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Living On A Lie..!
By Robert Clements. Dated: 1/16/2020 12:50:54 AM
As I saw pictures of the nineteen floor illegal buildings in Cochin being brought down after the Supreme Court ordered it, and saw other illegal vilas in Alibagh being torn down by the government, I thought of the children who know that their parents have usurped land that does not belong to them, and built homes there…
“Dad are we living on a lie?”
“What do you mean son?”
“Does this house belong to us dad?”
“Of course my son! Do you know how hard I worked for it, slaved night and day so we could have a home of our own!”
“Even the place where my cot is dad?”
“Where your cot is?”
“Yes is that also our house?”
“It’s inside our house isn’t it son?”
“But it was once part of the outside isn’t it dad? The plans don’t show it as part of our home does it dad? You have encroached on outside land haven’t you dad?”
“Ssshhh my son, don’t bother yourself with such things, daddy will take care of that!”
“Thanks dad and did you see my report card?”
“What’s this it says you failed in class?”
“I got caught dad!”
“Caught?”
“Yes dad I cheated!”
“You cheated? How could you do, despite all we’ve taught you? Haven’t I told you never to lie?”
“Yes dad!”
“Never to cheat?”
“Yes dad!”
“Then how could you?”
“Because I’m living on a lie dad! Look at where my cot is placed; it is placed on ground that doesn’t belong to us. Ground which you have stolen! You are a thief dad!”
“Don’t say that, I will slap you!”
“Slap me for telling the truth about you? Slap me for cheating in class? I learnt to cheat from you dad. As I lie on my bed every night, on land which you have encroached on, I think, that I am the son of a robber! How many times I have tried to pull my bed to the centre of the room”
“Mummy told me you do that in the night, why?”
“So that I won’t have to sleep on a lie! How can I live on a lie dad? And seeing how cleverly you stole that land, when all the others in the colony saved money to buy an extra room, made me think that a little bit of cheating would help me in the exams! ” “But you got caught son. I didn’t!” “You did dad. Now you have a son who is a cheat! You’re caught dad..!”
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