“Are you a Shiv Sainik?” Lulu, my parrot, asked. He was
perched on the Mango tree near my window and I was at my desk fiddling with pen
and paper.
“Blah! What nonsense!!” The angry tone of my voice should
have been easy to notice. But parrots are parrots! Lulu ignored it.
“Are you a Congressman then?” Lulu often confounds me. Here
was a question that passes close to you like a bumper – ‘chin music’ as the
Aussies call it – you do not have to do anything, it just whisks past. But it
irritates you.
“Will you please stop playing these games with me, Lulu? You
know pretty well that I have nothing to do with these people. What’s on your
mind really, Lulu?”
“Then why are you sitting idle, looking so angry and confused?”
Lulu hopped on to my shoulder and looked at me.
“Look, a newspaper carried a story recently pointing out that
the accused in the 1977 Chasnala colliery accident, in which 327 workers died,
have been convicted after full thirty-seven years. Bhopal gas tragedy is
another story. Rama Raju of Satyam fame who was involved in a financial scam of
several thousand crores rupees is convicted after six years! I am feeling outraged!”
“You feel outraged when you know that some people are
getting what they do not deserve. Justice delayed……”
“Nobody values poor men’s lives like in Chasnala or Bhopal Gas
cases. Nobody takes a financial scam seriously. Look at Mamta Banerjee. I
suspect we Indians may have a secret respect for anybody who makes a quick
buck!”
“The Rajiv Gandhi murderers are not yet hanged, in fact they
may be let off the hook. The Delhi rapists in Nirbhaya case are sleeping well
in Government custody. So does Subroto Roy. And now one more will join them.”
Trust Lulu to spring a surprise.
“Who are you referring to?” I thought he was referring to
Vijay Mallya, the wilful defaulter, whose Kingfisher has duped several employees, so I asked to
confirm.
“Shiv Kumar Yadav. The rapist in Uber Case in Delhi.”
“Rape trial will be done fast. Political parties know what
really matters.”
“But I am also concerned about other cases. Haven’t you heard of
women who are bought and raped, the ‘famous’ Kamala Case?”
“Yes, So?”
“It is similar - Justice also can be bought and raped, as
long as it is not a rape case, right?” Lulu flew away.
Vivek
"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."