Sunday 24 June 2018

MY JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF WRITING-XV


Let me tell you an oft-narrated iconic moral anecdote. It is the story of a child (son) gone astray in life.

One day, a fatherless boy, pampered ad nauseum by his mother, steals a bunch of spinach leaves from his neighbour’s garden and gives to his mother. Forever in penury, the mother accepts it and appreciates him. Emboldened by the appreciation, the boy plummets deeper and deeper into a life of crime and criminal activities. Ultimately, he commits a murder and ends up on the gallows. Realisation of his sins dawns on him but it is too late. As his last wish, he asks to speak to his mother. When the wish is granted, he accuses her, “Had you corrected me when I stole the spinach, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Having brought a child into this world without its permission, it becomes the responsibility of the parents and family to rear it into a good and responsible citizen, impart good and correct familial, societal, and human values. If these are not forthcoming from the parents and family, the child derives these from the peers and various other sources in the society; unfortunately, it may not always be beneficial or positive. Do we blame the child? The child is the victim!

That is the essence of my short story “WHY”, which I tried to highlight in the background of terrorism.

Irretrievably lost in terrorist activities, the youth introspects on his life and his misdeeds, asking himself “Why?”

The story does not have as many reads as I would have liked it to (till date, only 163 reads). Maybe the title is misleading or not suggestive of the topic! Maybe I ought to have given it one of the more dramatic titles “I am a terrorist”, or “Reflections of a terrorist”, but I did not, period, no whys about it.

That’s the problem with me and my writings; you’ll find no hype, no punch lines, no turning of the head three times.

Why?

Bye folks, see you at the next station of halt.

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