Shillong

Shillong, the heart of the abode of clouds and impregnated by picturesque innate beauty is my favorite city. Shillong is the capital of the state of Meghalaya. Among the masses it is also known as Scotland of the East. It is home to several waterfalls and is blessed by heavy rainfall. Guwahati, the gateway of North-Eastern India is 100 Kms away from Shillong and is well connected by a four lane highway with plenty of vehicles available round the clock.

An evening view of Police Bazar, Shillong (picture courtesy - www.tripadvisor.in)

Shillong is connected to the rest of the country most conveniently through Guwahati. Although Shillong has an airport and there are weekly flights to Kolkata, yet connectivity through Guwahati is better. It has no railways because of difficult terrain and so the nearest railway station is Guwahati. There are many state owned as well as privately owned large and small public vehicles plying on to Shillong from Guwahati and vice-versa. The drive through from Shillong to Guwahati will be through a four lane highway passing alongside hilly curves making the drive exciting. Apart from the fun of driving, the scenic beauty alongside the driveway makes the travelling exciting. Umiam Lake at Borapani, which falls on the way to Shillong is another stop-by for tourists.

A view of Lewduh Market, Shillong (picture courtesy - www.holidayiq.com)

Shillong is one of the cleanest cities of the country; and this is all because of the cleanliness addictive nature of the natives. The city has several waterfalls in its vicinity and a visit of each one of them is an unique experience. Numerous caves are present around the city and a walk through them reminds people of the days of history. There are also several lakes in the city. Christmas, Easter, Good Friday and New Year are celebrated by the locals with full joy and excitement. Since most residents are Khasi, the Khasi festivals Ka Pomblang Nongkrem and Shad Sukmynsiem are also celebrated. Behdiengkhlam, the festival of the Jaintia’s and Wangala, the festival of the Garo’s is celebrated by the few local Jaintia and Garo population.

A view of Mawsynram village (picture courtesy - www.theatlantic.com)

For people who like strolling around and window shopping, the best way to get around the city is by walking. There are also lots of city cabs plying around the city. For gentlemen who drink sober, it is a great place too. The city has got several pubs and lounges that serve spirits in exotic ambience. Mawsynram and Cherrapunjee, which is very near to Shillong faces heavy rainfall throughout the year and gives a wonderful experience to the visitors. The drive through from Shillong to Cherrapunjee gives an experience of driving amidst clouds, with clouds saturated on both sides of the road until noon. 

A view of coud-9 bar, Shillong (picture courtesy - www.tripadvisor.in)

Shillong is also known for its fasion. The residents have an amazing dressing sense and buying apparels is a must if you visit Shillong. There are plenty of fashion outfit shops in and around Police Bazar. Although most eating places close early, the experience of food in Shillong is also amazing. Khasi dishes are served in most restaurants and it is mouthwatering. Apart from Khasi food, the restaurants expertise in Chinese, Indian and Tibetan foods.  Shillong also has several hotels and guest houses for night halt and all of them remain fully booked from December mid till New Year. Spending the yuletide in Shillong is obviously an wise decision.

Dohneiiong, a Khasi dish (www.thenortheasttoday.com)

Penned down for the #madeofgreat Zonal War organized by Tata Motors

A prostitute's love story..

As she expressed her heart out,

into laughter the men broke out,

her tears were ignored by all,

men forgot to console, shamelessly laughed along..

She had been famous and renown,

for she sold her beauty in dark lanes of the town,

most perverts of that town had some rest,

foreplayed and slept over her chest..

Men forgot, she too had a heart,

they knew her as someone who sold love,

and like ruthless beggars, for which they did starve,

every night someone teared down her innocence in the bed..

This guy, whom she had always known since her childhood,

who was lost with time, returned with manhood.

"Thousands of naked men have crawled above me,

yet I remain a virgin; for my heart still belongs to you".

Love is not a poor man's play

Love is not a poor man's play,

He who is rich shall play it the best,

he who has a heart saturated with emotions,

shall shed tears and earn it from her..

