The Cup of Woes: Part 3

This is the last of the 3 part story. You can refresh your memory with Part 1 and Part 2

He sat there, rolling the pearls in his palms. He could not come to terms with the reality of it. He had never believed in supernatural things. He used to laugh away all those stories about ghosts, miracles, etc., that seemed to have excited all his friends during his childhood. He always prided himself on being a sound and rational person. Until now, at least. Who had sent him the cup? If the pearls were indeed, real, why didn't the person who had sent him the cup keep it for himself? Is this a trick? Should he go to the police? What would he tell them - would anyone even believe him? No, he did not want to get dragged into any kind of investigation at the moment. He cannot let Swetha and the baby go through all the trouble. Should he just throw them away and forget the whole thing?

He looked at the clock. It was 4.30 in the morning. He felt very exhausted. Quietly, he placed the pearls in his bag and decided to worry about the whole thing later. He checked on the baby, kissed her gently and crawled into his bed. Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow, he would test the pearls.

--

"Are you sure?" asked Sri, trying not to sound too irritating.
"Yes sir. Of course, I am. This is one of the finest pearls I have ever seen. This one would fetch at least ten thousand rupees. I am willing to give twelve thousand for it."

He had been hoping to hear that the pearl was a fake. A tricky imitation. But no. It wasn't meant to be. He had taken one of the pearls to a pawn broker to get it examined and apparently, it was real and quite valuable. He felt miserable. He knew that his conscience would kill him if he sold the pearls and used the money. It just did not feel right.

"Thanks but I am not looking to sell it right now. I will come again, later."
"Okay sir. If you say so. But trust me, I offered you the best possible deal. No one else would give you such an amount."
"I appreciate it. I will definitely come to you when I do want to sell it."

Lost in his own thoughts, he exited the shop and started walking back to his home. As he walked, he saw an old lady down the street. Her clothes were torn and she seemed to be feeling quite cold. She wore a pair of broken glasses and had a stick to support her. There was a cloth on the road in front of her and there were several coins on it. As he got closer to her, he could see that she was saying something. He could not understand most of it but he thought she was narrating to an invisible audience, her story. People kept walking past her, ignoring her like they ignore hundreds of other beggars in the city. They can only donate so much. They are not gods, are they? They would help the beggars, if they had a lot of money, wouldn't they? They...

He raced back to the pawn shop.
"What sir? You did not get a better deal, did you?"
"Please take it and give me the money."
"Okay. Here it is. Remember sir, No one will give you a.."
"Yeah, right. Thanks."

Sri walked up to the old lady and quietly kneeled down beside her. She looked at him, seemingly happy that she found some one to listen to her story and started talking animatedly. He smiled at her gently, took out the money and placed it in her hands. The lady did not seem to understand what happened. She stopped smiling and started examining the money. She was engrossed in counting it when Sri got up quietly and left.

It felt good. Really good. And suddenly, it all seemed to fit in. How could he have missed it? He was "given" the cup. He was "chosen". This is what he needs to do. Whenever he is unhappy, he just needs to cry into the cup, take out the pearls and give them to the needy. And then he would feel happy about it. What a wonderful plan! Something good coming out of every misery! Unbelievable. And so simple. He smiled. And then laughed. Laughed hard. It has been a while since he laughed. And then he cried. Into the cup.

--

That was just the beginning. Srikar started to believe that he needed to, and could, change the world. Every time he saw someone in need, someone in poverty, someone who could use money, he would go home and try to remember Sudheer. And then he would cry.

"Please don't do this Sri! Don't do this to yourself!", Swetha kept begging him. She knew. He had told her. She cried. And then he did, looking at her. Into the cup.

Every night, before going to bed, he would go to his daughter's room. She would smile at him. How beautiful that smile was! All his pain would vanish. He knew he would do anything for her. For her smile.
 He would sit there for a while holding her tight, in his arms, and letting her innocence and warmth fill him with the strength to go on. "Anything", he would tell himself. "Anything for her".

It was not easy. He was human, after all. As time passed by, he found it impossible to cry by thinking about Sudheer. He needed something more fresh. More painful at the moment. He would read about every tragic news that he came across, watch every sad movie he could and them imagine himself in the situation and feel the pain. How could he not? He knew very well how it felt to lose someone very close. And if he could convert that pain into something useful for someone so that they wouldn't have to go through it, how could he not try? He never gave up. He tried. He tried hard. And cried.

--

3 years passed by. Srikar could not cry anymore. In fact, he felt no emotion at all. He would stare blankly at the cup all day long. He was just a machine now. The only sign of any remaining emotion he would ever show was seen when he was with his daughter. He would smile. Just a slight smile. That's all. He would hold her, listen to her chattering and just smile. Swetha just had to come to terms with it - the cup had cost him her husband.

--

"What! But she is just a kid".
"Calm down Swetha. This is a 1-in-a-million case. I am very sorry but she has to undergo surgery immediately."
"Is it very expensive, doctor?"
"It will cost you fifty lakhs, at the least."

