A small inconspicuous building in a remote island somewhere in south east asia. that was where he was, with a secret burning deep inside… he had flown here in his private jet,to commemmorate the birth anniversary of the man to whom he owed his current status… without that man, he would have been living a small life, in a small island.. not just him, every kid on the island his age..
the man, who had literally crash landed into their life ages ago, the only survivor of a plane crash.. though he had been very young, he still remembered how they had brought him to the village..he lay in a semi comatose state for nearly 2 years, forever rambling incoherently, in a language the island people didnt know… sometimes he sat bolt upright, eyes shining with a fire that commanded respect and awe….. the fisherman community of the small island tended to him for all the two years…he remembered the day in august, late 1940s, when the man regained full consciousness.. the first thing he asked was where he was, and seemed to understand the location from the rough drawings that the fisherman drew… he also realised that his co-travellers were dead.. however, he managed to confuse all those who asked him who he was..in spite of his condition, and the fact that he was obligated to the village folk, there was an authority in his tone…
the next thing he wanted was an english newspaper…the fishermen somehow managed to get the newspaper from the town in the next village… he first got to know about the time period he was unconscious for, from the newspaper date.. it quite obviously shocked him, but there was another news in the newspaper that seemed to shock and delight him simultaneously….he asked the fishermen to get all the newspapers and magazines of the last two years they could get.. after he read them, he cried for a long time, and his tears seemed to have quenched something in him, for after that, the fire rarely glowed in his eyes…
he didnt answer questions about his origin, and to all those who asked who he was, he claimed that he had forgotten.. he stated that the village was going to be his home.. he started a school, brought books from the nearby towns, and taught all the village children – basic englishand maths and the concepts of freedom and liberty, and how to fight against all forms ofoppression…. the man soon became the village’s hero and when he talked about freedom, the fire in the eyes were briefly back…
He was one of the many kids the man taught… he later went to college and reached a positionin life, few from his village could even dream of… and when he had come back to convey his gratiude, he came to know the man had died… a man who had gifted a future to many.. a man without a past….that was exactly what he wanted to find out…. and after decades of search, he did, and that was the secret… in a land far away, they had made a movie about his village’s hero… it was called ‘Bose – the forgotten hero’…
until next time, thank you mr.benegal, for reminding us what we have ungratefully forgotten..