Love ain't what's in her heart,

it's about those moments, that you lived without fear,

insecured, yet he dreams of blissfulness,

Love is, not expecting anything in return..

For he who has cried his life for commitments,

feels the need, and fails miserably to love,

and he who has built castles even in tear drops,

knows to love, even if he's deserted to live alone..

Love is not a poor man's play,

he should have courage, to live alone,

blankets of emotions shall wrap him in winter nights,

tears of expectation shall guide him to eternity..

My beautiful girl..

My beautiful girl, is so hard to understand,

she smiles, hiding miseries in her heart,

she tries and tries, yet she fails,

I find myself, behind her tears..

My beautiful girl, knows to fake a smile,

she's happy, even when she's not,

she does, to make up my heart,

I make her cry and she happily does..

My beautiful girl, takes my breath away every hour,

I have a heart that beats with her,

she's a princess, with tiara and love,

I being a roadsider dream to be with her, forever..

My beautiful girl, ain't for everyone to understand,

for God himself took hours, when he made her,

and he created luck to make me meet her,

she's a stroke of happiness in my dreary moments..

An Imperfect Life-partner

"Finally, I have found someone for myself. I am very happy", said the girl as they walked down the street.

The girl and the boy had been friends since high school. The boy had a crush upon her since the first day of school. The boy even expressed his feelings several times and the girl gently turned him down. She liked his friendship and so in spite of hindrances she maintained the friendship with him.

"I am happy for you", replied the boy in a soft and broken voice. He didn't have any moisture in his eyes, yet it was not able to maintain the joyfulness.

"I owe you a treat. Tell me where do you want a treat?" asked the happy girl.

"What was so wrong about me?"

"I don't like you. That's it."

"Why? You like my company but you are not ready to accept me as my boyfriend. Why is it so?" asked the confused boy.

"You cannot decide your life partner just because you like his company. He need's to be a complete man."

"What's incomplete in me?"

"You see a man is known by the company he keeps. I hate your friends. They are so badly dressed. They wear the same pair of jeans for weeks thinking it might go unnoticed. They are into brawls every now and then and surprisingly most of the times it is for others. They still need to grow up."

"You didn't accept me because of my friends?"

"You are a good guy but he is better. I can blindly trust that he shall keep me happy all throughout his life. He earns good, has a nice apartment, keeps travelling across metros and is always surrounded by good company. By good company I mean to say people who are properly dressed with suit and live a gentle life."

"I had bought something for you but now I think it won't be of any use to you" said the boy.

"What did you bring?"

The boy pulled out a diamond ring from his pocket.

"Please don't make it difficult for me. Please don't propose", said the girl.

"I won't. I gave up the idea of proposing you when you said that you have found out the life partner for you."

"It looks expensive."

"Yeah I saved an entire months salary for it" smiled the boy as he said it.

"It looks more than your months salary."

"Obviously it is. The rest is paid by those friends whom you hate so much. I just announced that I was planning to propose you and they collected the money. I hesitated to collect the money but they insisted a lot. They selected this ring."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes I am. It might be true that I am an imperfect life-partner but I am surrounded by perfect company. Fatso earned his livelihood by giving guitar lessons to the school kids and that idiot sold his guitar for this ring. Sam was saving for a Royal Enfield but he broke a part of his savings. I am lucky to have them. You please keep the ring or they shall be hurt. I will keep my friends. I look best in their company."

The Kalapani Captive's..

The sun so strong, outside the window.

Yet it's cold, frozen to death,

the warm revolutionary ideas.

At the blink of eyes, things have turned so wrong.

We swore to struggle, at the cost of everything.

We pictured immortality beyond the victory of our flags.

Our brothers, who fearlessly faced bullets,

smiled, as they walked to the gallows,

kissed the noose as if it were there valentine's lips.

Had their death gone to vain?

