When I met a Prince

It was early 1990s. The small town of Changanacherry in Kerala woke up to an incredible news! We’re going to have an exhibition in our little town. So what’s the big deal about exhibitions? Has there never been exhibitions before? Of course there were many and people loved to be a part of these. So what’s different this time? What was getting exhibited made all the difference now. It was something the town only started hearing off late. An exhibition of a curious invention called ‘computers’ that is meant to change the world!

Getting ready to step into my teenage years, I was obviously super excited with the prospect of seeing this magical thing. All of us in the town counted the days to the exhibition and awaited in anticipation. Finally the day came and people flocked in large numbers to see the machine nick named as the game changer of the world.

We got into the building where the exhibition was conducted. I remember standing in a long queue and waiting for my turn to be near a computer. Soon enough, we stepped into an air conditioned hall, which itself was a luxury in my town. There they were! A few boxes, some in square shape and others rectangular. Got to know later that they were known as monitor and CPU.

There was a glass partition between the viewers and the magical boxes. There was no way of touching a computer. The exhibition literally allowed you only to have a glimpse of future! There were two or three computers, each one of them displaying some or other images. One of the computers attracted a huge crowd, especially kids. The organizers of the exhibition were having a tough time to control the crowd.

It was finally my turn to be in front of the most happening of the computers. There in front of me stood a small square box where certain pictures could be seen in black and white. Some of the images from the book One Thousand and One Arabian Nights appeared to come alive in front of me. Shortly enough came a writing on the screen, it read ‘Prince of Persia’. I was seeing a computer game for the first time ever in my life!

He was the simplest of the Prince I ever imagined! Pictured in a dungeon wearing a white jump suit trying to reach a level where an imprisoned princess awaits him to be saved. It was to be the most exciting game I’ve ever played in my life. Needless to say the exhibition was a grand success!

Little did I know that day, in a couple of decades I’ll literally end up in Middle East with my job in the land of Royals next to erstwhile Persia!  

Love in Corona

Alex circled red today’s date on the calendar. It had been three months since he started working from home. The concept was quite enticing for him initially, but soon reality hit him! While at office he had some breathing space in between meetings. Whereas now, all what he does is jump from one meeting to another as everyone is on Microsoft Teams and is just a call away.

The day wasn’t different. A series of back-to-back meetings were lined up. Even the space on the Outlook calendar he marked for lunch got double booked a few minutes back. It was going to be a working lunch like many other days. To tell the truth, Alex started to get a feeling that he missed his office! The only thing that held him back was the virus which was still at large outside.

He had earlier made a cup of tea for himself and prepared some coffee and milk for his wife and kids. Soon enough, he got into the crazy schedule of meetings during the day. After a while his tummy started making noise. The internal alarms for hunger started getting active. He was hoping that Nisha will soon have something made for breakfast.

It was closer to 10 o’ clock when Alex got a teeny bit of gap between two meetings. He quickly checked in the kitchen but was welcomed by empty dishes! Nisha was quite busy with E-learning for their younger daughter in Kindergarten. Alex got a bit annoyed as hunger was something he couldn’t hold longer.

Soon he got into the next call and was in between a heated discussion when his elder son barged in shouting ‘Love you Appa’! Alex before even realizing what he was doing, asked his son to get out of the room. The air was getting more tensed with a deadly combination of hunger and disturbance.

The day continued to be very hectic and by the time he got up from his seat it was quite late into the evening. In between the day, which was nothing short of crazy, there were multiple fights he picked up with his wife and two kids. Before even he realized, they had retired to bed even before he could mend the gap and didn’t even get a chance to kiss them good night.

Alex decided to settle down to watch TV for some time. It was his favourite news channel that cracked alive. A news item was in progress about the latest victim who succumbed to Corona, a four year old little girl. The video showed a house in a locality that was quite familiar. In fact it was just two blocks away. Alex recollected seeing the news a week ago about a little girl getting infected and taken to a hospital.

He saw an ambulance leaving the house and the sight of a heart-broken father that will melt even the coldest of the hearts. The father was heard lamenting, ‘They didn’t even show us her face. I couldn’t even kiss my little angel a final goodbye. The last thing she asked me was a simple box of crayons and I denied even that to my child!’ Little did he know that he was going to get a second blow the very next day when his company will announce a round of layoffs and his name was in the list!

