Bitter Truth

I was appointed to handle a project in Chennai, so I decided to stay in Nitesh’s house for 2 days as he is my closest of cousins. I was glad that I could meet him, Navya (Nitesh’s wife) and of course the naughty Prajwal.

Nitesh was waiting for the train to arrive, he received me and it took nearly 1.30 hours for us to reach Ashoka Nagar by car. We entered the house and Navya welcomed me remembering that it was 5 years since I visited them. I could also re-collect that I was there in Chennai when Prajwal was born.

After non stop talk and lunch I preferred to rest in the afternoon. The clock showed 5.30 when I opened my eyes, but as usual it took me half-an-hour more to get out of the bed. Navya and I joined Nitesh in the sit-out outside their house to beat the heat with a cup of coffee. As we were watching Prajwal cycling, Hari came out with his rubber ball and a broken bat.

Opposite of the house is a slum where Shanthi, the maid and others leaved. Shanthi is now working for more than 7-8 years and has always been great help to Navya. Hari is Shanthi’s son. Referring to Hari, Navya said “If you remember, he is the same boy who was born on the same day as Prajwal; I said “Oh Yes, I do remember visiting Shanthi in the hospital, 5 years ago”. Suddenly my eye caught the sight of Hari’s shabby hair; torn dirty shirt, a broken ball-bat, a piece of half baked roti in his hand….. And my attention was diverted when Prajwal pulled my hand to show his new shirt and the new cycle!!.

The next day, the loud horn of an auto woke me up at 7.30 and I went down to see Prajwal in his uniform. His parents helped him to get into the auto, Navya as daily instructed him to keep his hand inside and not to put his head outside the auto. They also made sure that their little boy was seated in between 2 seniors. As the auto started, both entered the house and I could see a feeling of satisfaction in them as the little boy has started going to school!

At 9’o’clock, I was ready to go to the office and I took my bag as the cab was parked in front of the gate. I peeped into the other side of the window to see Hari help his mother by carrying lot of vessels and he even managed to help his little sister walk by holding her in his other hand. By then my cab moved.

The next evening, Nitesh and his family dropped me to the airport, I wished both ‘All the best’ and boarded the flight. As the flight was up in the air, I could remember two sentences. The first was told by Nitesh, ‘He wanted his son to study in the best school of the city’ and the second was told by Shanthi, ‘She wanted her son to go to the house on the next street and water the plants in the garden’….

Suddenly, I stopped and Thanked God! I said silently ‘Oh! God, Thank you, I am born in a wonderful family and I thank you for blessing me with another wonderful family after my wedding too”…. I continued and questioned “ But God, Prajwal and Hari were both born on the same day and on the same street but why was that difference??.... I further prayed him for probably which was impossible but still to my satisfaction, I said, ‘God! ‘Please bless every single soul, at least with the basic comforts of what prajwal enjoys and then see how beautiful the world looks”…..

But then I could hear the announcement which said “We have landed in Bangalore and the temperature here is 26 degrees” They also thanked us for traveling by ‘Jet’ airlines.

I took the taxi back home and the life continued as usual…..