When we were captured by the soldiers,

we were hung up and brutally tortured,

mercilessly they ripped off our skin,

they smiled as our muscles gave up,

we didn't surrender, even when they hit us hard.

We pictured handcuffs as ornaments,

and jails as a paradise with our valentine.

The brothers who swore to us,

to keep the struggle alive,

must have been dead or brutally killed.

Had they been alive, the chill would been unnoticed,

the blanket of coldness would have been stripped off,

the Sun would have been ashamed,

their struggle would have been much warmer.

In this island where we have been kept,

and there's water and water around everywhere,

fellow prison mates and guards to accompany us,

beyond the walls are poisonous snakes,

there's no way we can even escape.

Pass on the message, to our brother's,

ask them to be safe, and continue the struggle,

we are born indebted to our motherland,

the debt shall vanish only with death.

Our sacrifice shall be recognized,

only when the Tricolour shall be held high.

The generations yet to come,

shall know they they got their peace,

because some men choose to weep,

in dark cages, and pictured victory.

These line have been penned up as a respect to those Indian revolutionaries who were jailed in Kalapani.

Priortization

For late adolescents and people in twenties, it is a hard decision to make when it comes to choose between family, friends and their partner. All three have got their importance's in an individuals life. Parents are the backbone of life. From birth, education and till everything parents are the backbone. From advice's in career counselling to spending time at the evening plebeians gatherings, friends become an integral part in life. Partners, apart from evening park walks and coffee, walk close to heart although in some cases, they don't turn out to be life partners. After everything an individual needs time for himself. Some me time is very essential, even if someone gets to sleep very less he needs that quarter hour before sleeping to think about himself. So here come's the problem of prioritization. Who should be given priority? Is it family, friends, partners of self that deserves priority?

My roommate, Siddharth Choudhury suggests a theory of 'Three Thirties and a Ten'. What he wishes to convey is that family, friends and partners are of equal importance and the trio needs 30% weightage each. The remaining 10% is the me time. He says although the weightage of me time is lowest yet that must be the most efficient utilization. If we fail in the utilization of me time then we shall be lost. He says that is a person can't give time for himself than surely that person won't have any time for others too. The trio of family, friends and partner should be maintained equally and it should be watched that one doesn't supersede the other. 

I completely agree to his postulate but I believe in occasional transformations in the weightage. Well at this age if the question and opportunity of career pops in, than the me time weightage should be increased. If our parents get sick or they need us to take our stand in the family, than the weightage for family should be increased. If our friend is lying in the hospital bed or is depressed sitting beside the lake, than without giving a second thought we must rush towards him. If our partner is lonely then its time to be beside her, taking evening strolls with our hands around her waist and making her feel secured. What I believe is just a minor alteration to  the prime idea of my roommate. After all, this stage passes through mood swings, affections, responsibilities, career leaps and repents; yet this remains as the happiest time throughout our lives.

Plebeian's Den

Haven't you seen some boys gathering outside your home at the shop on the corner of your lane? Those boys utter slangs at times, they also try to sing bollywood songs, they talk about everything, starting from India's economic policy to the beautiful girl who lives down the lane. They are heroes in their own world. For some gentlemen, they are hooligans. Although they have never spotted them getting indulge in any brawls yet they coin them to be a hooligan. They keep on staring at the boys who play gully cricket. They feel like playing, yet they refrain themselves from doing so thinking about certain social protocols. They realize losing their childhood and steeping in the youth. They smoke cigarettes at times. The smoke gets lost in the atmosphere in the same way their innocence gets shattered in the society.Yet there lives a child inside them. They dream a lot. They have tamed a lot of dreams within them for decades. Whenever they see a cricket match going on, they dream to be Sachin Tendulkar. With every blockbuster they dream to Salman Khan. With every melodious song they dream to be A R Rahman. They even mug up dialogues from movies. They are dwelling in midst of hopes, aspirations and expectations. Their family expects them to earn a lot and they hope they shall do it one day. Every morning they come with a dream to achieve big and by every evening they assure themselves that the next day shall have something good for them. Those who have lived it, they understand and as for the rest, they are just some hooligans. For some, they are just like the millions; yet surprisingly, everyone of them is unique, just like everybody else.  

