Fiction & Nonfiction

Son of the wind

Son of the Wind

In the neighborhood, there is a rumor.  Ten-year-old Pavan (meaning, wind in Sanskrit) has been setting new records in sports and studies, of late.
Why and how did it happen? That is the million-dollar question in the minds of many.

Pavan was a small, thin and quiet boy. He went to an elementary school, not far from his home. An elementary school is the first segment in schooling, consisting of five classes or grades, one, per academic year. The second stage is middle school, which runs from sixth to ninth class. And then there is high School, with the last two years of schooling i.e. tenth and eleventh classes. Each of the above classes has about thirty to forty pupils, sometimes more.

Pavan was in class three. There were thirty five kids in his class. Pavan’s classmates bullied him and made fun of him because he looked and acted dumb. Often, he felt lonely and weepy, as he was too quiet to play with the boisterous boys of his class. He loved playing basketball. He, however, couldn’t run fast enough to make it to the team.

As for his math, language and other subjects, he fared less than average. He found the letters and numbers in the book jumping and never staying steady long enough for him, to read them. Teachers often reprimanded him for being lazy and absentminded. Nobody cared to find out, what exactly was wrong with Pavan.

Pavan’s mother felt sad about her son. She took him to the children’s specialist. The doctor found nothing wrong with him. She took special care about his diet and fed him nourishing foods. She sat with him and helped him with his homework, as well as she could. This apart, all she could do, was to pray to Lord Hanuman, of whom, she was a devotee. She pleaded with him to take care of her son.

Outside Pavan’s school, a little away from the main gate, there was a Hanuman temple, under the big banyan tree. People of these parts, have immense faith in this deity. Hanuman, they believe, is the son of the Wind God, Vayu. Therefore, he has the speed and energy of the elementary force.

Legend has it that, Hanuman mastered the science of yoga. He could attain this exemplary status due to his Brahmacharya or practice of continence, they say.
His control over his mind and body is a source of inspiration to his devotees.
The practitioners of yoga and the aspiring wrestlers invoke Hanuman, before they start their practice, everyday. Furthermore, Hanuman is well grounded in languages and learning. People say that he is the owner of words and a great speaker.

In Ramayana, an ancient Hindu epic, Hanuman played a pivotal role. He found Sita, the wife of Rama, (the central characters of the epic) who was abducted by a demon king, Ravana. During the war between the demons and Rama (assisted by his army of monkeys), Rama’s brother Lakshmana fell unconscious, hit by a deadly arrow from the enemy.

Hanuman, on the advice of the sages, brought the mountain of herbs called Sanjeevani on the palm of his hand, to revive Lakshmana from a deep coma. His physical strength, his power of concentration and his undeterred devotion to Lord Rama, were reputed to be responsible for this miraculous act.

As the other children of his school did, Pavan also used to go to the Hanuman temple, during the recess and pray to him.

‘Please God, make me play in the school team. Make me read and write well. Make me get good rank in the annual exam. Please God, do something for me, Lord Hanuman.’ He prayed thus, on a particularly cumbersome day. His mother’s s daily prayer at home was familiar to the kid.

He had two canings from his math teacher on that day. His progress card showed poor grades. The class teacher sent for his parents to meet her to discuss Pavan’s poor performance and application.

His father met Pavan’s class teacher and later the principal of the school. Both have warned him, that unless his son improved in the next six months, his name would go off the register.

Pavan’s father felt upset at this depressing event. He had a good mind to thrash his son for being such a brat. When he reached home, he found his parents talking to his wife and Pavan cheerfully. They came to visit for two days. With his parents around, Pavan’s father had no alternative to postponing the showdown, he planned with his son.

For Pavan, the next two days passed happily. He and his grandparents visited the zoo, the beach and the museum. On way home from the zoo, in the bus, Pavan started reading the comic his grand father bought him. His inability to read the letters made the old gentleman sit up and take note. When he asked Pavan what bothered him, Pavan replied,

‘Yes, Tata (meaning grandfather in his language) it is the same with my textbooks. I want to read but the letters don’t stand still. I asked Hanuman to help me.’

The elderly man’s eyes were glazed with unshed tears at this unraveling misery of his grandson. He guessed, it might be Dyslexia, which occurs in children with normal vision and normal intelligence. Children with dyslexia usually have normal speech, but often have difficulty interpreting spoken language and writing. He knew a neighbor’s little son who suffered from a similar condition. The kid’s parents engaged a specialist teacher who, with the help of certain visual and hearing devices, was able to correct the disorder.

