjun?”

Well. What do I say? Except that this was…unexpected? thought Arjun. This was not the first time that Arjun had discussed his story with the greatest critics he could ever think of having- his friends. If Rahul and Shwetha were interested in adventures and thrillers, comedy was what Akshay craved for. Nima had taste for love stories, sentiments and all things that sparked positivity. What exactly Navin, the mystery man liked, Arjun was yet to find out. But there was one thing that they were all good at. Each of them had some valuable feedback or the other to offer to Arjun before he published his stories on his blog. But this was the first time that they were trying to come up with a story of their own. Is Akshay really serious?

“Hey Arjun, don’t you like my idea?” repeated Akshay.

“I think that’s cool, Akshay,” encouraged Arjun. “We will start with Rahul first, then. Is that fine?”

“Yes,” agreed Nima. “Come on Rahul. Tell us your vision of Arjun’s story.”

“So, from what we have seen so far, this guy, Amit, has attempted suicide,” Rahul began. “Maybe he was brought to the hospital half alive or was brought in dead. But his mother is yet to find that out. She waits in the hospital when the nurse hands her his belongings and there she gets this letter which she reads and finds out to her dismay, what a terrible life her son had led. All of us agree up to this point, don’t we?”

“Yes,” agreed the others.

“Another point you all will have to agree is that, he is dead by now,” Rahul continued.

“How can you be so sure?” Akshay wanted to know.

“Have you seen the title of the story? I am sure Arjun wanted to make a point there” explained Rahul. “’My son’s last letter’, so obviously, he will have to be dead by the time the story ends. Don’t you agree?”

“Maybe,” said Nima. “You still haven’t told your story.”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t have a story as such,” confessed Rahul. “But maybe I can improvise. I think from how the story has been conceived so far, it’s going to be a very sad one. So anything can happen. One way to bring about a lot of melodrama is to kill the mother also. For instance, maybe, the mother reads the letter and by the time she finishes the letter she gets a cardiac arrest and she dies. Or if you want me to add a bit more drama, I will make the mother die, of course. But the son who was admitted to the hospital gets revived only to find out that his mother has expired. In short, the mother dies, but the boy lives only to end up in a mental hospital, after he holds himself responsible for his mother’s death. Ta Da.”

“No one can create more depressing stories,” cried Nima. “Can someone come up with something light?”

“OK. Let me try,” replied Akshay. “The mother reads the letter and believes that her son has attempted suicide. That’s when she gets a message on her mobile phone asking her to come to some place if she wants to find more about his son. She is washed with anxiety and she sets out to this place, but going there she finds out that..”

“She finds out that…?” repeated Shwetha.

“..it was all a prank. Ha ha ha,” laughed Akshay. “It was a surprise birthday party that Amit and Ammu had thrown for their mother. Isn’t that something the readers would love?

“You are insane, Akhay,” groaned Nima. “Who would want to trick their mother by making her believe that her son is dead? People would definitely think that you are mad.”

“But you guys wanted a lighter story,” complained Akshay. “Or if you want, I can make it all into a dream. The mother just..ah yes, how about this? The mother just dreamt it all up. Now that’s a twist that you see there. Isn’t it?”

“Rahul, I am taking back my words,” called out Nima. “Your story was much much better. Shwetha, all my hope lies on your story. ”

“OK. Let me try,” smiled Shwetha. “I think I will go for a thriller. I may have to tweak a little here and there. Anyway, by the time she finishes the letter, the mother is convinced that those words were not her son’s. She sets out to find the truth behind the whole thing and eventually meets his friend, that can be his girlfriend, and after a lot of twists and turns, she finally manages to find her son’s real killer. What follows is how the mother avenges her son’s death. And that’s the highlight here. We have seen sons avenging fathers, husbands avenging wives, fathers avenging daughters, but we haven’t seen a mother avenging her son’s death. I may have to come up with strong motives to convince the readers, but this will be the very essence of my story.”

“Not bad, Shwetha”, complemented Rahul. “I never knew there was a hidden writer in you.”

“I think this is the best that I heard so far,” complimented Nima.

“Thanks guys,” beamed Shwetha. “Your turn, Nima.”

“OK. Let’s see,” started Nima. “For me, it was indeed a suicide attempt of Amit’s. His mother has read his letter and is distraught. But at the same time, she hasn’t lost all her hopes as Amit is still not dead and is currently under observation at the hospital and the doctors are doing all they can do to revive him. At this point, we move on to another space - Amit’s sub conscious mind. There, he encounters a divine presence. Maybe, it’s an angel in the form of a human. Or it can be God himself. Anyway, this divine presence talks to his sub conscious mind, makes him aware of his mistakes and shows him the terrible state his family might reach once he is gone. The angel makes him realize what a wonderful life he had had and gives him one last chance to start anew. So Amit comes back to life and leads a truly inspiring life. Umm, yeah. That’s it from me.”

“You do watch a lot of movies, don’t you Nima?” teased Akshay. “I could visualize a lot of movies in different languages getting squeezed into a single frame.”

“Akshay, after that horrible story of yours, you have no right to mock Nima,” challenged Shweta. “It was nice, Nima. I think you have brought in a lot of optimism.”

“But you missed one important link, Nima,” intervened Rahul. “The title. The title says it’s Amit’s last letter.”

“Ha ha. That’s true,” agreed Nima. “Maybe, I will have to go for a new title, then.”