Stereotyping 13

12/09/2015

Guwahati

I was ready for my best shot. I was sure to win. I saw towards him. Just like the last few times he was confident as always. I saw his eyes, there wasn't a pinch of fear in them. Perhaps he was a born champion. He never stared at my eyes, or rather I wasn't the person that he should have been afraid of. If he would have stared at my eyes he would have noticed immense fear in them. The fear of losing again. Finally I lost. Perhaps I wasn't prepared to give my best shot. I will try again the next time.

13/09/2015

Guwahati

I was fully prepared and ready for my best shot. Although he won the last few times, yet this time I was unbeatable. I am the champion. I lost just because its 13th, the unlucky day. Had it been any other day, I would have been holding the trophy and posing for pics.

It is strange how we blame a date for all the bad things that has happened to us. It is time to end this stereotype. 

The Epics say it all..

The Hindu Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata teach some great  lessons.

Ravana, the emperor of Lanka, who has been the greatest devotee of Lord Shiva and who was blessed with immense knowledge, power and strength by Lord Shiv himself got himself trapped in insatiable love of Mother Sita. He was so fascinated by her charm that he went to the extent of kidnapping her. Ultimately he had to lose his life and kingdom. This teaches us that love for an woman shouldn't be beyond bounds and is she has no consent, then shouldn't be forced at all.

Duryodhana and his brothers were jealous of their brothers. They also tried to kill the Pandavas by animosity. The Kauravas also tried to trick them in gambling and send the pandavas to an incognito period of twelve years. Ultimately the Kauravas were shattered in the eigteen day long war and the Pandavas succeeded to the throne. This shows that greed leads to death.

Manthara, who was the maid of Queen Kaikeyi helped her plan the plot and ultimately Lord Rama, who was the successor to the throne of King was sent to exile and his younger brother Bharata was asked to take the throne, which Bharata declined. Vibhisana, who was Lord Ravana's brother knew that his elder brother was doing wrong and he advised him not to do so. When his elder brother refused to listen to him and joined the right side. Manthara and Kaikeyi acted villains although they were associated to the sacred family of Lord Rama. On the other hand, although Vibhisana was Ravana's brother yet he chose the correct side. This shows contrary to the common belief that a man is known by the company he keeps. Instead it is not so easy to judge a man by his company.

It happens in Love

"Aren't you hungry today?" she asked.

"Hmmmm.. Yeah, but I don't want to go out today."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Nothing such in particular."

"You seem little off today."

"It's nothing like that. I am fine."

"Then come out boy."

"Okay I am going", replied the boy. He sounded little confused yet he tried to act determined to keep his word in front of her.

They met. She was clueless about his sudden abnormal behavior.

"I am hungry. Come, lets have something", the girl proposed after she discovered sudden silence among them. She was more keen to start the conversation then to have something to eat.

"I am not hungry", he replied.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Please have your food. I will wait and sit beside you."

She ate as her order arrived. Although she got her food when her hunger was at the peak and she should have been happy at that, yet she wasn't. In fact she was disheartened.

After the food, they walked to the shop at the end of the lane from which the boy bought his daily quota of cigarettes after their evening snacks.

He didn't walk towards the shop. Instead he stared at her.

"Can you lend me 100 bucks? I will return you at the earliest."

"Okay sure."

She drew out a hundred rupee note from her purse and handed it over to him. 

"I saw your purse empty. By any means, was it the reason that you didn't want to come out to eat?" asked the girl.

"Yeah."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. For the last few days you have been paying for my food and booze. I feel guilty. Today I had to ask for the cigarettes. I don't know what shall happen next."

"Oh now I get why you were behaving like a jerk all this time. Please don't say such things. You have paid for my food, shopping and outings whenever you had money. In fact most of times you have spent most of your salary on me."