Alex never felt his heart so heavy. Grief overpowered him. The series of images on the TV reminded him of how petty were his issues for which he fought throughout the day with those who matter. He switched off the TV and headed to the bedroom. The three souls that meant more than anything else in his life were sleeping. A ray of light found its way into the bedroom. In that dim light he saw the angelic faces of his loved ones. They all seemed to lack the usual shine. All of them appeared disturbed with the experience he gave them through the day.

He sat next to his little one. She was holding her favourite teddy. The words on it read, ‘World’s Best Dad’! Her curly hair had fallen on to her eyes. As he gently parted them, tears started rolling down his cheeks. He tried to stop them, but in vain. They fell on to her lovely little cheeks. He was afraid he’ll wake her up. She stirred on the bed but didn’t wake up. Instead she took his hand and wrapped them around her, one of her most favourite ways to sleep when she experienced the greatest safety in this world! 

Father’s Day

It had been twelve years since his son started at the new place. As a father, it was heart-breaking to let his son be taken away and allow him to grow up elsewhere than at his own home where he was provided everything. It was a strange situation, one he prayed that no father ever had to endure. These are the times even the mighty ones seem to be helpless.

One solace was there though. He had a palatial house at the capital city which was a centre of attraction for many. People from far and near used to flock to this place which he was kind enough to open for the public. He had promised his son’s new guardians to bring him once every year to him. They kept their word always.

As usual they came to the father’s place this year as well. They used to take some of their relatives also with them. After spending a considerable amount of time, the group returned to their native place. Father and son met near the main hall of the house. They had lots to catch-up from the previous year, starting with his recent twelfth birthday celebration. As they spoke, a few of the elders and prominent citizens of the city happened to walk past them. They heard the child speak to his dad and was quite impressed with his depth of knowledge.

They invited him for a debate which was the custom those days. The son loved it. He promptly said yes. Debates those days were serious affairs. People got engaged in conversations so deep that they seldom realized how time flew.

Three days went by and he was right in the middle of a very interesting argument, when he was interrupted by a startling cry of joy! It was his foster mother who found him after three days of frantic search, after they realized that their foster son was not with them when they returned to the native. She was a bit annoyed at him for staying back and even expressed her displeasure openly.

His father was watching this from the far end of the hall. Interestingly he didn’t make any move, though the eyes of father and son met. They knew it was time for him to leave.

Nevertheless, the son didn’t conceal his disappointment. He told the mother, “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

Joseph, his foster father touched his shoulder and looked into his eyes. They had the same glow as his father’s. They returned home, together.  

The Crown

Longinus marched into the open hall of the Praetorium. He was accompanied by three soldiers representing major legions that belonged to Judah, a significant province of Roman Empire. He was the chosen one to be crowned as Centurion of the newly created group of legionaries, the fearless infantry men.

After Caesar, the Roman Governor alone is authorized to crown the new Centurion. As the custom was, Longinus stepped forward and knelt down in front of the Governor. A silver tray was brought to the Governor on which a beautiful crown rested, made of red flowers of Euphorbia milli. The red appeared quite intense. Longinus remained kneeling.

The Governor lifted the delicate crown and placed it right on his head which appeared to fit well. To ensure that the crown stays safe, Governor pushed it down. Longinus writhed in pain! Right in the middle of the crown along with blood red flowers of the beautiful Euphorbia milli, there was a sharp thorn which pierced directly into his flesh.

Help arrived in no time. Before Longinus was further affected, they removed the crown and tossed it aside. A soldier brought another crown made of a different set of flowers. The crowning ceremony went ahead without any further interruptions.

The Praetorium was soon empty with the Governor returning to his palace. The guests had all gone back. The hall was cleared of everything unwanted including the crown with the thorn. The trash was dumped behind the Praetorium near the scourging pillars, including the crown.

It was destined to rest there, adjacent to the wall for the next three years and grew itself into a plant with sharp thorns all over. A man was brought in one fine day for scourging, apparently of no fault of his. Longinus was the Centurion still and one of the soldiers took a long stem from the same plant and made a befitting crown, but this time instead of one, it was covered in thorns.

The man cried in pain as Longinus pressed the crown on to his forehead, precisely the way he cried three years ago. They mocked at him and gave him the name ‘Rex Judah’…