JUSTICE!!!!!

There has got to be justice! Somewhere, somehow..

I have to be all alone this diwali, Mischief and me that is. My parents have to go out of town that very night due to some pressing work.  There, somewhere in England, sits my newly wed Bhabhi, wanting to be home, and have a blasting diwali. But she only gets to spend it in a foreign land, where it aint even a holiday.

The Malli has not been doing his work and the other chap has been throwing garden remains at the wrong place. The MC, which is otherwise, too active to be true, is blind to this. And the garbage man has gone mad. Never does his work and ‘demands’ diwali money! B@#$%^&d!

Went to meet the kids today. Missed the bloody bus for no reason, while I waited at the stop! Finally reached, by the longer route one, navigating through loads of traffic. Once there, felt that there is atleast something nice in the world, and that is, my kids. Most of them had gone home, and the ‘real’ destitute ones remained. Manish, a bright child who was once here in sec 47, was crying and was depressed! His family has never contacted him after leaving him here. He had a younger brother, a naughty, intelligent chap. He ran away from school one day, caught a bus and was all set to go to his home town. The police caught him, traced him to the home here (that once was) and called his mom. She came, took the child on the pretext of taking him home and dropped him off in some house (orphanage maybe) in sector 2. He ran away within a week from there too. Again the procedure was repeated, the mother threatened by the police of dire consequences, and so, she finally took him. Where, no clue. I don’t even know if he is alive or not. Such children become apt prospective criminals.

And so, this Manish now, wants to go home. Where is home, who is family? He doesn’t really know. But he wants to go home. He has not yet accepted the fact that he doesn’t have a home anymore. Or even if he does, he is definitely not welcome there. The RM of Snehalaya doesn’t really know the story, and so he agreed to take him all over the city, where ever he wants to go. But where will he go??

I gave the RM an idea, thereby putting in a word for the kids. Told him to pack the kids in the bus, as there are only a few who are left back, and take them around the city on Diwali night. Theyl see around, see the lights and feel happy. They will be out of that place! And then, i told him to get them to sec 47, their old home, and give them a couple of crackers to burst there! Nostalgic, very very nostalgic for the kids, but i think they want to do this for a long time. Maybe being here and doing this will make them realise, that life will just keep moving forward. One should cherish the past, cz once whats gone, can never really come back. What matters is that it happened. And the people who happened in that past, how to keep them preciously around, is what matters.

But how will a 10-12 year old Manish understand this?

Have coaxed the guys to ask around for NCC seats in their school. If they are not available, then we’l do the running around for the general/open seats somewhere. They did seem interested and want to work hard. I hope they take the first step.

And my girls are the best. They innocently inquire- when am I taking over Snehalya?

I really don’t know what answer to give to such naive questions.

Have to get a recharge for the phone. The no. Of ppl i need to call on Diwali are only increasing by the hour. A once in a year festival of lights. I hope the lights of that day bring with it the much needed justice around. The Mallis and the garbage man better be prepared!