"I don't feel okay since for the last few days you have been spending your salary on me."

"Oh come on, we have been together for years. If you could have skipped lunch and saved for my birthday gift then this is nothing in front of them."

She hugged him tightly. As the girl pulled him to leave, the guy stopped her.

"I am hungry. I want to have bread omlete."

Hearing this the girl laughed her heart out. She watched him have his food.

As they both were leaving, the boy slowed down gradually. The girl couldn't understand initially. As she rolled her eyes in inquisitiveness, she discovered the bar around her. They both entered and drank beer.

The Dilemma at 32-33

"When are you getting married?" asked a common friend when they were sitting at a restaurant.

They stared at each other. Finally they both ended up saying "Don't Know."

A week prior to that day.

"Are you my girlfriend?" asked the confused boy.

"Even if I say that I am your girlfriend, it won't make any difference."

"Then what would you reply if someone asks your relationship status?"

"I won't reply at all. I will let them make it out from my smile" the girl replied.

"I don't know what to say."

"You see you are younger to me."

"We aren't the only couple where the female is elder to the male. There are many like us. In fact the number is increasing day by day", replied the boy confidently.

"You are 23 now and I am 24. When do you have plans to get married?"

"You see I have a lot of things in my life to do. After I complete my masters I have to work hard enough to support my family. In these prime years of my life I also aim to establish business. I can't aim to get married before 32."

"I will be 33 by then."

"Yeah."

"Do you think my family members will allow me to wait?"

"When do your family members want you get married?"

"They will wait for a few years after my masters is complete. They shall give me all chances to excel in my career but they would really be disheartened if I want to wait after 28."

"I can't get married before 32."

"When you will be 32, I shall be 33. You see there is the problem."

"Isn't there any solution?" asked the guy.

"If you have anything in mind, then you can suggest."

"I am confused sweet heart."

"You see we both belong to different tribes. There shall be many hesitations from my family members, but since my father is supportive he shall allow that, but I am sure he won't allow me to wait till 33 to get married."

"What should we do now?"

"Let us not be together" the girl replied. Although she said it, she didn't mean it literally.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Then you suggest a way out."

"You see let us be together till we can and lets see what happens next."

"We are together but we have no chances of commitment. We know that we are never getting married and yet we take chances to live together. We are bounded only by little ray of hope."

"Perhaps this was the most serious conversation among us till date", said the guy.

"Please don't talk anything about relationships and commitment anymore. It isn't so easy for me."

A Child's Judgement

He was young enough. At such a tender age, social differentiations of rich and poor aren’t generally known, unless the parents have worked hard to grow a child to be extremely class conscious. He, luckily wasn’t born to such parents and all he knew was to live and let live.

He saw two young children who belonged to his similar age group. He expressed his willingness to play with them. They rubbed their stomach and with broken words said that they hadn’t eaten for a few days. He felt sorry. He asked if their mom didn’t cook pasta for them like his mother did for him. They replied that didn’t know who their mother was. They weren’t fed by anyone, except for those few generous people who threw pieces of leftover bread upon them. He felt as if a pin had pinch into his chest.

He saw a small puppy on the road. The young boys said that even the puppy didn’t have anything for the last few days. They expressed that shall be obliged enough if he could arrange something for them as well as the puppy.

The young boy thought to take the trio of them to his home but since his mom had left for office there would not be anyone to cook them something to eat.

He rushed to the nearby restaurant and asked, “How much would you take to give food to the three of them?”

The manager was his father’s friend. He passed on a smile and said, “Hundred bucks would be enough.”

“But, I don’t have hundred bucks”, replied the young boy.

“Then wait till your mom comes. She will cook something for them once she comes here”, replied the manager.

“They have been hungry for so many days. They can’t wait more”, he said and left the place.

He thought for a while and then picked the puppy. He rushed to every door and asked if they wanted to buy a puppy. He was disappointed at many doorsteps. Finally he found the nearby temple Priest and asked him, “Panditji I know you want a puppy. Please buy him.”

