Usher’s Daughter

The story of how it came to be

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Iwon’t take much of your time. It wound not take long, since I understand, your mind, the trickiest of mechanisms ever to exist on the earth is bound with the laws of practicality and sturdy short-attention. I bow. Talking about what happened yesterday becomes very important now, as I exist in the present, in order to let you know how I feel at present, and how the condition of my life is, at present. It’s your turn to choose whether you want to know.

It doesn’t matter. I will tell you anyway. I had seen this man whose name I did not know, at the Courthouse complex near Tellicherry. He was a middle-aged man and whenever I saw him, I felt that he had a story.

It was only yesterday that I tuned myself to the frequency of his story. It came out in a gush and I wrote it all down in a single sitting. I titled it “The Usher’s Daughter”. However, I was not very sure of the duty of the usher in a court in the present time. I am not an expert on the matters of court.

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Back in the old days, ushers announced the arrival of the judge. They were a species of bureaucracy that came down from the royal courts in historical times. After our brief self-introductions, on one evening at a wayside eatery near the court, he had told me his name. I used an imaginary name to my character in the story, though.

He had told me that modern day ushers in courts inside Kerala are a type of attenders who helped the judge handle files and related documents. Although after a short research, I found that the profession of the usher is a serious one and has the following definition.

“A court usher is a position in a law court. Tasks generally performed by court ushers involve escorting participants to the courtroom and seeing that they are suitably hydrated, as well as ensuring the secure transaction of legal documents within the courtroom and deciding the order of cases. Courtesy: Wikipedia. [Although, I found many other pages and sites that explain this, I decided to include Wikipedia definition here, because of its free availability. I support free content distribution through the internet, and so is TIC a free blog.]

Writing in a single sitting was hard. My back was aching like anything while my mind was racing with the story. I also felt my stomach muscles ache, due to the long hours of sitting. The dream was alive, the aim was visible. The story of the Usher and his daughter kept me going. I promised myself that I would surely spend some time listening to songs, take a bath in warm water, and relax myself, once I finish writing “The Usher’s Daughter”.

At about half past eight in the evening the alchemy was over and I stood up. Stretching my body to the maximum lengths I could, I breathed deeply.

I closed the word document in order to keep the story rest for some time, before editing. A Johnny Cash song came across in Youtube.

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“Melinda was mine
'Til the time
That I found her
Holding Jim
Loving Him
Then Sue came along
Loved me strong
That's what I thought…”

Johnny Cash was singing in his soulful voice. After almost four hours of hard work on the story of the Usher and his daughter, I was tired. ‘Solitary Man’ kicked in. I relaxed in the shade of the guitar that touched the chords with the rustic Southern music.

“…Don't know that I will
But until I can find me
The girl who'll stay
And won't play games behind me
I'll be what I am
A solitary man
Solitary man.”

I felt the same too. After our short acquaintance, the Usher, whose name I called Mohanan, his daughter, and some other interesting characters left me a solitary man.  

Anu Lal: During one of those fortunate free hours, at college, in writing.