‘I know what is wrong with Pavan’ said Grandpa to his son. ‘We have a similar case at our place’.
He narrated the whole episode. Pavan’s parents were shocked at the sad discovery of their son’s problem. They were grateful to God, for showing them a remedy for their child’s problem.

After the happy interval with his grandparents, Pavan’s routine returned. Once again, he fell victim to the same old depressing events. He started losing enthusiasm for school because, everyone made fun of him and treated him like a doormat.

One day, after leaving home, he wandered on his own, in the streets. He watched different people going about their chores. He had some fun watching a monkey performing some tricks under its master’s instructions.
He had some ice cream when he felt hungry. Thus spending the day, towards evening he wanted to go home.  He didn’t know how. He lost his way. He got confused having roamed too many alleyways. When he was about to lose heart and started crying, he spotted the Hanuman temple near his school. He sighed with relief and entered the shrine. He prostrated and prayed heartily.

When he got up, he smelt the fragrance of incense that temple priest offers to the deity during worship. Then he saw Hanuman coming towards him from the sanctum of the temple.
‘Come on Pavan. It is late. I will drop you at your home. Your mother is worried.’
The next moment he was at his home. His mother was waiting for him at the gate.
Pavan was all excited.
‘Ma, I came with Hanuman. He brought me from school. I missed the bus and lost my way.’

His mother smiled at him and didn’t pay much attention to his words. To her, he was what he was, just a child.

Next day at school;

Math teacher wrote some equations on the black board and asked the children to solve them. Pavan started scribbling some nonsense.

‘Come on Pavan, get to work’, said a voice at his side. Pavan looked up and found Hanuman by his side.
‘Oh, you, Lord Hanuman! I don’t know how to multiply. I can’t get the numbers properly’.

‘Come on. Let’s do it together. 500 apples in 10 baskets make …you know the tables well. Don’t you? Come on, look at me.’
Pavan raised his eyes to Hanuman’s. He felt as if something cool touching his eyes like a spray of water.  When he looked down at the sum, he saw that the numbers were no longer moving but standing steady and to his great joy, he was able to read. He wanted to shout and dance at this change in his reading.

Pavan felt thrilled and the rest was easy for him. He did the multiplication easily. 500x10=5000.
' That’s it kid. You got it. Now go on to the next sum,’ said the divine voice by his side.
Pavan showed his workbook to the teacher. She was simply amazed, that he finished in five minutes flat, the ten multiplication problems.

So it was with Pavan’s other subjects. Everybody felt speechless at this bewildering change in him.

In the school play ground;

Some boys were playing basketball. As Pavan strolled down, Hanuman said,
‘Why don’t you join them Pavan? Show them how well you can play.’
‘But they won’t let me, Hanuman.’
‘Why don’t you try?’
When Pavan approached the captain, ‘Hey Pavan, what are you doing here? You want to fetch the ball to the players? All right. Stand in a corner.’
‘No. I want to play with you all.’
‘Hey guys, Pavan here wants to join us. What do you think?’ he said in a ridiculing tone.
The other boys wanted to kick and have fun at Pavan’s expense.
‘Why not? Let him try.’

The game was in progress.
Pavan fumbled for a while. A naughty guy accosted him and Pavan was about to fall heavily on his back.
‘Careful, Pavan. When you play, you should watch all sides. Let me help you. Hold my hand. I will show how to run in and out with the ball,’ said Hanuman, who was right there with him.
The next one hour was sheer pleasure for Pavan and astonishment for others. He was everywhere, running like lightning, holding and kicking the ball, and like a dream kid, making fast goals.

The news spread fast. It was a wonderful day in Pavan’s life. When they, the boys, the teachers and the Principal asked him about this change in him, Pavan replied in a casual way, that Hanuman helped him. People shrugged and paid no attention to him.

A strange man waiting for him, one day, when Pavan reached home from school. His mom said,
'This is doctor Rajan, Pavan.’
‘Hi, Pavan, how are you doing?’
‘Fine, thank you sir.’

An hour later,

After examining the boy, Dr. Rajan, to mom and dad,

‘There is nothing wrong with Pavan. His eyes and brain are in coordination. The condition of dyslexia doesn’t exist anymore. Some change has occurred which I am not able to put my finger on.’

The episode remained a puzzle, for many, in the neighborhood.

Pavan’s mother, however, strongly believed, that it was the grace of Lord Hanuman that brought about this wonderful change in her son’s life.

Faith is a healer even today, thought a few, who believed in legends.



Word count: 1843.