While eating my supper, I was thinking about something called “existence”, like most of the lads of my age. I was normal then and have been normal all my life so, I didn’t know what this feeling was, I was doing the normal stuff as told by my parents, as told by my relatives and as prescribed by the society and all of a sudden, I am thinking about “Why?” why am I? Who the fuck am I? and many more such questions. Well, supper isn’t the longest meal of the day, especially for me. I went to my bed all alone surrounded by my family. 

Cut to one week later, I am waiting for my date to meet me at the restaurant we agreed to meet but like typical girl fashion she is late and Like a typical single boy, I was there an hour prior. I had plenty of time to think about my existence, which I left with my half-eaten rice bowl before. 

I was thinking about it very seriously and a voice got stuck in my head, I had listened to it million times before. Miss Shweta’s voice, the known, heard journalist of the country on her prime time show, delivers news about the passing of the most powerful man in the country, Mr. Corruption. I know he was pretty old and was involved in all the bad deeds but still, I felt bad for his family. I was also thinking about what will happen to his family once they are free from the societal vultures to scavenge. 

I couldn’t think about it much as my date arrived and started all that, I was busy, there was so much traffic and my parents were very strict shit but it didn’t matter to me all I was thinking about his family which was only his wife and two children that the world will never know where are. Akansha, my date then called the waiter:” Excuse me, can we get some coffee? ”  I mean it was a quarter to nine and all we had was coffee. My date was going wrong in every possible way and I was still stuck with corruption’s wife in my head. 

I suddenly stopped Akansha and said:” I worked for his company a couple of years back. It was a lot of work, mostly illegal and unethical but work for which he paid me well. He was a wealthy man and his wife, she is the most beautiful person I ever met. They both loved each other very much and it just feels very unjust of the almighty to leave that woman alone in this world where almost every government earned money from his husband.” My eyes were wet for god knows what reason and Akansha didn’t get a single word of what I said but she was holding me in her arms and we came close after that moment. 

Akansha is with me now and we live together, a year has passed to the day but still, I couldn’t get Shweta’s voice from my head saying Corruption is dead. Corruption’s wife, I don’t know her name but I can’t forget those weeping eyes on the television set. I can’t forget those dry lips. Those grey hairs. That lost heart and that stumbling walk. She was a beauty when corruption was alive and now she is just a way of money to many in black. 

But, Akansha says it’s all a lie. So, tells my family. They say Mr. Corruption just faked his death, he’s still alive and kicking. Every politician, goon, government, office man, educational institute, and pretty much everyone in the country still works for him, only you seem to leave the job and you also worked for him once so you know how thrilling it is. And her wife is the greatest actor and worst soul on this planet. Those tears were just for the ordinary pals like you so that they can run their operation in peace. 

I just hear it and pass it from another ear, none of this matters to me anymore. From what I have seen, Corruption is dead and his wife is just a grieving widow of her husband’s sins. As long as I believed he was alive, I worked for him because it was easy money and people still work for him even the ones on the top of the pyramid, but for me, he’s dead and will never rise from his grave. It’s the same as Mr. Raavan, king of Lanka. He’s dead for a thousand long years but still, we burn him every year, Why? Because the values he stood for are still breathing and making air dark. 

That’s why, I always tell Akansha, that Raavan was killed by Lord Ram. We just burn him for our sense of power. It will never be done until you believe it. Just believe Raavan is dead with all his virtues. Just believe Mr. Corruption is dead with all his virtues and move on. Corruption’s wife is nothing but us who mourn for the loss of easy money. Consider him dead, wash your black and move ahead, because that’s the only way possible for you to reach the destination that you want.