The Route Untravelled

What are origin stories and what emotions do they convey? Origin stories are bumper jackpot of emotions. They can give you each and every emotion according to your desire. If you are happy, it will tell you the tales of victory. If you have incurred loss in your life, the storybook of origin will tell you the tales of struggle and subsequently the path for victory. In short, it will motivate you in free. Just ask the eldest member of your house and you will get to know the origin story. People are mad to spend money and attend classes of a motivational speaker or consult doctors. Just orally listen to an origin story of valor and you will be free from depression. It gives you energy to do something. Ingesting drugs would damage your body. So, let’s read an origin story, a story which is filled with every emotion and must be read by the one who thinks that he has lost in the race of life.

Prithvi, a 20 year old village lad was standing between two roads which were created in his mind. He was recently fired from his job because of financial issues. His father had worked hard to install all machines and set-up the factory but his arrogant uncle used to scream and tease Prithvi’s father that he was illiterate. Prithvi got agitated one day and screamed at his uncle. Due to this, both of them were fired. While closing the doors of the office, his uncle had said that his father had to polish his shoes in front of everyone. Then only they would be appointed in the factory that too at the lowest position which is sweeping. Prithvi’s father was shocked due to this event and became a patient to mental disorder. The doctor had asked both of them to stay in the town until the treatment was over. The main problem which Prithvi faced was that there was not much money in the house to complete the full treatment. Who would help him to treat his father? His uncle, who was his only relative had betrayed and left him. The roads which he saw in front of him were to stay with his father and polish his uncle’s shoe to earn money or to leave his father behind and go to a new village to work. Prithvi did not have any friends left now. The ones he had were working in his uncle’s factory and they were prohibited to meet him. His sister had run away to her lover’s house. Her lover was still unknown. So he knew that his real elder sister, who had taken care of him in the absence of his mother, would also not help him because she knew that Prithvi’s father would not allow her shadow to fall inside the house. He ran home crying, and asked his father a question.

“Pa, my mind has created two roads. Two different roads and both are tough. Which one should I tread upon?”

As his father was mentally disturbed, he talked childish things.

“Son, you run on the divider and watch both of these roads.”

“What rubbis- Thank you pa” Prithvi said and went into the kitchen to cook food. His father had turned on the TV and had started watching cartoons. Prithvi served the dinner to his father and asked another question.

“Pa, can I make a new road out of the divider”

“Yes, it will be difficult. People will scold you for removing the divider but they will be happy when the third road is constructed. Most of the accidents happen on the divider”

“Ok pa. Thank you for your advice. I will surely construct the third road and cure you”

Prithvi washed the plates and sat on the terrace steps, looking at the stars and finding his mother. Mrs. Shubhangi was a patient to last stage of cancer and had passed away after giving birth to Prithvi. Tears had filled his eyes. He did not even remember touching her skin, sleeping on her lap, doing mischief with her. There was no time for these events to commence. He reminisced the days when he used to ask his father that where was his mother. His father used to distract him by showing him chocolates.

Now he was determined to construct a road with the help of the divider. The next day, he counted all his worldly wealth, bought loans and left to create a new chapter in the books of struggle. He bought a small plot beside his uncle’s factory in which he started farming. He domesticated cows which roamed on the streets and started selling vegetables and milk. He used to get up at 3:30 AM in the morning and walked throughout the village to sell milk. As his job was going good, he hired a vegetable-cum-milk seller and started distributing life insurance policies across the village. He started to earn more money. Then, he started selling cows at high rate. He earned more money. Hereafter, he sold half of his plot to a wealthy builder and asked him to construct a factory in return for him in the remaining plot. He hired few transgender people from the village, understanding their problem and started working in the factory. Slowly his factory upgraded and the day of triumph arrived when he became more successful than his uncle. He looked for a foreign doctor who cured mental disorders and healed his dad. His dad also started working in the same factory. Both of them yielded profit from the factory, invested in stock markets and accumulated great wealth. At this point, he started repaying the debts. He also bought a new house, bigger and spacious than his uncle.

After five years, Prithvi and his father were planning to open a new branch of their office Shubhangi Pvt. Ltd. His uncle entered the factory. He came near Prithvi and his dad and started polishing their shoes. One action speaks millions of words. The rest I leave upon you…

 This was the story of a 20 year old boy who showed the world that anything is possible even if you don’t have wealth. You might be thinking about the divider, the first and the second road. Let me clear this issue. As you remember, that one road was to leave his father behind and go to a new village while the other was to polish his uncle’s shoe and get employed in his uncle’s factory in the same village. The divider is a path which is a mixture of both. The divider road said to work in a new factory but in the same village.

P.S. - Thank you Reedsy for providing me such a good platform to express my thoughts. Thank you so much!