English Literature – Stories – ☆ In the world of Elders Part – 2 ☆ Mrs. Rajni Mishra ☆

She spent a whole week in this confusion. So far, Pari has not been able to think of anything new. Today is Saturday. They are all going out to visit the Royal Ontario Museum. Here, everything looked magnificent. There were big statues, set beautifully in glass boxes. But instead of the beautiful, unique items there, it was the guide who caught Pari’s attention. She was explaining the history of things in a sweet voice, and everyone was listening attentively. Her clothes were also very elegant: black skirt, black blazer, red scarf, and a nametag around her neck. A new idea came to mind! She could do the job of a guide by wearing high-heeled shoes and a name tag around her neck.

Back home, she had to share everything she had done in the day to her other grandmother Nani on FaceTime. This was a good chance for her. She put on Mom’s blazer and high heels, and made a name tag. She took a piece of paper, wrote PARI in capital letters, and hung it around her neck with the help of a woollen string. When she was all ready, she called Nani. She started telling her everything that she had seen, exactly like the guide. She also informed her about her decision to become a guide when she grew up. Nani laughed and said, “Wow! Pari, very nice. My little one wants to do this kind of work. Child, why would you become a guide? Your Nani is a professor. If you want to do something like this, be a professor. You’ll make lots of money.”

Pari was hoping that Nani would understand her feelings, as she loves her very much. How can she make Nani realise that she doesn’t know anything about what a professor does? Do children like them or not? How can she imagine doing something she does not know anything about? Her interest in doing a real job was turning into a riddle with no answer.

Suddenly, her eyes fell on her water colours and crayons, and it clicked in her mind that painting is her hobby. She loves painting. Why didn’t she think of that earlier? How foolish she is! Better late than never. Now she had something which would be liked by everyone. Once her parents had taken her and Chotu to the Art Gallery of Ontario. There was an exhibition of huge paintings there. They had shown her many of these paintings, and had said, “Look, Pari, the wonder of colours! How an artist’s hard work breathes life into the different colours so beautifully! The art of painting is an extraordinary blending of imagination and colour.”

Finally, she had found a new job. Nobody will object to this.

She made many pictures, one after another, and told her parents, “This is my final decision. I will become an artist.”

First, Mom and Dad looked at each other, and then they looked at Pari. She was staring at them. She couldn’t tell whether they were speaking together or separately. But the words were reaching her ears: “You’re already an artist, child. We like this work of yours. But your main job, your full-time work, should be something else; keep art for your spare time. This can be a hobby, or a part-time thing, but not your full-time job. Full-time artists starve.”

Full-time, part-time, spare time – all this was beyond her understanding. And what it meant to starve, she had no idea. Until now, they had praised those huge paintings; today their tone had changed.

Pari is very sad now. She had really tried hard, to choose her work. These elders talk about very big things. They don’t understand that she can dream of doing, only what she has seen and what she likes. How can she do something which she hasn’t seen and doesn’t like? They reject all her favourite jobs.

Now Pari has stopped thinking about growing up. She is good just as she is, and she is looking for her baby teeth, so she can stick them back in her mouth.  

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Hindi Short fiction – बड़ों की दुनिया में  by – Dr. Hansa Deep

Translated by – Mrs. Rajni Mishra

© Mrs. Rajni Mishra