This is my first short story ...I am naming it Armaan according to story line and my wish ....please read it and leave comments ..


The bus took a turn and I woke up again. The person sitting beside me also bent towards the window and his head almost hit the window. “Are you alright?” I asked him. “Yes, I am fine”, he replied. After one minute of silence, he asked me something, I removed my earphones and apologized for not listening him. He smiled and again asked “so, are you living in Dehradun?”. I thought what a typical question to start any conversation and replied affirmatively. He said “ohh!! Good! We are from Raiwala; you must know that small town near Dehradun. You are of my son’s age, he is also very fond of music.” He was reminding me of my father who came to drop me at bus stand along with my mom. I became silent again and tried to listen to U2 song but somehow didn’t feel it. The old person asked me again “So you are a student?”, when is he going to leave me alone, I thought. “No, I am working as a software engineer.” I replied back quickly so that he can cut short and don’t ask what exactly I am doing.. He said “oh!! So you are a computer wizard. Nice to meet a person like you.” I thought what the heck, “it is not like this sir. I am not a computer wizard, just know some software and some times I do coding stuff.” He smiled and cleared his throat “Hmm..My son also likes all these technical things. Once he made a transistor and went around showing it.” I nodded as if I was very much interested in listening to his story. I wanted to say “yes, yes, I know your son, didn’t he get the Noble prize last year”, but remained silent. “He always stood first in his class, and played brilliant cricket. His mom always called him the fortune of our family and called him Raja.” I could sense him smiling while looking out of window. Even I could imagine a small kid next to any door running here and there and his parents calling him. The old man carried on “His wishes to become a great man made him so excited that he used to ask me, Papa, who is greater, a pilot or a scientist? And I always told him that it is not the designation which makes a person great, but it is a person who makes a designation great.” The bus passed through a village on the way. Some small kids were waving their hands at our bus, some were poking their finger in their nose and some were gazing at the passengers as if they were zoo animals. “Raja did not want to go to college to help the family by working in a factory, but I wanted him to finish his B.A. . We managed somehow to pay his fees and he also started taking tuition to help himself” the old man rested his head on the seat. The bus stopped and the conductor shouted, “This halt is for 20 minutes. If you want to have snacks then come out”. I saw the old man as he stood to come out with me. It was a bright day with winter sun right above our heads. We had covered the half distance and now I was listening to this man even when his story was a normal one. We sat on a bench and ordered for two teas. The motel was quite crowded and the waiters were running here and there to bring the orders. “Raja did good in his studies in first year. He made some good friends also and they all came to our small house. Sometimes I asked him to concentrate more on his studies than to roam around with his friends but he assured me that everything is fine. I had great expectation from Raja and I didn’t want him to be in any trouble. He always told me to calm down as he was looking far in future. One day he told me that his friends are starting a business of woods. He told me that they will deal in woods and will supply it to the furniture makers in various cities. His eyes were sparkling like pearl and he was not able to hide his excitement. I asked him to get away from this business as I didn’t feel something good in it. He tried to explain me but I was not agreeing. He then shouted that I can’t see him growing from a lower middle class to rich man. He went out and I thought of him like a small baby arguing for a small toy when he was 4 years old. He accused me to stop his growth, to jealous of his success and what not. That evening our family ate in silence, nobody talked at all”. “Arrey, chalo re !!chalo re, it is the time to start the bus, otherwise we will be late for Delhi ”, it was the bus conductor. I started moving towards the bus and we sat down again on our seats. The old man took out a pan-supari from pocket and put some of it in his mouth, just below the lower gum. He offered me also but I refused it. He started again “Raja did not talk to me for few days. He was always avoiding me and talked in a low tone with his mom when I was there. I did not like his behavior and sometimes shouted at my wife to conspire with her son against me. She asked me to sit with Raja and sort out the issue but I did not listen to her. One day Raja came home with packets in his hands. He gave us all new clothes and told his mom that he has got his first profit in business, he was still not facing me and just