Chapter 33 Back Home

2 Days Later

The morning sunlight began to trickle in through the curtains. Debjit was having breakfast at his dining table, where the sunlight fell directly on him. He looked calm and composed as he read the newspaper. His wife came out of the kitchen, turned on the television, and put on the news channel. The anchor spoke about the incident that happened two days ago and talked about the lead police officer who unraveled the mystery and saved 400 people in that incident was to be awarded The Gallantry Medal that day. The name flashed, on the screen along with his photo - Debjit Acharya.’ Seeing this, his wife tipped in excitement. Her daughter joined the scene and jump on the sofas in a circle. She was thrilled.

Debjit watched them both sharing the precious moment. His life was back on track. He stood up and went towards them both.

‘Morning Myra,’ he sighed, cuddling her affectionately. “Good morning, Dad”, she whispered.

The three of them quickly got ready. It was 12 Noon now; time was running out fast. They had to reach the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at 12.30 sharp, where Debjit was to be felicitated. As soon as Debjit’s car reached the spot, he was welcomed by hundreds of people. The Chief Minister was standing on the entry gate to welcome him. They were greeted with proper rituals. To see everything decorated inside and outside, and a big LED screen where Debjit’s picture was shown, Debjit and his family couldn’t be happier. They felt flattered.

He was escorted to the front side, right next to the Chief Minister. Debjit’s happiness was on the next level. The tailoring smile never came off his face. To see each and every person sitting there, praising his name with media personnel covering up his story. He was on cloud nine.

The event started, with a true retreat to Debjit’s police career till now. Then, the Chief Minister was called to share a few words about him. After 2 minutes, Debjit’s name was announced and he was called to come up on the stage. The crowd kept on cheering in the back.

And, finally the moment everyone waited for arrived. Debjit was felicitated with the gallantry medal. He was handed over a mic, to share his words on the achievement.

...

‘Life is unpredictable sometimes. What we see or what we want is not always clear. We travel through sudden fractions of miseries that makes life much more challenging and darker. Still, we intend to live with hope. We can’t control anything that is going on this planet, we all are busy in our lives. Since our childhood, we are taught to be healthy, we are bestowed with strength and confidence to tackle every situation no matter how hard it is. By any deliverance anything goes wrong, we are told by our near and dear ones to hope for the best.

Happiness, sorrow, joy, pleasure, victory and defeat are the two sides of the same coin. For a moment, to the right, the very next moment, to the left. In these short turbulences of balancing life, one thing that again runs to the core is hope.

What if that only hope is shattered? What if your only significance of life is killed right in front of you? What feelings would you have to see that?

If I had been on that marginal path, I would be getting ready to fight for it. A thing which was so precious to me. If it is destroyed. I would have swallowed the person who did this to me.

The same thing happened with Avinash Sampath. A bright and young boy burdened with responsibilities when his mother passed away. His Dad was already bedridden s and he had to save his family’s lives. Most importantly, his little sister, who was his everything. He struggled to make their lives right, he went through a lot of ups and downs, still he managed to get himself through the bad days every time. That’s because he was determined. He had a family to feed and manage.

But five years later, his life completely changed. His sister died in a car accident. He was heartbroken, completely shattered. Later on, he found out that the car accident was a pre-planned murder done by her sister’s in-laws. He demanded justice, but he was uprooted and disposed of his last hope at the end of the day. Deep down inside, he started to unfeather wicked thoughts. He planned for revenge, and within months he had a spur of pure vengeance which led to him to choose the darkest path.” Debjit laid out Avinash’s story. It was challenging for him to comprehend the situation. He was oscillating between extremely contradictory feelings. He just said, what his heart told him. He turned his face towards his wife and daughter. He was struggling down while articulating the story when he saw his little daughter smiling at him. He regained another level of confidence.

He looked at the crowd, took a deep breath, and asked, “What do you guys think? A man whose chose the darkest

path for the love of his family, was he wrong?” He received no reply from anyone. There was a pin-drop silence in the arena.

“In the eyes of the law, he did wrong. But was it right, when his sister was killed?” Debjit asked again

“No.” the audience replied

“We judge people very easily. That person is a criminal. But we never bother to find out the reason why he became a criminal. We are always busy in passing on the judgement without going through proper validation. Gangster are not born, they are made. We people see injustice but can’t fight for it. If that day

Avinash Sampath had got justice for his sister, he wouldn’t have been a criminal today.” Debjit bared his soul out. He bared the reality of our society.

“Today, I take a pledge. To help out that man who suffered so much in his past. A man who remained in profound grief for the love of his family. A man whose dreams were shattered because of injustice. Early this morning I took a decision. I am resigning from the police force and neither am I accepting this award. I am going to help that man. I won’t judge him by what society says about him. I will explore the real truth about him, and create a better life for him. If you want, you can follow me. If not, I am sure I can handle it alone. Thank You.” Debjit dropped the mic. He removed the metal from his neck and came to the sitting arena. He carried his daughter in his arms, held his wife’s hands, and left the place