NEVER GIVE UP

"Kunal, get up dear and go help baba with herding the animals." My mother called out from the kitchen in her beautiful voice. I got up, splashed water on my face and joined baba on the way to the hills. My father was a shepherd and took the animals for herding everyday. My family was poor but we were happy together. My father and mother were really kind and wanted to give all the contributions to the poor families like us even if they had something to give or not.

My father was a Major in the indian army but he had to leave the army because his right leg was severely injured in a fight and he couldn't walk or run properly. My father always said that "live so that u can be courageous and brave and never give up when u are doing something for good". My father was a brave man and was respected alot even after retiring from the army. The people in the village, me and my mother were proud of my dad, he never stood up to bad deeds. Our village was a very peaceful and happy place. But they say where there is good there always has to be the existence of bad.

One day while me and my father were herding the animals a big car came and stoped in front of our village gate and a man with a black suit came out of it. When my father noticed the car his face turned red and his hands started shivering, like he knew something bad is going to happen. We brought the animals back and ran to the sarpanch(head) office as the man was walking towards it. When me and my father reached the office, that man was sitting on the chair with his legs crossed, smiling as the sarpanch looked shocked. When my father asked the sarpanch what happened, the sarpanch replied " The government has decided to remove our village and make a wheat and rice factory here". We were all shocked because our village was very old and we never expected the government to ever think about making a factory on the place of our village.

All the village people in the office were perplexed and were talking to each other about how the government could do that to us and that where would we go if they destroy our village, while baba's eyes were starting to tear up.

I never saw him so weak, it was very hard for him as he's grandfather founded the village and took great care of it till his last breath. My father banged the table hard and grabbed the collar of the man and growled with rage " It's not the fault of the government, this man must have threatened or payed the government to do it, so that he can build his factory here. He was eyeing on our village for a very long time but he couldn't do it because my grandfather was in his way but now when he's gone, this man can easily do whatever he wants to do to our village." My father couldn't stand still with his injured leg, he fell down on the floor when his legs gave up. When the village people were helping my father to get up, the man in the suit laughed at my father's face and whispered "kamjor(weak)" in his ears.

The next morning my father went to the place the man was staying and told him to leave the village, this thing repeated till my father's order became a request. In those days I saw my father losing hope our happy family didn't last long and in the time of few weeks the whole village lost hope and a bulldozer came and started destroying our huts, farms, but even then my father didn't lost hope until a man grabbed my father from his collar and said him to stop or they will have to shoot him, as he was being a hurdle in the construction, but that threat didn't affected my father's sincerity and love for the village and he tried to stop those people until one of them shooted him, even if it was illegal no one stood up to that man, as he was a big business man and if he wanted he could kill as many innocent people like my baba.

Even today, after 5 years me and my mother try to seek justice from the government, but everytime there is a hearing the court only advices us to give up, but everytime they tell us to give up, my father's smile comes in front of my eyes and forces me not to. My father never gave up so we will also not, if it is 5 years or 5 decades we will never ever give up. We will always be courageous and stand against bad people, like my father did.