The Debater

 "@Minnu" Mirnalini found herself tagged in a post by her friend Riddhi. She scrolled up and read the post, a little puzzled as to why she had been tagged. It was about a top actress who had recently been in the news for showing sympathy for some group of people and sitting in protest with them over some government policy. The actress was shooting a much hyped movie and boycott that movie hashtags were spreading through the Internet. Mrinalini gathered all this as she scrolled news channels, still puzzled about how it mattered to her. 

"Minnu!" her husband Akshay called from across the hall. "Is my lunch ready?" 

"Yes, yes," she came running to the kitchen, slapping her forehead for getting distracted. She glanced at the clock as she quickly packed his lunch and then her son's snacks. Akshay took the box and rushed out shouting "Bye. Love you, Krishna," he waved to his son. 

Krishna gurgled from where he was seated on the wheel chair. "Krishna," Mrinalini addressed him as she got his bag ready, "You must finish the snacks in school when your teacher asks you to, okay?"

Krishna gurgled for that too. He was 10 years old but was born with several complications. As he grew, though his body size kept up with the milestones, his limbs were weak and his brain, underdeveloped. Mrinalini had been working in the IT sector during and after the delivery, but clearly, he needed her more. So she gave it up and between she and a nanny, they took care of the boy. Akshay was supportive, but someone had to earn now.

Only recently, they had found a school for Krishna and Mrinalini's mornings became a little free after seeing Krishna off in a special bus that picked up the special children to spend two hours in a special school. It wasn't far and Mrinalini could have dropped him. But these were the small steps in making him see a world independent of her. 

She sat back, picking up the phone again to see the voices that had got added to the issue where she had been tagged. As she read the combative comments below the post, something of her fighting spirit struggled to emerge and she slowly understood why her friend had tagged her. 

Her life before Krishna flashed before her for a few moments. Riddhi had got in touch after a long time recently and appalled at how Minnu's life was completely swamped by domesticity. "But you were so vocal and took a stance about almost every thing under the sun! Now you seem overshadowed by your son," she finished, hoping Minnu will catch that brilliant bit of pun.

Minnu chuckled, but told Riddhi, "That was a different lifetime. Now, it is all about Krishna."

"Whose idea was it, naming your son Krishna? Akshay's?"

Mrinalini blinked. "Hmmm... sort of but not entirely his."

"I don't believe it! I thought you would have named him something more revolutionary. But, a deity's name! You have changed, Minnu. You never should have married!"

The call went on for sometime but Mrinalini's eyes were on the clock all the time, watching her nanny struggle trying to feed Krishna. "Look, Riddhi, I have to go now. But I will call you back in a bit, okay?"

That didn't happen. By the time Krishna had finished eating, other responsibilities awaited her and she crashed on the bed. She forgot all about Riddhi till now, when she saw herself tagged. Yes, she would have had something to say about the issue, but what that might be, she couldn't understand. Right now, she felt nothing. No words came to her. She rested her head on the back of the sofa, hoping for the natural indignation and anger to surge through her. That's how she had been. Always excited and angry and rooting for the underdog... When the doorbell rang, she was startled. She realised she had dozed off!

It was just some courier for Akshay. She kept that on the table and then entered the spare bedroom. She spread a mat and sat with her tanpura. As she strummed the strings, her mind went to the post and her own lack of reaction to the news. 'Maybe it is the nature of news that's not interesting,' she thought and opened her phone again, exploring the social media for causes that she felt anything for.

She put it away in frustration and lay down, her tanpura forgotten. Tears flowed down her cheeks. Women, environment, children, animals... nothing made a difference to her. The only question that came up every time she tried to make herself respond angrily was the defeating thought - will any of this make a difference to my Krishna? Will he ever be able to lead a normal life?

She sat up and hummed a tune. At least, this gave her some moments of peace and forgetfulness, energised her to meet him with a smile when he returned from school and gurgled happily.