Short Story: Bhumi

In this short story, Shobhita Thakur takes us back and forth in time to create a poignant imagery of the present.

The wheels of the stretcher rattle rapidly through the crowded hospital corridor, Bhumi lying on it in a fragile haze of near unconsciousness. Her super-thin, young body, barely eighteen, cannot yet comprehend what has just struck her world. Her hands and feet tremble uncontrollably, fingers and toes curled inward, seized by a chilling numbness. While she was in the shower, she suddenly collapsed onto the cold bathroom floor. It was the very first anxiety attack of her life. Her eyes and ears can barely register the chaos around her, one eye barely able to grasp only a blur of rushing, distorted images. She feels like the protagonist of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Lying on the stretcher in confusion, she imagines how he must have felt in that helpless state, unable to perceive reality except through a single eye. Her father is angry with her mother for not dressing Bhumi more appropriately. In the bathroom, she was found lying naked on the floor. In panic, the mother dressed her in a pale orange, thin, short dress with nothing underneath. The contours of her tiny breasts and crotch are starkly visible. Her father scolds the mother, saying, is this how girls from respectable households should be dressed? The mother has no answer; she remains silent. The father’s mood darkens further when the doctor suggests it could be the onset of extreme anxiety and panic attacks for Bhumi. As doctors attend to her in the ICU, the father furiously tells the mother outside in the waiting lounge that too much reading of English literature has corrupted her mind and all the daydreaming has driven her insane. He declares she is no good for the practical world. He blames the mother, saying it is all her doing. He accuses her of giving Bhumi too much freedom to do whatever she wants. He reminds her harshly that she is the mother, and it is her sole responsibility to raise the girls the right way. The father storms out angrily into his chauffeur-driven car, too busy to deal with this mess. He leaves his assistant behind to handle everything at the hospital.