“Pablo, have u finished your food?” – yelled Mary Pearl Kongsain, the name itself is enough. Mary, the daunting principal of a posh High School in central Kolkata is often taken for a ride by this amazingly sharp and supremely agile fair, well-built, and handsome five-year-old Pablo, her apple of the eye, her son. “Look if you don’t finish, we are not going to the Wax Museum – I am telling you”. Yet another time Mary yelled. On the other side, Pablo is mesmerized by the cobweb across the ceiling of his room and is deeply engrossed in witnessing the spider weaving the cobweb. So very symmetrical distribution of the strings, equidistant from the central axis and the path traversed by the spider to weave the web is the same on both sides. All of a sudden, only to dismantle his respite and awe, Pablo’s mother shook him finally and said” Get ready quickly – we need to leave now. After seeing the wax museum we need to go to Smitha’s aunt’s place and then to the market and then back home. So, stop thinking now and get ready – Fast Pablo – I am counting”. Mr. Kongsein is an easy guy, seeing Mary to be highly hyper and annoyed by the sloth exhibited by Pablo, he readily got up and made Pablo wear the new shirt and blue jeans, combed his hair quickly, and presented this deeply engrossed guy in front of Mary.
” Mom, I am ready, let’s go”- smiled Pablo. Peter Kongsain, Pablo’s Father, is an investment banker and is mature enough to handle the ifs and buts, the dos & don’ts of life. He effortlessly manages the overall well-being of the family which revolves around Pablo and his aggressive counterpart Mary. He is the fulcrum of their family and balances both sides quite at ease. While Mary is jittery and worried about the delay in reaching the wax museum, Peter in his very own relaxing style takes his new car out of the garage, takes Mary on his side and Pablo at the back, checks the drinking water in the car, tire condition, pushed the clutch, maneuvered the gear, slowly released the clutch, pressed the accelerator and HUSHHHH………… Barring a few instances of the inevitable traffic signals Peter’s car reached the destination of the Wax Museum 10 mins before the estimated time of arrival. So this is a short description of Peter and his poise – always in full command of any situation and event. Pablo has heard a lot about the Wax Museum from his friends. He is quite excited about coming here on one of the lazy holiday afternoons. He has heard that this place beholds the wax statues of all the glittering and distinguished celebrities people crave to meet. This concept was taken from Madame Tussauds Fine arts and craftsmanship were exhibited by the painters and artists who make the wax statues. More than the statues artistic detailing is interesting to watch and more interesting is the moods of the personas these craftsmen capture- Explicit works of art. Pablo was awestruck, to begin with the “Mother Terasa’s” wax statue. Pablo had read in the newspaper, and saw in documentary films, that this great soul has devoted her entire life to humanity without asking anything in return. Pablo wonders if he has been quite familiar with the stooping down posture of the distinguished lady with hands folded and greeting “Namaste” to the mass. Pablo touched her mother’s attire to sense something, but the status didn’t move. It just cast a static smile and greeted Pablo as it greeted the other people. In the museum, Pablo felt there are two aspects to be looked at, the displayed and not displayed. The people visiting the museum also somehow join to be a part of the antique and rich experience. The amount of hype and enthusiasm displayed for taking selfies with each statue is quite interesting. Almost everyone wants to be framed in a common canvas with all wax statues. The merriment portrayed while posing seems like the wax statue is real. With statues, if this is the situation Pablo wondered what they would do with the originals. While Pablo was engrossed in these deep thoughts of human behavior, Peter and Mary were busy taking photos of each other. Mary was delighted to encounter a wax statue of her heartthrob Tom Cruise posing “Top Gun” pose and took various clicks at various angles with the sensational guy (don’t think she remembered that it was a statue and not the true Tom). A question was bothering Pablo and he leaned at Mary and asked “Mom, can u hear me I want to ask a question ”
” Yes, Pablo just tell me are you enjoying? See there is Batman & Superman also for you to pose – come I will click your snaps” quickly completed Mary. “Mom, can you see what I am seeing, I am seeing all the statues are quite sad. It seems they are very tired and want to go to sleep” – Pablo iterated
” Pablo just enjoys, don’t think” – ushered Peter who was so far busy taking selfies and feeling good about himself. All of a sudden, to Pablo’s surprise, Pablo faced some resistance moving his hands and legs, he wanted to run to Mary, but he saw Mary also was at a standstill. Pablo tried his best to move his hand, but it was getting solidified and within a few minutes Pablo was at a standstill all his body parts were fixed and converted to wax. Pablo could not understand what was happening, to shout he vigorously tried to open his mouth, but nothing was moving. He found himself, Mary, Peter and all other visitors converted to wax statues and was standstill. The spotlights fired on them and there seemed to be no way to come out. Pablo was shocked. While Pablo could see all of the moving bodies converted to wax, he discovered a change in the surroundings.
