BUST

From the beginning Andy was a quiet child playing his own little
games. He would take a stick and at its end tie up an old coir rope. He
would go to the balcony and sit there with the rope hanging out.
Sometimes Mr Jones who lived downstairs would pass by. Being the queer
sort of person he was Mr Jones would say to Andy,'So you are fishing
are you'. And Andy would say yes. And the game went on. There was
another game he played. The paraphernalia was a little more elaborate.
Three rods from an abandoned wardrobe were taken and tied with whatever
was available. The victim usually was his poor mother who liked to have
her afternoon siesta. Andy would take his weapon and tell mom he was
operating upon her. And with his wonderful surgical apparatus he would
pretend to cut his mother up. After a while Andy's mother got used to
his procedure and did not mind his operation such as it was. As a
little boy Andy would find everything amazing specially if it was
beautiful. He would stand at the entrance of the apartment house he
lived and watch the world go by. The sights and sounds of the city made
him squirm with unknown pleasure.
Every evening the maid took Andy to Desh Park situated nearby. Here
Andy met a lot of boys his age. He liked to play with them specially if
the game was cricket. But the popular game then was soccer. Andy was
short and skinny and got pushed around in the soccer field. It so
happened that he often grew weary of the park and wanted to go home.
But the maid had instructions to keep him in the park till dark and she
followed the orders. Naturally the park offered the unmarried maid the
opportunity to solicit company of many many unmarried men. So when Andy
came to her asking to go home, she rarely even listened. So Andy had to
find something to keep himself amused. There were many things that
could be done. Just running around was an option but after a while he
lost interest. There were swings, go-arounds and slip-downs in the
park. They were amusing but you had to allow others to use them after a
while.
On one cold day Andy spotted an enclosure at a remote end of the park.
With nothing else to do he walked up to the enclosure. He spotted three
marble busts inside the enclosure. Two busts were those of men and the
third that of a woman. They must have been great people for they looked
noble and upright. Yet there was no name anywhere. It could be inferred
that climatic extremes had caused the written names to be erased. Andy
felt a strange peace in the company of the busts. In their presence
Andy felt secure for they seemed to be statues of sage-like people who
lived lofty lives, served their people and died honourable deaths.
Their eminence, their erudition seemed to inspire him to scale great
heights in life. From that day onwards till he was too old to come to
the park Andy made it a point to visit the busts at least once every
evening. It gave him a feeling of assurance nothing else could.
Andy turned out to be a brilliant student. He topped in school, in
college and university. His parents wanted to make him a practicing
surgeon. Instead he chose teaching medicine as his main preoccupation.
He married a handsome lady and their first evening out in town was in
Pia cinema next to Desh Park. Andy did not forget to introduce his
bride to the busts that had a special place in his life. In time Dr
Andy became a famous man. People came from far and to be treated by
this genial yet persuasive man. It was said that when Dr Andy Smith
gave up, nobody could save a man. Of course there were times when Andy
felt helpless, when he felt distressed. In such times, a visit to the
busts would remind him of his childhood and he felt new again.
Andy was now sixty years old. He was a famous doctor and a great
philanthropist. Many causes were started and brought to their
conclusion by him. Someone suggested that he should stand for
elections. Andy consulted a lot of friends. Everyone said that he had
led a full life, got everything there was to get. So if he lost the
polls it would not really matter. So Dr Andy Smith was a candidate from
South City. He traveled all over the constituency meeting all kinds of
people. He did address public gatherings but even without that the
people took a liking to the little grey-haired doctor who understood
their problems. A lot of people within his own party could not stand
his popularity and decided to teach him a lesson. Two days before polls
Andy addressed a meeting in Desh Park. A large platform was constructed
near the bust's enclosure and lights and speakers were everywhere. Many
people turne dup to hear the local boy speak. Midway through his speech
Dr Andy stopped to have a glass of water.
There was a huge explosion and everyone ran helter-skelter. There was a
lot of smoke and shrapnel was flying in the air. When the confusion
receded only Dr Andy Smith was found dead. Physicians said that he had
died of cardiac arrest resulting from shock. It was decided that a
marble bust of Andy Smith would be erected in Desh Park to honour his
memory. The busts that had so livened Andy's early life were pulled
down and a beautiful enclosure created in their place. Inside the
enclosure was a lifelike statue of Andy Smith, surgeon, social worker
and an inspiration to the youth of the city.