King Nothing

It’s said that left handers are brilliant. Guru was exceedingly brilliant in whatever he did. I don't know whether that was related to his left handedness. Thank god his parents never realized he was left handed. Otherwise they would have tried to curb his natural instinct. Even he discovered it when he was about nine years old. Though Guru will vouch that his father was never forceful about things, but I do not have any proof to believe him. Actually he was never groomed commensurate to his true potential. This may be because he was the youngest in the family among the six children. He being extremely handsome, very fair with dark curly locks didn’t make him special for his parents. I guess they might have got bored to care about their youngest one.

Wish I may?
Wish I might?
Have this I wish tonight?
Are you satisfied?
Dig for gold?
Dig for fame?
You dig to make your name?
Are you pacified?

But left alone, Guru could do a lot of things not expected out of him. He used to dive off a precarious rope bridge, vertically down, almost 50 metres, into the rambunctious Bhima River when he was just six years old. He was a natural swimmer. He could ride his horse at lightning speed. He had even encountered a lion without knowing what animal it was. He could climb mountains nearby Arlimatti, without any guidance, all alone. Though sometimes he got confused about the way back home, that too just because of post sunset darkness, he managed to get back by asking directions from the village folks. His innocent statement when some elderly fellow asked about whose child was he, was "I am the youngest son of Akka and Mama".

All the wars you wage?
All the things you've changed?
Then it all crashes down
And you break your crown?
And you point your finger?
But there's no one around

He wasn't that good at studies though. Actually, nobody at his home, his village and even at his school cared for studies. The school provided education only till fourth standard anyway. So I guess his careless attitude regarding studies was okay. This was mainly because he never used to get time for studies out of his adventures. Leela, his elder sister used to accompany him sometimes. She was never as dare devil as him, but watching him riding horses, climbing the guava trees and stealing the fruits from neighbours' orchards was good fun for Leela. Of course she used to get the sweetest red guavas, proof bitten by parrots. This Arlimatti village which I spoke of before was so remote that even British had never come to know about it. This is evident from the fact that Guru had never seen any British officer, even being born in 1941 and having stayed in the village till 1948.

Just want one thing
Just to play the king
But the castle's crumbled
And you're left with just a name
Where's your crown, King Nothing?
Where's your crown?

Born and bred by himself like a King, he would be reduced to King Nothing. One fine day he was told to shift to Bombay to stay with his elder brother. He had to swim couple of kilometers in the Bhima, to reach a bigger village for catching a train to Bombay. His father too had accompanied him till Bombay after selling off his orchards, farms, horses, cattle and every other possession. Otherwise he couldn’t have afforded to pay dowry to Leela’s in-laws. Guru, thus born rich became suddenly poor and couldn’t inherit any familial wealth. But he was unaware of all that. All he cared in life was always exploring new things without any fear. His curiosity crossed the boundaries of school in the first few weeks itself. Books were never interesting as much Bombay was. It was a damn good happening place in those times, with booming Bollywood and nice cheap places to eat Bombaiyyah food. He began to bunk school and watch Dev Anand and Dilip Kumar movies in theatres. He could memorise all the dialogues in the movies and the names of even side actors but couldn’t recite a poetry taught at school.

Hot and cold
Rock the soul
A heart as hard as gold
Yeah! Are you satisfied?
Wish I might
Wish I may
You wish your life away
Are you pacified?

But he never knew what this Maximum City had in store for him. He barely managed to finish his school and started doing menial jobs. At machine press shops, as a contract worker in Automobile factories, as a helper in BARC Atomic reactor workshops and what not. Finally he managed to get a permanent job as an electrician in a company. His colleagues congratulated him for getting a ‘White Card’ but he wondered what worth this card was. He still remembered his life in his village. He stayed in bachelor accommodation of 10ft x 10ft area occupied by 10 people. If he came home late, there was no space for him to sleep. He couldn’t have afforded a bigger house in his Rs.40 per month salary. He worked overtime for eighteen hours a day and started to sleep on railway platforms.

All the wars you wage
All the things you change
Then it all crashes down
And you break your crown?
And you point your finger?
But there's no one around

He could never get the girl he wanted. He got married when he was 34, more out of compulsion than need. Had a daughter who was the apple of his eye. But more struggles were beckoning. His daughter had a fatal neural disease. He didn’t have enough money to cure her. He knew she was going to die, though his wife never believed it. His wife was a very orthodox kind of a lady who thought that god can save her daughter. But Guru never believed in god, he had always thought that Guru will make his own destiny. His factory got locked up because of labour union problems. Guru was broke. An owner of hundreds of acres of land was thrown into a situation to borrow from others. Plus with some really mean relatives and so called friends offering no help, moral or monetary, he saw his two year old child dying in front of him, and he couldn’t do anything.

Careful what you wish
Careful what you say
Careful what you wish
You may regret it
Careful what you wish
You just might get it

History had to repeat itself after twenty four odd years. I wish I could have helped him more but somehow I was totally out of his domain. He knew that he was King Nothing.