“I wish I’d been there earlier. I wish I had a different story to tell you. But all I can tell you now is why he was murdered.” Victor had never imagined he would be saying this to a 16-year-old Reyansh, who was looking at him with many questions in his eyes.
Reyansh had lost his father, Mohan, when he was just 3 years old. He had no memories of his father. With every passing year, his curiosity to know what happened to him grew even more. He kept asking anyone he thought, would tell him, any small detail about his father. He wanted to know how he looked, what his favorite sport was, did he like spicy food like him or did he fail his exams anytime?
Everyone in the village empathized with him and they all had their own version of stories about what happened to his father and how he died. His mother too had her own story, which he was never was convinced off but, he never questioned her too. He could see the pain in her eyes whenever he mentioned him. He knew the difficulties she went through to raise him. He always wanted to hide the unrest in his heart and smiled at her, to let her know in his own way, how happy a child she has raised. He loved her immensely and had now somewhere stopped mentioning about his father, knowing it will not only upset her, but he will not be getting anything new out of it too. He always felt she had a prepared answer to all his questions, and it was only to protect him from some harsh truth.
His mother Janaki worked in a textile mill since 1970, when Reyansh was 6 years old. India being a large exporter of Cotton then, had started to expand its industries in every part of the country. Before this Industry thunder began, Janaki did any small job she could lay her hands on, so that she does not depend on anyone to raise her son. She never wanted her parents to help too, though she respected their intentions. She always felt like her Mohan was watching her from far above and that she was not alone. She always taught Reyansh that it was important to dream first to achieve it. She knew how Mohan always dreamt of a bright future for them and the lengths he went to achieve it.
She always reminded Reyansh that “dreams are those glowing lights you see in the dark. You know which direction you need to go to reach it, but you cannot see the hurdles you need to cross. You keep an eye on that light and prepare yourself, work hard to get that torch you need, that will help you reach your goal. So, dream my son, dream, dream of the bright future that awaits you and work hard to turn them into reality “