“How much are you selling him for young businessman?” asked Panditji.

“Hundred bucks Panditji.”

The Panditji gave him hundred bucks and asked the puppy. The young boy asked ten minutes from Panditji. 

He took the hundred bucks and rushed with the puppy. Panditji followed him.

When Panditji saw him buy meal for the three at the restaurant, he was left speechless.

“You should have bought them to the temple. We cook food for hundreds of people everyday. Even they could have had their food there.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Young boy, you know a lot of things and you have made a proper judgment of the situation. Why did you think to sell the puppy?”

“By selling puppy I thought it would get a new home and my friends out there would have got a meal.”

“Now you don’t need to worry. Your friends and the puppy will get free meal at the temple everyday. Moreover I will pay the food bill here. You keep the hundred bucks with you.”

“I don’t need hundred bucks.”

“Keep it, if again you meet friends who haven’t had their meals then buy them something to eat.”

“Okay Panditji.”

Live free, die Young..

The sight to the open roads,

And a two wheeler upon it,

A wish to fly swift like a bird,

And forever be like that.

Live free, die Young.

The charm of a lovely lady,

With she leaning upon me,

Walking towards unknown lanes,

Without the fear of getting lost in them.

Live free, die Young.

The company of like-minded’s,

And their pleas to break rules,

To be a revolutionary by heart,

To walk with our boots on across the dirt.

Live free, die Young.

To seek for freedom in the air,

To act like a fighter, today and forever,

To live young although I have lived for decades,

To live free is the only urge.

Live free, die Young.

Encoded Love

A renowned mathematician of his time, he was known for his ability to play with numbers. He had no habit of playing cards or watching television. In his leisure time, he kept on multiplying long digit numbers and he kept on doing it every day. He had no aim to set any record to calculate at the least time but he kept on calculating. He did so because that was his fun. Apart from the people in his town he was known by academicians and scholars from all over the country. He had a welcoming attitude for everyone and was delighted whenever guests turned up at his place; but he didn’t appreciate whenever people used to boast about his name and fame. He never spoke much other than his subject. He always enjoyed teaching young minds. He never scolded anybody because of their inability to take up lessons fast. Instead he had the patience to teach a thing numerous times until the other person had known about it. He didn’t charge anything for his lessons to the young school going kids. Instead he had chocolates for them every day during the class. He believed in enjoying the process of learning. He also loved to teach because it was not many years since he had left his school life. He was a scholar by brain, a young lad by age and a child by his heart.

Time passed on. His popularity should have increased but it didn’t. Instead people seemed to avoid him. They thought that perhaps he had turned lunatic. He didn’t harm anyone; but he spoke less now. Instead he kept on staring at the walls, once which were painted with cozy colours but now covered with strange arrangement of similar numbers. He had the numbers 5.22.15.12.25.13.5.5.13.9.18. written everywhere. The few visitors often tried to ask him what did it mean but they were always dissatisfied. Everyone thought perhaps the man who had the habit of playing with numbers got lost into a strange pattern of few of them and he shall be entangled with that pattern forever. Nobody thought that he was alright. Nobody tried to decode the pattern. Perhaps the world had already lost a genius.

