Fri, 29 Mar, 2024

Story Of A Madman

By Abhusan Gautam

One night, I overheard my parents talking about my situation. Their voices was small but I could feel their pain when they talked. My mom suggested that I should be taken to a Mental Hospital. She had arranged my diagnosis with a renowned mental specialist and was confident he would do something to get me back on the track. My dad was skeptical about it and said it was already too late to change anything. But, I knew for sure I wasn’t Mad, oh no, I wasn’t mad.

 Few moments later, my brother came up with different treatments that didn’t need a doctor. I remember he showed them a video on the internet where a mentally disabled boy was able to find peace in absolute greenness. The video was designed to show that the boy only wanted freedom from the environment he was brought up to, the environment of books, pressure and tall buildings etc. My brother suggested that we tried this method first as it seemed like the easiest situation to develop. The fact that we were in Biratnagar, and there was greenery everywhere you’d look made it so.

 The next morning, my dad woke me up. He was getting dressed up for his office and told I had to hurry because he had to go somewhere else to. My mom didn’t go to office that day and along with my brother, we got on a Tractor that my brother drove [which was rather strange because I’ve never seen my brother near a tractor]. The ride was short cause it seemed like a flashback occurred and we were right outside of the grassy plain. Oh, but I wanted to see my brother drive a real tractor. Nonetheless, we were at the field safe that must mean he had driven the tractor real smooth. “Cheers, brother. Thanks for the ride”, said I excited but unsure of what to do next. My mother got off the tractor, helped me down and said in the most convincing voice I had ever heard, “Kaancha, now go into the tall grassy plain and look around and say what you see. You remember the video we showed you yesterday, right? Do as the kid did, now go! “

I knew what I had to do, go in there and lie in the plains and feel heaven in earth itself, at least that’s what the boy in the video described it. Unsure of how it would work out, I went in slowly. The grass was wet cause of the dew drops and the moment I got inside of it, I did feel a moment of peace. The cold grass was relieving my stress. But, the moment of peace lasted only a couple of seconds as I saw a flock of buffalo walking around. I was scared to proceed any further. Now even the dew-drenched tall grass started feeling weird. “Nope” said I and rushed right out of it.  My family members concluded that I was mad enough to not see the bright side of the plains and condemned me mad. “What bright side? All I ever saw in there were Dark buffaloes, running towards me” I argued. But hey, who listens to a mad boy? No one in my family at least.

Days passed and so did months, but I was kept in my room, not allowing me to come out or interact with other relatives. Few doctors occasionally came in to the room to do a checkup and they all asked me strange questions I had nothing to do about. I didn’t answer what they expected to hear and they all believed I was mad. After hearing almost everyone say I was mad, I started to believe I was mad too. Life from that day was never going to be the same.