“That’s fine, Nima”, consoled Rahul. “So, are we all done? Can we now..”

“Wait Rahul,” intervened Navin the Nerd, who until then was a silent listener. “I agree that I don’t talk much. But you just cannot deny me the opportunity to present my story.” 

“Sure Navin,” gaped Rahul. “The stage is all yours.”

“Unlike you guys, I will take the readers to a whole new level of entertainment,” said Navin. “I will be focusing on an area, few people have tried and even fewer have succeeded.”

“Navin, this is after all a story, why don’t you talk in a language we common people can understand?” wondered Nima aloud.

“All right. In simple terms, I will craft this story in the form of a science fiction,” clarified Navin. “So in my story, this young man Amit’s mother has read the letter. But instead of getting worried, she is elated because she finally got a chance to put her inventions to good use and thus save her son’s life. Little did she knew when she invented the time machine, that one day, she would use it to find out about one of the biggest mysteries involving her son - a suicide attempt that he would make, a few days after his thirteenth birthday. And a few years back when she had established a friendly connection with the extra terrestrial beings from a planet in Andromeda galaxy, she never anticipated that some day, she would have to ask them for a favor for her son.”

“What are trying to say, Navin?” asked Akshay with plain exasperation.

“Yes. Dr. Geetha was a scientist,” shrieked Navin. “Using the time machine that she had invented, she found out about Amit’s plan to commit suicide. Right after he finishes his letter, Amit attempts suicide. But then, the doctor intrudes and muddles up his plans. She forcefully takes him out into a secluded forest where her friends from Andromeda galaxy were waiting in a spaceship. She hands him over to them and asks them to keep him safe and return only when he is ready to start a new life in Earth. She comes back home to find her aged mother’s home nurse returning her son’s pouch which she found under the stairs along with a neatly folded letter which the nurse said she had found stuffed in the pouch pocket. And because it’s her son’s last letter in Earth, the title for the story has become ‘My son’s last letter’. Any questions?”

“No,” chorused the others, for fear of arguing with Navin on a topic which appeared too complicated for them to grasp.

“Umm..that was uhh..horrific, Navin,” managed Shweta. “Now, can we finally hear the original story, please? Arjun, you have been silent all the while. Why don’t you speak for a change?”

“Guys. You all are simply amazing,” said an awe-struck Arjun. “I mean, I don’t think I could have come up with a story in such a short span of time. I think each of you have the potential to be a writer. After all these versions you have given me, I don’t know whether you will like my interpretation. Anyway, let me go about it. You guys want to read the entire story line by line or do you want the long story short?”

“Long story short would be fine,” agreed the others.

“So, Dr. Geetha, with great difficulty, reads Amit’s letter. She then thinks of the good times that she had with her son. In short, I will take the reader through a small recap of the relationship between the mother and her son. She is woken from her little train of thoughts by Amit’s Dad, her husband. I think from this part, you can resume your reading. Here you go.”

 

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

 

“Geetha. It’s time,” said her husband. “Come. Let’s go.”

Geetha couldn’t remember how long she had waited in the hospital. When did the nurse give me that letter? Was it today or yesterday? She just couldn’t remember. And little did she mind to care. But now that the time has come, she just didn’t have another minute to waste.

By the time Geetha and her husband entered the room, Dr.Verma was giving Amit the instructions before opening his eyes. The doctor then asked him what he wanted to see for the very first time in his life.

“My parents,” replied Amit without a second thought.

“Now, Amit, get ready to experience the first ever vision of your life,” cheered Dr.Verma. “It will initially hurt your eyes when light falls on your cornea. So there is absolutely no need to hurry. And as I have already told you, don’t expect too many miracles. You will not have complete vision, but yes, you will not be totally blind like before. And..”

Yes ,my son, thought Geetha. You will not be completely blind anymore. Like you wished in your letter, that was the last time you had me troubling with your letters. From now on, you really wouldn’t have to depend on your Braille typewriter to write anything that you want to and we really wouldn’t have to buy you gifts that you don’t yearn for. I will no longer have the guilt of being a mother who finds it difficult to understand what her son has written. Yes, my darling angel; that was the very last letter you wrote with your Braille typewriter.     

“..So, Dr. Geetha,” Dr. Verma raised his voice as if to rouse Geetha from her thoughts. “You want to say something to your son before he starts a new life?”

“Welcome Amit,” the mother wept tears of joy. “Welcome to the world where you will be bereft of all your sorrows.”

“That’s a pretty cool welcome,” chuckled Dr.Verma. “Now, Amit, on the count of three, slowly, very slowly, open your eyes. Here we go. One. Two. Three. ”

 

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“Oh man,” gasped Akshay. “So that was not a suicide attempt? But what about the letter? It clearly said..”

“Said what?” enquired Arjun. “Akshay, why don’t you read the letter aloud for the sake of the rest of us?”

Akshay read aloud the letter that Amit wrote to his mother, going through each of the words with great care. After finishing the letter, he said, “Oh yes. We just assumed it to be a suicide note, when in reality, Amit was just lamenting over the difficulties that he had as a blind child.”

“But Arjun, for us, the whole story fell into place when we reread the letter,” said Rahul. “But will every reader take the time out to read the whole thing again?”

“No idea,” admitted Arjun. “I will find that out once I publish this story.”

                                              

                                                         *********THE END********