Swetha could not believe it. Why them? After all Srikar had done for the people around him, after all they had been through, was this the way god chose to "bless" them? Is a chronic heart problem for their beloved daughter a reward for losing the happiness in their lives to help the people around him?

--

She could not take the pain of the irony. She went home and sat beside Srikar. He did not look at her. She told him about their daughter's problem. She waited for him to react. Somewhere down her heart, she hoped that he would cry. For the first time, she wanted him to cry. To save their daughter. But he did not seem to comprehend the seriousness, the pain, the desperation in her voice. He just kept staring at the cup which was lying on the table in front of him. She sighed, kissed him and left. She would have to find another way to arrange the money.

3 days passed by and she could only arrange about one-tenth of what was needed. Srikar, stopped smiling. Not even when he was with his daughter. So he knows, she thought. May be there is a way.

That night, she slipped the letter she had written into his hand, kissed him on the forehead and went away. For good. From this world.

Srikar woke up, the next morning to find the letter in his hands.

"I am going to see the God, Sri. To understand his wicked sense of humor. I know you love me and our daughter more than anything else in the world. This was the only way I could think of.

Save her Sri. I love you."

Sri stared at those words for a long time. And then he wept. He wailed. And howled in pain.

--

"How is she, doctor?"
"She is doing good. She is out of danger now. You may go in and see her."

Two days later, Sri walked back into his home with his daughter in his arms. He went in, tucked his daughter in her bed, and went to his room. The room felt very empty without Swetha. Slowly, he opened his closet and retrieved the cup. The cup of woes. It looked exactly the same. He thought about the day he received the cup - when he first held it in his hands in the coffee shop and dismissed it as a prank. A joke, he had thought. A joke that cost him his wife. And his life.

He turned around and smashed the cup against the wall. It broke, streaming the room with shards of ceramic. He did not look at them. Calmly, he walked to his daughter's room. He picked her up, collected the bags he had packed earlier and left the house without glancing back.

The Cup of Woes: Part 2

After much thought and dilemma, here is the second part of the story. Earlier, I had planned to end it in 2 parts. But as it turned out, I could not help dragging it into the third. The first part can be read here.

His mobile rang loudly, bringing him back to this world. He had been thinking about his future while idly turning the cup in his hands. About his daughter and his wife and all the wonderful things that they would do together. He picked up the mobile. It was from Sudheer. It has been half an hour already and he had finished two rounds of examining the cup drowning 2 large mugs of coffee in the process.

"Where the hell are you, Sudh..."

"Hello?"

"Hello? Is that you Sudheer?"

"Am I speaking to Mr. Srikar?"

"Yes. Who are you? Where is Sudheer?"

"Sir, I am inspector Ramesh. Your friend had an accident. We took him to a hospital but he was declared dead upon reaching there. I am very sorry. I found your number in his mobile. It was near..."

The world around Sri seemed to be spinning. This had to be a bad dream. How could this happen to him? An hour ago, he thought he was the happiest man on the earth. Surely this has to be a bad joke. Like the cup. He sank back into the couch and stared absently at the window. He never felt so helpless, miserable and desperate in his life. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He did not know how long he sat there. After what seemed to be a really long time, he got up, put his things in his bag and walked out of the cafe, all blurring in the background. Unknown to him, a few tears had slipped silently and fell in the cup.

It has been 4 days since the accident. Probably the longest ones in his entire life. Swetha and the baby had come home that day giving him something to feel cheerful about. He went to his daughter's room where she lay in her craddle, oblivious to his misery. She looked at him, with her big brown eyes filled with wonder. Being with her calmed him a little and he couldn't help smiling. Suddenly, he remembered the frock he had bought for her and went to get it. He had not opened the bag ever since he came home that night and had totally forgotten about it. He opened the bag and fished out the frock when he noticed a faint sound. Like coins in a piggy bank. It seemed to be coming from his bag and he emptied all its contents on the table. Out came the cup and 3 white pearls.

He could not believe what he saw. He must be missing something. He definitely did not put the pearls in his bag. Swetha came home just that day. His house has been pretty much locked for the past 4 days as he was at Sudheer's place all the time. This left him with only one possible conclusion. He did not want to believe it but the pearls seemed to have come from the cup. The cup of woes.

"Sri?", called Swetha entering the room where Sri was standing rooted, still unable to comprehend what he had just concluded. Should he tell Swetha about the cup? No. Not yet. At least, not until he was sure.

"Are you okay, Sri? You look pale."

"Yeah. I am fine. I came in to get this frock. I had bought it for the baby."

"Its beautiful. Come, I want to see her in it."

They dressed their little daughter in the frock and stood back and took a long look at her. She looked like an angel. Swetha slipped her hand into Sri's. They stood there for a while holding each other and letting the weariness they had experienced over the past few days drain a little. Sri's mind, however, would not stop thinking about the cup. He had to make sure. He would test it. Tonight, he thought.

