The Magic Pillow

Grandma made a small pillow for Munna when he was born in the village. It was a traditional pillow stuffed with mustard seeds instead of cotton-fill. She embroidered yellow and red flowers on two sides of the pillow with a border of golden fabric. Grandma told his mother, "Moti, this pillow would make my grandson smart and intelligent. You will see that he will become a lawyer in the city court." Munna slept over the pillow till he was two-year-old. After that he was given a new cotton pillow to hold his small head. Moti didn't throw away the old blue pillow. She kept it safe in her trunk where she stored her sarees. The pillow was a token of love from grandma who passed away when Munna was three-year-old.

A few years later Munna's parents decided to move to the city for work. His father, a skilled mason, joined a construction company that was building new houses. They were given a tin-shed one room house to stay in the site. The place surrounded by a brick wall had a few similar houses for other workers, but there was no other children to play with Munna. He brought his cricket bat and a rubber ball from the village. In the afternoon when the workers chatted with each other while sipping tea, Munna played alone with his bat and ball. There was no one to catch his ball or to throw it to him. His mother Moti was fond of gardening. She discovered a small barren land full of rubbles behind their house. With the help of Munna and his father, she got the land cleaned with a spade and made it a kitchen garden. The seeds that they couldn't eat were sown there. Soon they grew brinjal, chilli, tomato and bitter gourd plants. Moti used the vegetables from her garden for cooking. Munna found the curries more tasty when he knew that the vegetables came from their own plants.

In spite of his parents' love and affection, Munna was not happy with this new life away from the village. When he remembered the faces of his friends, he felt sad and tears filled his eyes. He asked his father, "Papa, when will you take us to the village where I can meet my friends? They must be missing me." His father Raghu smiled and answered, 'Let me make a new apartment for the city people here. Then I will get some money and will go back to the village to live like a king." Munna looked at his mother with teary eyes and said, "This place is dirty, full of weeds and rubbles. I don't like it. Our village has a playground where we gather in the afternoon for games. We have two ponds too." Moti and Raghu understood what Munna was longing for. Moti stroked his hair and said, "Don't get upset, my boy. Papa just told you to wait a while. We will surely get back to the village." Raghu declared, "It's time for dinner. We all are hungry now."

Next morning when Munna was awake, but still in bed, he heard his mother calling him from her wooden seat of the kitchen, "Wake up, Munna. I have got something for you. Do you want it now?" Munna got up quickly and sat cross-legged on the bed. "What's that, Mummy? Is that a gift from you and Papa? Please give it to me." Moti went to the corner of the room where her clothes were kept in a large iron trunk. Within a minute she was back with a small blue pillow. She handed it to him and said, "It is a gift from your grandma who went up to the sky to be a star." Munna looked at the small blue pillow and asked, "A pillow! But, Mummy, I already have one in my bed." He was confused. Moti enjoyed his expression, "This is not an ordinary pillow. Remember this is a magic pillow. Once you go into sleep lying on this pillow, you will enter the land of wonder, a place where all wishes are fulfilled. Anything you want will instantly be shown by this pillow." Munna couldn't believe what his mother was saying, "Will that really happen?" Moti kept her hands on the pillow and answered, "Yes, Munna. You will try it today. Tell the pillow what you want before you sleep."

Munna thought the whole day what he would tell the magic pillow. He didn't go out to play with his bat and ball. In the night, when his mother switched off the yellow bulb Munna turned his face over the pillow and whispered, "My dear magic pillow, can you take me to my village where I used to play with my friends?" As told by his mother, he repeated the line thrice and closed his eyes to sleep. The magic started soon after he slept. The mustard seeds inside the pillow built a magical bridge to take his mind to the faraway village. In no time he landed there in his dream. He saw himself standing in front of the thatched house where he spent a loving time with his parents, uncles, aunts and cousins. He could see the waterlily ponds and the ground where he played hide-and-seek and cricket with his friends. Though the village remained in daylight, he couldn't see anyone. Standing below the mango tree in the courtyard, he asked himself, "Where have they gone to?" He walked towards the guava tree that produced his favourite fruits. He used to climb on its branch and sit there for hours hanging out his legs. Suddenly he stopped and looked down. Who was sitting on a mat below the guava tree? It was an old woman in a white saree knitting a pattern on a blue cloth with yellow and red threads. Her untied white hair covered her shoulder. Munna came near her and asked, "Who are you?" The woman looked at him with a mischievous smile, "How will you know me? I left you for my house of stars when you were a toddler." Munna didn't understand what she was saying. But he found comfort in her soft tone and said, "Do you know who I am?" The woman replied, "I know everything; whatever small or big is happening in this village. You're my golden child Munna." Her eyes sparkled when she was speaking. She continued, "I'm your grandma. You don't remember my face. Your father Raghu is my youngest son." Munna uttered, "Grandma! You are." The old woman stood up with the support of her cane and hold his shoulder. Her gentle touch melted his worries. She asked him to pick some guavas from the tree. Munna agreed happily. He climbed the tree fast and found two ripe guavas hanging near the branch where he used to relax. He cane down and handed them to grandma. She wiped the fruits with her saree and gave him one to eat. Munna ate this guava since he had left the village. He asked, "Grandma, I slept in the night. How do I see you in the daylight?" The woman stopped eating her guava and said, "It's my day when you sleep in the night." Munna questioned her again, "Do you come in my dreams, not in real?" Grandma finished her fruit and retorted, "It's up to you to decide what is real. Let's get up and take some fresh air in the village. In a few hours it will be my night, and the villagers will be awake. You won't see me then."

They travelled along the grassy narrow path that lay in between the two ponds. Munna walking barefoot could feel the touch of tender grass that he missed in the construction site. Grandma pulled up her saree and went down to the pond. She plucked two waterlilies for him. They strolled around the village and came near the little river Phuli. Women of their village used to gather here to collect water in pitchers. Grandma told him to walk towards the wooden bridge that connected the village to the green forest on the other side. Munna wanted to say, "Let's go to the woods." But grandma told him to stop on the bridge. She said, "It's time to leave for my house of stars. Don't enter the woods alone, my child." She kissed on his forehead. Munna cried out, "Won't you come back again?" Grandma wiped his eyes with her saree and said softly, "I will come back in your dream when you sleep on that blue pillow and think of me. That's a link between you and myself." Munna nodded his head and murmured, "How will you reach your house of stars?" Grandma pointed her cane at the sky, "There is a ladder of clouds hanging from the house of stars. I will climb the ladder and get there." Munna waved his hand and said, "Bye grandma. You are so wonderful." Grandma crossed the bridge and disappeared in the green forest. The sky on the top of forest flashed two ropes of clouds joined by stretches of white lines. He knew that was Grandma's ladder of clouds. Suddenly Munna felt a heavy blow of wind which carried him to a place where he couldn't see the wooden bridge below his feet. He closed his eyes in fear and it became all dark. A few moments later he felt a soft touch below his head. He opened his eyes and found he was lying on the blue pillow. He heard his mother's voice, "Get up, Munna. Do you know it rained last night? Won't you see the puddles outside?" Munna decided that he would go out. He wouldn't feel bored and lonely again. He knew that he could meet his grandma in the village whenever he would make a wish to the magic pillow.

Picture courtesy: Urmi Bhattacharjee

This story is dedicated to Munna, the electrician, who passed away in his village in Bihar on 1 July 2019.