Vidhi K Sanghvi

India

The Us beyond I

Under the dark, silent skies in the middle of lush green fields in Punjab, in a small village called Moga, we were celebrating and rejoicing our independence from British rule. It was the third year of our independence. We had a gala. While going back to my humble home, I heard a soft noise from the bushes. Thinking it was an animal I went to check it but to my utter shock it was a small, scared kid, shivering and ravenous. I tried to ask him about him in Hindi first, but he didn’t seem to understand it. 

I knew a bit of English and I tried to converse with him,it  turned out that he could understand me. He told me his name was Simon and that he had lost his father in the war. Ever since, he has been wandering around for food and shelter. He managed it in the forest for 2 years, but then the tribals found him, and he ran him out of there. I felt bad for the poor kid, but I couldn’t take him back to the village, as the villagers would not appreciate a British kid in their holy land. But I can’t let an innocent die of starvation just because of his origin! I told him, “Simon! You can stay with me, but there are 2 conditions. One, you can never speak in front of the villagers. Two, never let them know your origin.” He hugged me tight and thanked me.

For years, I took care of him as my own, and even the villagers grew fond of him. But one day he decided to leave for Britain as he wanted to study in his motherland, so he can come back here and help to flourish this village.