Pankaj's Short Stories

Effect Of Camphor 🌿

Shankar's father Vijay was working in B.C.C.L. When Shankar was 12 years old, Vijay used to come home drunk and beat up Shankar's mother Sumu Devi. Shankar used to get sad seeing this. Shankar had a friend named Narayan. They were in the same class and studied together. They passed 10th standard. At that time, there was almost no possibility of a vehicle in the village. Both of them got enrolled in a college in the city. If they had any work to do in the college, they had to walk 15 kilometers to reach there. Shankar had five sisters, who were older than him. At that time, there was no college near the village. There was a bullock cart facility in the village, but it did not go that far. They passed the 12th standard examination. Now both of them got enrolled for BA in a university in Patna. Shankar's father used to go to work only occasionally. The rest of the days he used to remain drunk. Therefore, he used to come home with a very low salary. It was difficult to run the household. Looking at the financial condition of the house, he had to leave his studies. He had studied almost till B.A. Part 2. Shankar ji was now roaming around in search of a job. One day Shankar ji came to know that a broker was recruiting constables. Shankar ji went to the broker. The broker said- You will have to pay 50 thousand for recruitment. But his father knew that this broker will cheat him. Therefore Vijay ji did not give money to Shankar ji. Shankar ji now started selling coal. Bringing coal from the mine on a bicycle in the scorching sun and then selling it. It was a very difficult job. At the age of 21, Shankar ji got married to a girl named Lalita. Now Shankar ji left the coal business and started selling fish. One day some fishermen stole fish from the pond of Babu village. That day some people were standing on the road to catch a fish seller. At that time Shankar ji was going that way. People stopped him. People started abusing and scolding him. Shankar ji had not done anything. Still he was listening to everything. After that he left the job of selling fish and opened a hardware shop with the money he had saved. He used to go to fairs sometimes and sell chickpeas. His wife gave birth to their first child. But due to illness that child could not survive and he died. Similarly the second child also could not survive due to illness. After that they had a daughter. After that three more sons were born. One day Shankar ji got dysentery. He had heard from some elders that dysentery is cured by consuming camphor. Shankar ji took his bicycle and left for a shop to buy camphor. He reached the shop. He bought a camphor and started towards home. He consumed the camphor after reaching home. After some time, he started jumping. Everyone and his family members were watching everything. The effect of camphor was so strong that Shankar ji was not able to bear it. The family members got worried about what happened to him. After some time the effect of camphor reduced. Shankar ji became normal. Everyone and family members started asking him - what happened to you? Shankar ji told everything. Then everyone came to know that this was the effect of camphor. Many years passed. With his hard work and struggle, he changed the small shop into a good hardware shop. Where more than 200 products and materials are available. He built a good and big house. Which is standing firmly even after more than 25 years. Where good and cool breezes come.