What is this? What is happening? Pablo said to himself. He saw the wax statues were getting melted, and the real heroes were alive. They were moving their arms & bodies and roaming around Pablo and other visitors who had become wax statues. Pablo was jinxed. He was not able to understand the strange exchange of concepts. He saw Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rabindranath Tagore loitering around aimlessly within the wax statues of them and others. Their individual styles and gestures have taken a back seat. They seem to be mesmerized with the wax statues including that of Pablo, Peter, and Mary, and seem to enjoy their break-free time. Pablo hears a few intellectuals exchanging notes among themselves and taking selfies with the statues and is equally thrilled and excited to be a part of the reverse Wax Museum. The saga was not destined to be continued for long though. With a sudden thud and push, Pablo suddenly found himself leaning on the table of the cafeteria beside the museum and heard yelling of Mary. “Pablo. Get up, we need to go home now, our visit is over”
Pablo went home, followed the due course of activity, and finally went to bed. But the instance of the reverse wax museum kept him thinking on and on. The hypothesis was coming and going in his mind just like the swirls created when a water particle dropped in the water-filled tub. It creates a wave and then settles, again another synchronic wave and settles. Days passed, months passed, and years passed by. The final school ANNUAL DAY arrived, and Pablo already was at the 10th standard and was the brightest kid in his school. He had by that time mastered oration, writing, and swimming and was a confident & hardworking son of Mary and Peter. In the formal closing of the school Annual Day function, Father Alter declared that Pablo would narrate a speech on one of his favorite topics and that could be anything Pablo wished. Pablo, the smart guy went up the stage, looked at the huge audience of aspiring parents, and started “My Favorite topic is the Wax Museum” -then went on effortlessly describing the strange experience of a little boy in the wax museum, he paused and started again; I wonder how I was dreaming the reverse concept, I wonder what triggered such a bizarre dream. But when I thought about it at length the analogy struck my mind. Every one of us deserves a fair chance to be ourselves, not to be taught, not to be directed, not to be ordered and not to be molded. When we do something extraordinary due to our relentless perseverance, we also somehow start feeling that we are superior, we have some power that the guy next door does not have, hence we start publicizing ourselves, putting up banners, hoarding and alluring big business tycoons to sponsor us, our deeds, our creations in films, novels, studies, etc. In all these hustle and bustle one basic thing we often forget rather than overlook and undertreat that is “Who made us famous?” We forget that it is the common people, the guy next door who made us famous. They are purchasing the creations we are proud of and hence our number game increases. They are the ones who go to theatres to see our films, they are ones who take immense toil traveling in a local train to reach the spot where our performance is staged, they are the ones who go fanatic taking a single click with us by our side, they are the ones who we cast a plastic smile and wear the power turban when we meet them in street. So, shouldn’t they be given a chance to pose as statues and we look at them, live their pains for a moment, think a little more about their daily grind, and say, Hey! Look I want to pose with the gut who took my autograph a couple of days back.
With that note followed by pin-drop silence, the auditorium of the Annual Day function filled with the sounds of clapping hands, tears, and emotions.
About the Author
Sumana D Choudhury is a rare combination of creative thinking with a strong scientific professional background. Writing fiction short stories with a purpose has been her greatest passion. A Biochemical engineer by profession and working in a renowned healthcare company Sumana enjoys writing short stories on myriad subjects that connect readers to the foundation of human existence. She has been independently contributing a series of stories on her blog site. Writing fiction short stories with a purpose has been her greatest passion.