put a bag in front of me and left. I opened it and there was a piece of fine winter suit. I took it in my hands, felt the warmth and put it back in the cover. This kept on going for few more days, Raja was making good money and now everyone was happy with him. Even my relation with Raja has come to a new point and we were not avoiding each other any more. One day he came with me to hospital also when I felt pain in my chest. All over the life was good.” The old man shifted a bit on his seat and bit his lip while starting again “then one day my neighbor came in running at 10 in the night. I just had my food and wanted to sleep but his nervous face made me fully awake. He told me that police is asking about Raja. My heart was on my mouth when I heard it. I wore my slippers and came out. Police constable was in front of my door. He was careless as usual and smoking a cigarette. He was talking to a person whom I didn’t know and then he saw me coming. He shifted his weight from left to right leg and asked me if I was Raja’s father. I nodded in yes and then he asked me to come with him. I excused and asked to change and take some money with me. My wife asked me what happened, I told her that it was because of her son that police has come to out door. I was cursing the day when Raja joined this business. Now I felt how come he was earning so much money. I saw my all honors coming down to earth which I earned in past 50 years. My fear was turning into reality and I could sense my heartbeats. I sat down with the constable in his jeep. I was holding tightly the seat and all bad thought were coming to my mind. I was sure that police would have caught Raja for smuggling case as I was reading it all in the newspaper. Then the jeep took a right turn and I asked the constable where is he taking me as the police station was not on that road. Constable asked me to calm down and told me that we were going to hospital. I skipped two or three heartbeats. I asked him what was the case but he was not ready to tell. He told me to calm down as my son was all right. I was not ready to accept this fact. That 15 minutes journey looked like a journey form heaven to hell. I stepped on the hospital steps and saw some more police persons. Their leader was reading a hospital document and then he saw me. He came to me and asked if Raja was my son. I said yes and then he sighed and said that my son was in ICU. Raja was undergoing an operation for critical injuries. I was not able to speak. I felt like my legs were not supporting me. I took the support of the wall and asked him, how it happened. I was sure it must be some gang war of wood business man which had shown my son the face of this hospital. The police inspector told that even they didn’t know the exact incident but Raja was out with his friends in wood yard to do a deal. Some wood smugglers attacked them all of a sudden and Raja and his friends started running. One of Raja’s friends had come with his kid who was 3 years old. The gangsters took a hold of this kid. If Raja would have wanted, he could have run for his life, but he didn’t. He stayed back and brought the kid back. The gangsters surrounded and charged Raja with sharp weapons. His all friends ran away and he was alone there. He fought bravely but he was out numbered by the attackers. He was lying there for two-three hours and then someone brought him to the hospital. Police inspector told that Raja and his friends were opposing the wood smuggler, that’s why smugglers attacked them. His chances were less but I didn’t know what my feeling at that moment was. My son always asked me, how to become a great man and he showed why he was a great person. My eyes were full of tears but these were not only of fear and sadness but also of proud.” The old man stopped for a moment and I saw a line of tear falling from his eyes. I was numb and could not speak for a moment and then asked “what happened then?” the old man sighed heavily and said “Raja survived but injuries were deep enough to damage his nervous system. He uses a wheel chair and can not speak properly. He needs a person to take care of his needs. When ever my eyes meet his, I can see some repent there but I told him that I am proud of his acts. He did what he wanted and that also in a pure manner.” The bus started to slow down and I could feel the Delhi bus station approaching. I was still imagining Raja running in the streets with a kite in his hands and showing it to his father. The old man said with a heavy accent “I have come to Delhi to meet the doctors to consult about my son. I have faith in my god and I will see soon my Raja walking and doing his work again. This time I will not stop him.” I shook hand with him and somehow managed to say “I have never seen a father son relation like this. I wish you and Raja best of luck for future.” Then we took our bags and started to out destination. I turned back and could see the old man’s slowly walking image in the darkness of the bus stop. I took a deep breath and I don’t know why I was missing my parents badly.