That night, after Swetha had slept, he slipped out of his bed quietly. He fetched the cup and put it on the table in the drawing room and sat on the couch facing it. How was he going to test it? Apparently, he needs to cry.  He thought of Sudheer and all the good times they had shared. He thought of their childhood, of the days they had spent flying kites on his terrace, of the days when they skipped school and watched movies, of the days nights they had spent together studying, of the day when they went on their first double date, of the enthusiasm and delight in his voice the day he told him about the baby. Before he knew, tears trickled down his face. He missed Sudheer. His absence pained him a lot. Slowly, he became aware of his surroundings and his eyes fell on the cup. He leaned forward, closed his eyes and let the tears fall in the cup. He heard the dull thud of his tears meeting the ceramic. He was scared to open his eyes. He felt foolish for even trying this out. After a long time he wiped the remaining tears off his face, composed himself and slowly opened his eyes.

In the cup, he saw a handful of shining white pearls.

[To be continued..]

Update: Part 3 can be found here

The Cup of Woes: Part 1

This is the first part of a three part story. All the characters in the story are of course, imaginary and practical resemblance to anyone is not a possibility :)


"Its a girl, sir. She is beautiful. You should be a proud man", the nurse said to him.
"Thank you, Sophie. Thanks a ton!", he replied, walking towards Swetha's ward. She was asleep with a look of content on her face. He walked towards the small cradle beside her bed. There she was, neatly wrapped in a clean white towel. She was beautiful, indeed. Just like her mother. He slipped his little finger into her tiny little hand. She stirred a little, holding the finger tight. Standing there with his daughter's hand wrapped around his finger, he realized how happy he was. He closed his eyes and let the feeling sink in.


"Yes Sudheer, its a girl", he whispered into his mobile, walking out of the ward.
"Oh my god, Congrats Sri! I am so happy for you guys. I am coming right away", came the reply from the other end.
"Thanks yaar. Yes, I will wait at the coffee place down the road. Don't be late"
"I won't. See you soon."


Srikar or Sri, as he was called by people close to him, was the closest thing to what we would call "a happy man". At least, that was what he thought. He had a decent job as an accountant in a bank, a beautiful wife who loved him and whom he loved of course and now, a little angel for a daughter. He thanked god for all of it and thought he did not need anything else in life. He wondered if he deserved all this happiness. 


After updating his parents and in-laws, he exited the hospital after leaving a small note telling Swetha that he would be back in an hour, in case she woke up. He started walking down the street towards the coffee place where he was supposed to meet Sudheer. Sudheer was his best friend for as long as he could remember. They grew up together, went to the same school, studied in the same college and now work in the same bank. In fact, he was the one who introduced Swetha to him. Bless him.


He was passing by a small garment shop when something caught his eye. It was a small frock. A bright yellow frock with white satin ribbons on it. It was the prettiest thing he ever saw and could not take his eyes off it. It would be beautiful on his daughter. He walked into the shop and checked the price. 500 rupees. Damn! He did not have much cash on him and the shop would not take cards. The bank where he worked was just a block away and it had an ATM. He hurried towards it. He withdrew the cash and was about to head back towards the shop when Ali, the mail guy called him.


"What is it, Ali?"
"Srikar saab, you have a package"
"A package? Who is it from?"
"I don't know. It was left at the front desk with your name on it. I guess someone must have left it when I was in the bathroom"
"Okay. I will take it. By the way, it's a girl, Ali"
"Inshahllah! Congrats Srikar saab. I will come after my shift to see her"
"Thanks Ali", said Srikar taking the package and walking towards the shop.


He picked up the frock and reached the coffee place. Sudheer was not there yet. He sat at a corner table, waiting. He ran his fingers on the frock he had bought, feeling its softness and imagined his daughter in it. He smiled to himself, content. He then remembered about the package and fished it out from the cover. It was a small box wrapped in a thick brown paper. No name or address on it too. He opened it to find a small cup and a note in it. 


He picked up the cup. It was unlike any cup he had ever seen. It was clean and white. It did not have a handle and a single silver line ran around it near the brim. It felt light and delicate in his hands. Keeping it on the table, he picked up the note wondering who would give him such a weird gift.

"In your hands is the cup of woes 

It shall turn your tears to pearls

Pass it on if you are happy enough

Break it if there is no place you can think of"

He looked for a sign or a name on the note but he could find none. He let out a small muffled laugh. It must be a joke. A prank by one of his friends. The cup of woes, what a fancy name! He held up the cup and turned it round in his hands. It glinted at the brim catching a ray of sunlight from the window. It was certainly pretty and intriguing and for a moment, he almost felt that there was something really magical about it. Whoever had done this to him, did a good job with the selection. He put it back in its cover, ordered a coffee and sat back, waiting for Sudheer. 


He did not know that his life was going to change for ever.


[To be continued..]

Update: Part 2 can be found here