TELL ME WHY??

P.S : This was my first attempt at a fully serious story first published at my main blog site

TELL ME WHY??

"Manju...Manju..." Raghuraman called out for his sweet grand daughter, as he entered into the house. "Manju is not doing well pa. She is sleeping in her bedroom " replied Anand as he sipped his evening Tea. "Oh, what happened to my sweet heart?", Raghuraman worriedly asked. Anand, "Oh..Nothing Dad, You know na, our Driver Shekar's house caught fire yesterday and he got injured?"

Raghuraman: Oh yes, poor guy Shekar, he is quite a nice man

Anand : Well yeah, we paid a visit to him at the hospital

Raghuraman : Oh is it? I could have come with you na.. Had u informed I would have left early from my friend's house

Anand : Well, we thought we could go quickly and come. We took Manju also with us so that she could console her best friend Gopal (Shekar's son), thatz the mistake we made. Little girl, she is not able to bear all these things whatever happened to Gopal and Shekar. She was weeping from that time. Just now she slept"

Raghuraman : Oh Lord, my sweetie has such a tender heart. (turning to Jaya, his daughter in law) Jaya, Did she take any food after coming from school?

Jaya : No Mama, we went straight to hospital after she returned from school.

Raghuraman Poor soul. OK let's not disturb her today. let her sleep. Let's hope She will come to the terms soon.

Jaya : Agreed Mama, Wait, I will bring you Tea. (Jaya goes to kitchen to bring him Tea)

Anand's family belongs to upper middle class section. Anand works in a Software company as a Project Manager. His family is a short and sweet family of Jaya and his cute little daughter Manju. His father Mr.Raghuraman is also very much a part of their family. A retired school principal, he is the friend, philosopher, guide and play mate for Manju. Manju loves his thatha (Grandfather) so much so that she considers him as her Best friend and shares everything with him more than her school mates or parents. She calls him dearly as Raghu thatha and her favorite line is "Ghar Mein ek kiss on Raghu thatha", by which she implies (or she wants us to understand like that :-)), as soon as she reaches home, she would give a kiss to her Raghu thatha :). Raghu thatha teaches her Moral and Philosophical values to Manju while Anand and Jeya takes care of the lesser important School syllabus. Anand and Jaya, both are nice people with good heart and helping tendency.

Shekar is their car driver,a faithful and sincere person. He stays in the nearby slum just behind Anand's apartments. His son is Gopal, a sweet and smart chap. He lost his mom at an earlier age itself and only his father takes care of him. Everybody in Anand's flats like him very much and he is like a darling for them, always attending to any kind of help they are requesting him. Gopal is Manju's best friend as both are of almost same age. Anand, Jeya and Raghu thatha Gopal as their own child and shower kindness and sympathy on him.

[ Previous day]

Life was going smooth thus, till the previous night when a power leak in the colony transformer set off fire in the nearby slum. The fire wreaked havoc in the slum destorying all the huts there. Since the fire broke out in the night time, the poor ppl didnt have much of time to escape from the perils of the fire accident. Some people succumbed to the burns while many of them got hurt ranging from minor to severe burns. Gopal's house too didnt escape the wrath of the fire. Gopal could manage to escape with few minor burns but his father Shekar gets severe burn wounds in the fire. All the injured people including Shekar get admitted in the Government hospital. That day Anand and Jeya paid a visit to Shekar at the hospital. They took Manju along with them as they thought she would be able to comfort a grieving Gopal. But Manju was apalled at the condition of her dear Driver Shekar uncle and the grief of her best friend Gopal. She could not digest with whatever that happened and burst into tears. Nobody could console her, even the injured Shekar tried to convince Manju that he is alright, but none could stop her tears. Hence Anand and Jaya has to leave the hospital with a crying Manju. And as Raghu thatha said they let Manju sleep without taking her food, hoping sleep would give some peace to her.


[ Next day Morning ]

Raghuraman just gets up from sleep and comes to the hall. Anand is busy going through the daily paper

Raghu : Good Morning Anand...

Anand : Good Morning pa,

Raghu : Jeya, Did Manju got up?

Jeya (worryingly) : Yes mama, she did. But she still looks terribly upset, refusing to take food. I dont know what to do

Raghu : Oh God. I think this is getting serious. O.K Anand, with your permission, let manju take leave today. I shall take her for a walk along park and try to bring her to normal

Anand : Oh ok dad, you are the best person to handle her. Please do it

Raghu thatha takes Manju to park. A sombre Manju quietly follows her thatha. Both were silent during the walk. They reached the park. Seated in the park bench, Raghu thatha opens the conversation

Raghu : Oh dear, why are u so sad? See darling, sometimes you cannot help such unfortunate circumstances.

