HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY

HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY

“Tap!”, “Tap!”, “Tap!”, “Tap!” the ball kept bouncing on the cricket bat. “Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven….” Nikhil, Jay and Kunal counted in synch each time the ball hit the bat. Rohan was completely focused on the ball and didn't even bat a lid for long. That was incredible for a seven year old. This was a favorite way of passing time for Rohan and his friends, especially on a Sunday afternoon. The custom at Rohan’s place was to have a feast for lunch on Sundays followed by a nice, peaceful nap in the afternoon for about two hours. That was the adult’s idea of celebrating a Sunday and recoup energy. It was a summer afternoon so Rohan was not allowed to go out and play. The best he could do was get his friends to his house and play silently in the house itself. The kids continued playing by taking turns. The sound occupied the whole room “Tap!”, “Tap!”, “Tap!”, “Tap!” and then suddenly  “CLANGG!!”

 

A loud sound of glass breaking was heard. In an event of breaking his own record, Rohan had lost control over his bat, the ball had got a stronger rebound than expected and it was a direct hit on the showcase glass. Rohan for sure had broken the glass, if not his record. He stood there dumbfounded. Nikhil, Kunal and Jay had similar expressions on their face. Rohan thought to himself, I was in control. How did this happen? While Rohan was in these thoughts, his friends quickly gauged the situation and immediately told Rohan that they were leaving. A smart move to make. Nikhil came close to Rohan and put his hand on Rohan’s shoulder and said “Take care buddy! You are going to have it today! Sorry yaar!” Just then Rohan realized that the real drama is yet to happen. The showcase glass was broken and scattered into small and big pieces all over the floor. It was a favorite showcase of everyone in the house and it really added beauty to the living room. The next thought in his mind was what dad will say. As he was deep drawn into his mind with this thought he heard a loud shout from his dad. His dad yelled from the bedroom “ROHAN!!” “What happened? What is this noise?” Before Rohan could answer, dad stepped into the living room followed by mom and granny and grandpa. They couldn’t believe their eyes. The special showcase glass had come breaking down and shattered all over the place. Dad kept staring at the mess. His face was full of anger and irritation. There were also two reasons to it. One obviously the breaking of the glass but the other one was a major reason. His afternoon nap was disturbed. He loved his afternoon nap and liked no compromises with it. Dad then started toggling his glance between the glass and me, as if there was a tennis match going on.

 

“Don’t you understand, you stupid fellow. It was such an expensive glass. Is this the place to play? Who did this? Where are your friends?” Rohan stayed mum. Dad continued shouting, “It must be one of them, that’s why they must have ran off. Tell me honestly Rohan. Who did it or else I will give you tight slap.” The mom immediately rushed to the rescue and grabbed Rohan away from the glass rubble and checked if he was hurt. She then softly asked Rohan, “Tell mama, honestly, who did this?” Rohan finding a little security around him gathered a little courage to utter something. He murmured, with his head down and eyes searching the floor, “I did it!” Dad could not hear it properly so with the same irritation in his voice he said, “Speak loudly Rohan, I can’t hear you!”  

Rohan barely managed to look up and utter again, “I did it. It happened by mistake.” Dad lost his patience and raised his hand to give him a tight slap. Mom glanced at dad and indicated by her eyes, not to do it. Grandpa and grandma also exclaimed “No!”

 

Dad got back to his senses. Calmed down. But still he couldn’t let go of this incident. He immediately declared, “Rohan, from today onward you are not going to play cricket in the house. Give me your bat and ball. I am going to keep it in my custody. Also no mobile and T.V. for you for a week. Is that clear? And now go and kneel down in that corner of the room.” This was not a good time to interfere with dad’s decision, hence mom and the grandparents kept quiet. Rohan was stunned with the punishment given to him. He couldn’t believe that his dad could be so harsh with him. Rohan had no choice but to oblige. He went in the corner of the room with a weepy face and knelt down. His eyes were wet and he was not sure how long he had to be in that position.

 

Rohan could have lied or put the blame on his friends. Instead he chose to be honest and had to pay a huge price for that. Being in that position made his legs go sore. He could also feel the discomfort travel through his spine. All this while he kept pondering why did the other day, the teacher write on the board “Honesty is the best policy!”

(c) - Rahul Shinde                          04/30/04/JUNE/2020               https://tinyurl.com/y99ph3kd