THE STORY OF LIFE | A 21ST CENTURY RAMAYANA

THE ONE WHO IS A FRIEND

Bharat was standing below the modest resort which belonged to Surya Bhanu, his only acquaintance in the far off town of Kanayakumari. It was early evening, and after cleansing himself, Bharat intended to spend the evening at the beach in solace.

"Thank you so much," he said to Surya. "Sir, I dont know how I will ever be able to return this favour to you."

Surya placed his hand on Bharats shoulder and said,

"You are the next generation of our country. If you stay well, the country will move ahead. You specially, have the power to change a lot that is going on the nation now. I just want you to be aware of your responsibilities as a citizen, for that is what I have advocated all through my life and I will ahead."

Bharat nodded and went inside with Surya handing him the keys.

Somehow, he already felt like a changed person, even before meeting his spiritual guru, with whom his meeting had been planned a day after. He had not an idea, what was in store for him.

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Pawan crashed through the clouds and gripped on to the control of his helicopter tightly. He was panting but finally, after a tedious 7 hours, he could see land. Atleast a glimpse of it.

Pawan's eyes quickly flashed against the dial on the dashboard. He had about 3 hours to spare on land before a flight back, and he intended to make it quick, for the night was falling, and the dark sky appeared not in his favour.

He pulled the throttle to the maximum and his eyes ran over the GPS, Altitude Meter and Speedometer at the same time. Without any coordination with the ATC towers, it was a bit difficult to get to know of his exact position or forthcoming planes, but he could not make the mistake of revealing his existence in front of the outside world.

Pawan called God and gradually began his descent. The copter shook here and there but Pawan managed his best.

With each passing breath, land came closer and after quite a while Pawan could spot habitable land. He saw big waves striking across land.

"Land.. My India..." He whispered in the cockpit itself.

Pawan descended carefully. His copter now was relatively balanced.

He recalled all his journey and the times he almost met with death. For a few hours, Pawan was probably the most isolated person in the world, whose absence would never be accounted for if he had lost his life in the ordeal. But Pawan pulled himself away from those thoughts. He had to go back home, safe. Home, which was Vatika now.

About an hour later, Pawan found himself hovering over distinct land. He could see tall buildings and trees. The golden sand and the blue ocean, how they mingled!

"The GPS says that this Kanyakumari. Relying on it, it must be true," he told himself.

Pawan took a deep breath and smiled.

Kanyakumari. It was the place where he was to find all that was needed for the treatment of all people back in Vatika. He checked his coat pockets once again to find the list of what was needed along with some cash, a bare amount of money all of them back at Vatika had managed to save.

Kanyakumari. Also the place where his Sir was. His tutor, the person who had moulded him. And It was because of his Sir itself that Pawan was in his present situation, which he was both thankful and a bit confused for.