Thoughts!

I fell in love. That day I decided I’ll go and tell dad. (Not the first time I feel in love but very soon I realised that there was another one I liked) I walked into his office, and he sent the others out of the room. “Shreyas tell, what happened?” “Dad I wanted to say something” I replied. “Yes go ahead” “Dad I am in love”, I said meekly. He smiled, “Who is the lucky girl?” I relaxed, “Her name is Ria and I love her” He smiled again; I think I even saw a twinkle in his eyes. “Can I know why you love her?” he asked. “Dad, she is beautiful, she is sweet and she is very nice” I answered. I don’t know how many of you would have had this conversation, but I did. This time he grinned, and said “good son am happy” “Are you not going to help me?” I asked. “I will son, first you have to go and tell her” he replied. I thought about it, and left. Within a month I knew, why he had said that. I did go and tell Ria, that I Loved her...

Present day Knock knock, a nurse entered. “Sir, I have to give an injection.” She said. “Yes, go ahead.” I left his hand and stood up. She walked to his right hand, and injected the syringe. I had always feared injections, and it reminded me of the day when dad had taken me to get my first vaccination. He knew I was scared of those pointy things; he kept talking and telling about an incident that had happened in one of the campaigns. I was totally engrossed, and by then the doctor had injected the vaccine. Few minutes later the doctor said, “Shreyas, this is your gift for being a brave boy” He handed me a badge which said, “Brave Boy” “Uncle, what is this for?” “You didn’t hesitate or create a scene to get an injection that’s why” I was stunned and only then did I realise how it had happened. Recollection of those memories always brought a smile. I went back to where I was sitting and held his hand again. I felt the grip tight...

His next target was to enter the most educated state in the country, Kerala. The party’s image had spread like wild fire and people wanted the same change in their respective states. He tagged along with his college friend who was into politics in Kerala. He had contacts and dad asked him to join him, it took him three years to gather people and a year before the next election, he allotted the constituencies to the respective people. The agenda was the same but people different. They worked among the people and for the people. That never went unnoticed; it had to because it was being done from the heart. The elections took place, and CMP swept the polls. Kerala had never seen a one sided competition for the past 15 years. Dad took me where ever he went he showed me the sufferings of people and how they could be helped, with compassion. He would say, “It has to connect with the heart.” His parents were annoyed because he had adopted me, but he never gave up. Then la...

I was at home attending school, living the life of a normal child; it was on the weekends that he made up for the absence during the week. He took me to the slums the first day and then only on the day when it was no longer a slum. I was surprised, and only then did I realise, what he had done in those 5 years. People got fresh water, proper electricity, proper homes to stay; they had a hospital and even a school now. It was all happening. He was there on all news channels and newspapers. Some even rated him as the next PM.   The next step was the toughest and the one which made all the difference.                                                                          The Birth March, 2021. He gathered people one after the other, and two years before the next election he...

He entered the police station and I was the first to spot him, in his white kurta-pyjama. We were 10 boys and everyone was crying except me, He walked up to me, and asked “Tumne Chori nahi ki?” (You didn’t steal?) “ki sahib tabhi toh nahi ro raha, dil bola kar, pet dil ko bola bhuk lagi hain toh kar dali” (The stomach asked the heart to steal and so I stole, why to cry for that.) “Maa-Baap nahi hain kya?” (Are you an orphan?) “Haan sahib apun laawris hain Amitabh Bachchan mafik” (yes sir, just like Amitabh Bachchan in a movie) He smiled and put his hand on my head and asked, “Main tera baap bananeko tyar hun, banega mera beta?” (Am willing to be your father, will you be my son?) I was surprised, and then smiled, he understood, and held my hand and spoke to the officer there and took me home. Since then he has been my father and mother. He had done his engineering and MBA, after working for 7 years as an investment banker he decided that he had enough...

The very uncertainty of life scared me and it’s then I decided to tell Shreya I had feeling for her. I didn’t expect anything from her. I just had to tell there wasn’t anything I wanted to leave undone. This is what uncertainty had taught me. I told her, and she kept quiet for a while and said, “See rabbit, I like you but I can’t get into a relationship” “I don’t want an answer Shreya am just telling you, after what has happened am scared and I don’t want to leave anything unsaid” I replied. “Hmmm” “Let’s cut it here, I said because I had to, and done, am not talking about it” “Okay” she said and we went back to being normal. Present day 8:15AM I went to the veranda of the hospital; I wasn’t surprised to see the crowd stand as they were when dad had been brought to the hospital. He was a hero in their eyes, he had won battles for them and for them he was always there. It was the public, they loved him. He wasn’t just a leader or the Prime Minister, h...

As soon as Maddy went to meet him, they quarrelled for a while and then, the guy punched him on the chest, it was 3:30AM and no one on the street. It wasn’t just a punch, he had a pocket knife in between his fingers which nobody observed, and stab on the chest. Maddy took a moment to realise and the other guy ran for help, Maddy’s school friend had encouraged the guy to go for another stab, and then went another stab, Maddy started to run, and he stabbed him on his back. After running for almost a kilometre, Maddy fell on the street near his room. By then the others had gathered and they started looking for a car to go to the hospital. The passing guys denied help and crossed. Somehow a bike was arranged and Maddy was taken to the hospital. It was the eve of Diwali, and no doctors, the junior doctors were operating, it was more of an experiment for them. Maddy passed away within an hour of treatment. With no proper doctor, and no conveyance, we lost our friend to a bruta...