Manju remains quiet. After a long pause, she opens her mouth

Manju : Thatha, Tell me, tell me why?

Raghu : What darling?

Manju : Tell me Why does Gopal suffer? Why does Shekar uncle suffers ? What wrong they did? You have told me so many stories that only those who are bad or committed evil doing, suffers a lot. What did Gopal do? Why is he suffering, Why does he have to suffer? He is a born poor, he doesnt have a proper house, he only has torn clothes, he doesnt have toys to play with, he is not having good education, he lost his mother from his birth itself, he is not even having a good food daily. He is already being treated severely by God. Then why should he still suffer..Why thatha Why?

Raghu thatha remains silent.. Manju continues

Manju : Look at me, I am born rich, I have good parents who take care of me, I have so many nice clothes to wear on, I have a room full of toys to play with. Appa gets me all delicious food items whichever I ask for, We have car and so on. GOD hasnt given these things to Gopal. All he gives for him is pain, agony and suffering. Do say dear thatha, Is God really fair?

Raghu thatha maintains his calm composure and replies

Raghu : oh Dear, dont doubt about the fairness of GOD. GOD is really fair kanna. Just wait and see na, Gopal would not experience any more pains when he grows up and he is he is really gonna come up nicely in life. All the pains he had been suffering so far will only build his mental strength and resolve. For all that suffering GOD gave him, he would elevate him up in life, see that his sufferings doesnt repeat, make sure he leads a happy life etc., Believe me dear... Your friend Gopal will get only joys in life hereafter..

Raghu heaved a sigh of relief as he said that. He thought this would pacify his grand daughter and she would get convinced now that she would feel assured that Gopal will not suffer again.

But to his shock, Manju's face grew dark and she broke into tears. Amidst those tears she asks

Manju : But, but thatha, does that mean I will lose all that GOD gave me? Will GOD's fairness snatch away all the good things that I had been enjoying, will i lose in life, will i suffer?

Raghu thatha is speechless now... He didnt expect this from Manju. He is unable to tell anything

Raghu : No ma..it is not like that...it is ..it is

Manju : Tell me thatha, if GOD is fair, that would mean I will lose all that I have got, For all the happiness I have enjoyed so far, I will suffer later, I too would face accidents such as Gopal faced

Raghu : No dear no..it will not happen to you

Manju : Then thatha, is GOD unfair? If he is, then my friend Gopal will continue to suffer... there will be no respite for him, his condition will not improve is it? If GOD is fair then i will have to suffer, if GOD is unfair my friend Gopal will continue to suffer...... Now tell me thatha, GOD is partial or impartial?

Raghu thatha remains silent for a moment. He thinks deeply for a while and then in a firm voice reply

Raghu : Yes Sweety, GOD is fair, GOD is impartial

Manju : does that mean (starts crying)....

Raghu : Wait dear wait, let me ask you a question..answer it..... Do you believe that GOD takes care of every one of us?

Manju : (thinks..)mmm... Yes I do

Raghu : If that is the case, then why do you need a Mother and a Father to take care of you when GOD can take care of you

Manju : Well....GOD cant do all things by himself....And he cannot do something for someone exclusively. So he gave me a Mother and Father to take care of me alone.

Raghu : You are absolutely rite sweet heart.....GOD's method of fairness is much different from what you think as fairness. He will not give everything to everybody. If you think GOD has given u riches, good food, dresses and nothing for Gopal, you are wrong. GOD has given Gopal, the strength, the ability to learn things quicker etc., Also dear, If GOD made your family rich and your neighbour's family poor it is GOD's way of telling you that you must use your wealth to make sure that they don’t suffer. If GOD gives you happiness it doesnt mean you keep it all to yourself and enjoy. It means you should share your happiness with others and you should make a sad guy around you happy. Similarly whatever positive qualities you are blessed with, whatever powers u possess, you should make use of it to help others. Thatz the funda behind this. Help ppl when they are in trouble, when they need it, with whatever you are blessed with by GOD. If you forget that and start thinking that all you've got is only for yourself, then dear, you are right, you might suffer later in life. So enjoy what you have, make ppl around you enjoy too with what you have. As and when you do that you would understand the fairness of GOD

Manju wiped her tears. Her face brightened up as she ran to the Granny who was struggling to cross the road. She took her hand and helped her cross the road safely.. She had understood the meaning of LIFE now.