Revolt

He always wore a long red tilak on his forehead. And it looked remarkably highlighted because of his dark color. Actually, it glistened more because of his color.
He always bragged about his supernatural powers. After working as a clerk for thirty years he had now taken to astrology. He had become a fan of this art. And he loved to brag about his powers.
“Look at her. She was a patient of sleeplessness. One day she came to me and begged for cure. I just gave a pat on her shoulder and now she sleeps like horses,” he bragged.
To be honest, I did not believe him at all. I only loved to hear him brag. The way he narrated his exploits with so much ease added to his charm.
Then the other day he showed me a girl.
“Her boyfriend was not ready to marry her. One night I sent my pet Jinn to change his mind. And it worked. Now look at her how happy she is.”
The girl saw him and rushed to touch his feet with a big smile. He raised both his hands to shower his blessings.
What a filmy scene it was. But now I started to think of him as a real Tantrik. And a feeling of uneasiness engulfed me that if  by chance anything turned up to make our relations sour he can do good amount of harm to me with his Jinn.
“Aren’t you afraid of your Jinn?” I asked him one morning as he was busy sipping his lime tea.
“Nah! Nah!,” he answered with a wave of hand.
“And what if he revolts?”
“He can’t. He is my prisoner,” retorted he.
Though I could not understand why the Jinn was his prisoner. I did not want to disturb him. I had developed a kind of fear from him. So I halted my question round and proceeded to the counter for a tea.
The next day I found him in the canteen in extreme pain. I asked him about the problem.
“My small intestine has moved from its place. My body expels immediately what ever I eat. The doctor says now there is no cure for it,” he complained.
I was in a fix. I had no idea that even such kind of disease existed. I kept silence for a minute and advised, “Take help of your Jinn.”
He looked at me as if I was making fun of him. But I was not.
He got up and started to walk towards the exit leaving his tea untouched on the table and turned around towards me and revealed,
“He has revolted leaving me with this pain,” and he continued with his walk.© Atul Sharma