(Short Story) Happiness in Small Things

 

(Short Story)
Happiness in Small Things
By Saran Rai

Every morning, when I inject insulin, I remember my late wife. The reason for remembering her is the insulin pen — the same pen she used for a year to take her insulin shots.
After her passing, I couldn’t throw that pen away; I kept it safely.

My wife had died of kidney failure caused by diabetes. I too have had diabetes for many years, so fearing that my kidneys might also fail, I began using the same pen she had used.

Old age—no matter how much effort you make—makes you start forgetting small things.
Yesterday, after taking insulin, I put the pen in the fridge without its cap.
This morning, while injecting, I noticed the cap was missing. I searched the whole room—no cap.

That pen, bought ten years ago for 1,200 rupees! Now I would have to buy another one.
Thinking I might find the cap somewhere, I went outside, intending to check the pile of garbage my daughter-in-law had swept and thrown away.

Right at the doorstep, I saw the cap lying there. While sweeping, my daughter-in-law must have thought it was just the cap of a useless pen and had thrown it out.

Instantly, happiness blossomed in my heart. It felt as though a lost life had returned.
Joy! Happiness!
How truly vast happiness can hide in such small and simple things!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Smiling Photograph in the Frame

Image
  The Smiling Photograph in the Frame Life passed in poverty and scarcity. The wish to eat good food, the desire to wear fine clothes, and the dream of traveling abroad were never fulfilled. In a way, life was lived wearing whatever others gave us. Whenever there was a wedding feast, I would suggest we go, but she never agreed. After skipping many weddings, I wondered, “Why does she refuse to go?” With my small teacher’s salary, to manage household expenses, I had to mortgage her jewelry. Many pieces of jewelry were lost forever because I could not pay back the interest on loans. Without ornaments, she could not go to weddings. Women there arrived adorned with jewelry, glowing with pride. Facing friends without ornaments would have been humiliating for her. So, she chose not to go. Yet, she never once complained, “You never bought me jewelry.” When Father told us to come to the Madhes with a camera for Grandfather’s eighty-fourth birthday, we couldn’t manage. In those days, the...
Read more

Hechakuppa

  Hechakuppa A Kirati Folktale Retold by: Saran Rai The orphan Hechakuppa was raised by his two elder sisters, Tayama and Khiyama. Seeing that they had no parents, a demoness named Chaklungdhima from Chaklungdhi devoured all the grain from their fields and granary, leaving them starving. To feed their younger brother, Tayama and Khiyama brought wild roots, tubers, and edible plants from the forest, such as khokli sakki (wild yam) and giththa bhyakur (a type of root). When Chaklungdhima discovered this, she sank the khokli sakki deep into the underworld and sprinkled poison ( khakpa ) on the giththa bhyakur , making it bitter and inedible. Then the sisters began feeding Hechakuppa the sap of wild fruits ( aiselu ), but he couldn’t survive on that alone. One day, the sisters placed a clay pot ( buchukuluk ) over the fire to cook food and went to the forest to find more. Hechakuppa waited eagerly, thinking the food was cooking. After a long wait, disappointed and weak with hun...
Read more

Address (In memory of Laxmi Rai …) and The Nine Some Hues

Image
  Address (In memory of Laxmi Rai …) The eternal love you gave birth to — I must cherish. The beautiful flowers and saplings of thoughts you planted — I must nurture. The loving “me” that you cared for and protected — I must continue to care for. Most difficult of all… I must console the heart that remembers you and weeps! You had adorned me with beautiful rainbow colors, You had lifted me to soar together in the sky of love. Still, you dwell in my heart, Even in this many-colored life, you remain by my side. Soaked in your boundless love — you are eternal, immortal, everlasting! May I keep swimming in the ocean of love you created, Even if my wings are clipped, may I still fly in the sky of love you built. May I fulfill the incomplete dreams you left behind. (When you were here, with you, I smiled and laughed.) Now, remembering you (after you are gone, how can I laugh?), May I still weep many, many tears! The Nine Some Hues When free from suffering, a person ten...
Read more