Raja and his dreams

This is story of a boy named Raja.

He lived with his mother and sister in a small village in Madhya Pradesh. Just like any 9 year old, Raja was a boy growing up and learning about new things in life. 

One day on his way to school, he saw a leper sitting under a huge banyan tree.

He happened to be eating a chocolate and stopped at the sight of a leper. Being a kind hearted boy, he walked up to the leper and offered him a piece of chocolate. 

The leper, had a shabby blanket over him which prevented Raja from seeing his face. Leper took the chocolate and joined his palms as a gesture to say thank you. 

Raja went on to attend school as usual. 

On his way back, Raja noticed that the leper was missing though the blanket was lying at the same place where the leper sat in the morning. 

He stopped to see if the leper was around so that he can give him the portion of lunch he didn't eat in the day. 

But he couldn't find him and eventually proceeded home wards.

That night he had a dream. He dreamt of the leper sitting right under the tree eating chocolate. He had covered himself in the same shabby blanket which opened just enough to show long and unkempt hair and beard covering his face.

Raja walked up to him and greeted good morning. 

The leper joined his palms to thank him. He didn't speak and tried his best not to touch him.

Raja took a step and placed his hand on the leper's shoulder and asked 

"What happened to you?"

The leper looked up but Raja couldn't see a clear face. It was a face full of hair talking to him.

It said" Do not worry about me. You are a nice boy and thank you for the chocolate".

Being an inquisitive 9 year old, Raja insisted "Please, you have to tell me what happened to you and why don't you have any fingers?. Where is your family and why aren't you with them"

The leper shaked head left to right and said " Go away Raja, you are getting late for school i will tell you my story some other day"

Raja felt scared and surprised. He took 2 steps back and started walking without looking back. He kept on walking and walking for a long time until he stopped till he heard the leper calling his name out "Raja"........"Raja"......"Raja"

Raja turned around to see who's calling

There was nobody there and he was still under that banyan tree and the leper was missing. All that he could see was ....the blanket!

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Confused he headed to the electricity office to visit his uncle. He was well instructed to pay the monthly power bills.

Whats the matter? Asked his young aunt

You look a little petrified today, what's bothering you son?

Aah just a bad dream...whats that red light blinking for? Raja curiously asked.

Oh that...I really dont know. Truly Its been on for quite some days now. I'll take care of the bill for you. Your mother will be waiting for you. Said Parul and had Raja trot home.

Parul worked as an engineer at the power office and was one of the brightest at work. But her best calculations or guesses would not tell her why the Alarm is on?

The electricity is behaving in a different way. There is something which is happening which causes the alert but nothing has affected the usual days work. Everyone in the office knew something was wrong but nobody talked. 

Heading back home in her

 sitting in the office cab. The driver who has been ferrying him to work and back for the last 2 years is sitting next to me. He is in the midst of a career crisis. All that he learnt in his 32 year old life is to drive. He can drive anything which can ply on a road and has wheels. His employer is a thick headed jat whose only purpose in life is to  earn money. 

Whith his limited fleet he attempts to cater a 24/7 business. He has got 2 cars and 2 drivers who are well aware of their masters limitation. 

With hope for a better tomorrow, the two man army sweat it out week after week. But now this hectic life was catching up with Shivdutt. 

Raj Sir….what should I do? Said Shivdutt

What happened Shivdutt?? Asked Raj

Raj sir…I am completely wasted now. He said with a sad expression. You have known me for 2 years now and the way we work is not hidden from you. Remember I had told you that Sanjeev had promised to get a new driver who would take some load off our shoulders?

Yes…but wasn’t that  3 months back?…Raj asked.

Well….. yes and he kept his promise.

So what’s the problem? I asked.

He also bought a new car and signed a contract with VLC call center.

Oops….that’s not a good news  I thought.

VLC callcenter was one of the biggest call centres in Gurgaon and signing a contract with them meant more work for Shivdutt and Anil(the other driver). Although the signature meant a sign of more business and eventually more money for Sanjeev. And Sanjeev’s growth was directly proportional to Shivdutt’s salary. But unlike Raj, he felt grounded by the monotony of the vocation. His never changing schedule behind the driving wheel left him with no scope for innovation. 

There were certain challenges driving a cab. 

One of them was the number of hours one has to go without sleeping. He broke his own record by staying awake and driving around for 73 hours in a go. With the VLC contract he was on his way for an ALL INDIA RECORD if not a WORLD RECORD. He clearly didn’t enjoy his job but dropping out of school and getting married early could only take a man to a certain point in life. There was nothing much I could do to his cause rather than just give a patient ear to his story. And most importantly inject hope and confidence. I am an eternal optimist and this is a known fact(It surfaces regularly when India or Barcelona is loosing in cricket and football respectively). I always believe in a way “out”. Staying in Delhi, my interactions with babus and cops has only strengthened my optimism.

Don’t worry it will all be fine…. Like all other things in life this shall pass too.

I told him.

But he wasn’t listening. He had been quiet and depressed all evening. And my cheering up was evidently not helping.

Ajay sir….i want to do something in life…..i just don’t know what. The day I realize that I’ll leave everything and work for it..he said.

This was this glint  of hope in his eyes which meant a lot. The glint was marred with confusion and the cloud of materialism. It just needed a drop of opportunity to wipe the blemish and the eyes to shine. I could easily relate to that glint because I felt the same. An excuse for opportunity was all that held me back. The day I saw an opportunity I will grab it and wont let it go. In anticipation of a prospect, this too shall pass I thought. But for Shivdutt it came soon in green floral shirt and beige half pants.

The stranger shouted

Usually not the entertaining with such requests, Shivdutt  made an exception and stopped.
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The Earth's gravity was lost!

People felt the loss of ground under their feet. 

They were in air, revolving, moving in whichever direction they wanted. 

The tables, chairs, water jugs, water, men, women, children, infants, their perambulators and the nanny...all floating

every one had a panic look on their face, Ritu was with her friends at school. It was the lunch hour when it happened.
every body was floating.

The boys, the girls, the lunch boxes, desks, chair, teachers, principal.





































































He woke up! Not knowing what to do... he ran up to his mother, who in a half asleep state, hastily made space for him and embraced him to put him to sleep.

Raja had an anxious start to day next morning. All kinds of thoughts ran through his innocent head. The dream had left him confused. He was too scared to discuss it with his mother as he feared she might reprimand him on talking to strangers.

He was worried that he might see the leper on the way to school. 

Though the leper has been harmless in their only meeting, Raja's dream filled his mind with a prejudice to avoid the leper at any rate.

Lazily he walked for school. He was pleasantly surprised to see no one sitting under the tree.

He never saw the leper again!