One fine day he woke up and found a letter at his doorstep, which was delivered by the old postman of the town and who was his good friend until everyone coined him to be a lunatic. He opened the letter and jumped to excitement. He had no one around with whom he could share. He rushed to sweet shop and bought a lot of sweets. He rushed to the few neighbours and asked every one of their family to take a piece. Instantly they got away with the fact that they had coined the same man as lunatic and they broke into the piece of sweet, exhibiting a bogus smile so that they were conceived as to be gentle by others. Nobody wanted to know why the young man was so happy and he didn’t bother. He was busy distributing sweets. A high school student of his, who was in college by then and who was strictly barred by his parents to visit him kept watching. He saw the letter in his hands and found a name in it. He rushed to the mathematician’s place and looked at the numbers. He found something interesting in the numbers. He realized he has just decoded something. He smiled for a while and took a piece of chalk and placed letters for every number. He found something as EVOLYMEEMIR. He rearranged the words by reversing the order of digits. He found something very meaningful, RIMEE MY LOVE. He wasn’t sure if he had decoded the correct way but he could make sense out of something that everybody didn’t even care to look at. Just then the young mathematician entered the room and saw the words. There was a tide of smile in his lips. The college lad had the unspoken confirmation that he had decoded correctly. He snatched the letter from the mathematician and read it. There was news of a new born and which was written by Rimee. He was about to ask the mathematician but until then the mathematician spoke himself.

“Rimee was my classmate. We liked each other. I was into her and she too had the same for me. She was beautiful but not strong; because if she would have been then she would have obviously expressed her hesitation to marry the businessman’s son.”

“Why are you distributing sweets on the birth of her baby?” asked the astonished young boy.

“We always dreamt to have a family. She always had the dream of having a baby. Her dream is complete today. It’s a moment of glory for me.”

The boy kept thinking; he tried to make his way amidst the love of the mathematician and the society who had termed him to be a lunatic. He found petals of love in the numbers of the lunatic. He picked the second last sweet for himself and offered the last sweet to the mathematician and celebrated the birth of Rimee’s daughter. All he could do was celebrating the birth of a new born or cherish the loyalty in the heart of a lover.

It’s not bribe, take it as a gift

The man in the white shirt points towards the man sitting on the table at the corner with an indication to pass him a part of their lot. They didn’t hesitate to distribute or rather, tried to include everyone in their part of crime. They didn’t want anyone to spot them as corrupt and inefficient; rather they were happy when people cursed the entire system.

“Sir, this is for you”, said the man and kept those few thousand bucks notes on his table that was entirely black earning and which they shamelessly concealed in a white envelope.

The man kept looking. He hadn’t been given any such envelope ever before. He hesitated to place it in his pocket, as he wasn’t used to accept such gifts. He couldn’t reject so easily because of the recent happenings at his home. He went into a state of confusion where on one hand had the temporary recovery of the discomforts at his home if he compromised with his principles and on the other hand was to return back to the discomforts and live complaining about his meager earning,

“It’s not a bribe, take it as a gift”, said the voice of his colleague who was elder to him in age.

He looks at him and gives enough clues to everyone around regarding the state of discomfort that he had been going through to keep that envelope in his pocket.

“Your dad is detected with cancer and with the amount of money that you earn it is impossible to admit him to a good hospital. If you start taking such gifts, probably you can take him to a better hospital,” said another officer from his table.

“You see when I was of your age even I hesitated to take such gifts. With time I had to compromise” said another person to make him feel comfortable with the different stages a person had to go through while molding himself from an honest officer to a bribe hunger.

The young boy thinks of his father and he feels justified to accept the gift. He couldn’t have let his father die in front of him. He gives another thought about his father. His father had been a school teacher and if he gets to know that his son had been a part of such malpractices to save his life, he would probably die at that instant itself.

The young officer walks out of the room. His modesty pushes him to say a word of apology to his colleagues as he had betrayed their proposals but he didn’t. He thought to be manner less with such people whom his father always used to hate.

“Your father is dead. Come home soon, we have to start with the cremation before it gets dark; but finish all your work before you come home. In his last words, dad refrainedme from calling you during your office hours. He thought probably you would be disturbed. Come home soon brother, the body is starting to get cold and he needs your shoulder”, said his younger brother with a broken cold voice.

He realized his eyes getting wet, yet he picks up his head in pride. He didn’t let his father down even in his last minute. His father always said him that whenever he died he always wanted others to know him because of his ideologies and honesty, and his son held that high even in the worst minute of turmoil. He kept the thoughts of his father alive even if he had passed away, probably giving the best gift that his father ever expected.