Simply Krishnan

Krishnan was an ordinary boy who lived in a small town in kerala. He studied in fifth grade at the English primary school in town. Krishnan loved what every ordinary boy of his age loves. Playing outside with his friends, Watching cartoons, Eating mangoes from trees. Simple was his life.

The school Krishnan went to had children only from the town. The people of this town were into agriculture. They grew rice, sold them at a nearby market and made profit out of it. That was their way of living. The kids of this town were thus likeminded as Krishnan and very virtuous.

Simplicity and ordinary are always underrated. Simplicity never reveals its goodness unless people know what is not simple and then come to realize simplicity.

The town had a police station which was in a bad state. Although crimes in town were a rarity, the police station was badly maintained and police officers corrupt. The town head Nanda was Krishnan’s father. He was fed up of the bad ways of the officers and put in a word to higher authority. The higher authority listened to his concerns and promised that a very efficient officer would soon be sent to the town.

That was how Krishnan first met Veeru. Veeru was the son of the new police officer, Inspector Raja. Raja was from a big city and a very efficient police officer. In fact he was awarded the medal for courage and bravery last year.

Veeru studied in the city until class four before moving to this town with his father. Veeru was arrogant from the very first day of class. He had the air of a kid who believed himself to be superior to other kids due to his city upbringing.

Veeru had been given all sorts of luxuries from his childhood and hence never understood the value of things. He always got what he wanted and got away with mischiefs too. Veeru was not only arrogant to kids, but also elders who came to talk to his father regarding their concerns.

One day Nanda along with Krishnan went to the police station to settle a dispute that had been going on related to an agriculture land. krishnan was asked to wait outside while his father went in to talk to the Inspector.

Krishnan waited looking amused as the birds at a nearby tree were being playful to a kitten while it was trying to chase the them. Suddenly there was a thud followed by a loud meow. Krishnan saw painfully as the kitten fell to the ground hurt.

At a distance he saw Veeru with a catapult in his hand. He had used the catapult to target the kitten and had found his mark. Veeru stood there laughing while tears rolled out from Krishnan’s eyes when he saw the kitten crying in pain. He couldnt control his anger and rushed towards Veeru. Krishnan was stronger than Veeru and pushed him to the ground with ease.

Veeru started wailing loudly, and suddenly police officers along with the Inspector and Nanda rushed to the scene. Seeing Veeru on the ground, they assumed Krishnan to be the culprit. Without enquiring further, Krishnans father rushed to him and slapped him. He was shocked at this reaction from his father who was normally very calm. He did not utter a word and went to his home. He was hurt physically, but he was happy that Veeru got what he deserved.

From that day on, Veeru and Krishnan were never in good terms. krishnan would outdo Veeru in all games, activities and Studies. Veeru on his part would do all he could to put Krishnan in trouble and Krish would fall for all his tricks.

Not only that, Veeru also pulled Krishnans friends away from him by luring them with his games, gadgets and food. Krishnan hated this behaviour. How could his friends fall for such cheapness ? Krishnan never understood why he was punished for no crime of his.

Veeru also boasted of how wealthy he was, and how poor others were. He would wear nice clothes, eat chocolates, bring money to school when other kids looked with wonder. This went on for quiet a few days until one day Veeru went missing. Few People were sympathetic about him, as most of them were victims of his pranks or arrogance. They just felt that he deserved what he got.

News soon spread of the Veeru’s disappearance. People suspected he was carried away by Rancho. But this had not happened for quiet a while.

Outside of the boundaries of the town, in a remote place was an ancient bungalow. This bungalow was said to belong to a very wealthy business man Rancho who came to live in the town 30 years back and made plenty of money. He had died due to unknown circumstances and following that, this bungalow was considered to be haunted by the ghost of this man. Stories were heard about how Rancho strayed into the town late at night and would take away Kids who would then be his dinner.

The town people believed this story and did not stray into that part of the town after evening hours. Hence when Veeru went missing, the first suspicion was Rancho.

Although Krishnan was at first happy to hear about Veeru’s disappearance, he soon started feeling bad for him. He did not believe in any ghosts which made him all the more curious about his disappearance. Krishnan made up his mind to figure out the real story.

In the night, after his father was asleep, he quietly got up from his bed, covered himself up with some blankets and stepped out of the house. He carried a knife with him. Just in case. After a while he reached the fence of the bungalow. He quietly moved towards the fence and Jumped across, landing perfectly on his feet. Once he saw no one in sight he entered the building from the window behind.

Suddenly he saw a shadow at a distance. He instantly crouched behind the nearby pillar and stayed there, making absolutely no noise. He tried to catch a glimpse of the person, or whatever that was. The shadow moved quietly from one room to the next, with what seemed like a knife in hand. Krishnan felt his heart racing due to all the excitement.

Once the shadow was out of sight he tip toed into the next room, as if following the shadow. The shadow now moved into the corridor and pushed his way into a passage way, invisible at first look. Secret passageway. Krishnan kept a good distance moving stealthily. He tried to look throught the secret passage, but it was pitch dark.The passageway led to a dark tunnel which seemed to lead nowhere. He kept following until he reached at the end of the passage way.

Now he could see the shadow from quiet close. It looked like a tall man and he seemed to be looking at something. The shadow now moved away and suddenly Krishnan saw. Veeru. He was tied up and gagged. He was all dirty and looked tired, sleepy.

Before he could make a move, a hand gripped him from behind. He tried to get away but the grasp was so strong he couldnt move. Suddenly he caught hold of the hand and bit his hand that the man let go of Krishnan. Krishnan Kicked him so hard that he let out a cry and fell to the ground. Krishnan swiftly moved towards, took the knife out of his belt, and cut Veeru loose. Hearing the mans cry , the shadow came running. Seeing krishnan he grew very angry and ran towards him. Krishnan gathered all his strenght, lifted the brass lamp nearby and hurled at the shadow. The lamp hit him on his chest and he fell. He took the nearby chair and hit him again, this time on his head, the man fell down with a cry and did not move.

Looking at Krishnan in action, Veeru got his energy back. He took out the catapult from his pocket and targetted the mans eye. It hit him right on the eye, instantly blinding him. With both of them down, krishnan searched for some rope, tied both of them with a knot that was used to tie up cows after field work. This knot wouldnt be lose, no matter who they would try.

He cried to Veeru, asking him to run to the village and alert the villagers. Veeru ran with all his energy and told them the entire story. The villagers now rushed to the spot with the Inspector. Krishnan was waiting with the knife in hand, looking like a hero right out of a movie scene.

The villagers then looked at the 2 figures lying down and one of them gave a cry. The shadow was none other than Rancho, he told others. He was Ranchos servant when Rancho lived here. The other man was Ranchos son.

The Inspector took both of them into custody. They later learnt that Rancho himself had published the story of his death. He would come to visit the bungalow often. THe secret passageway had vaults that contained ancient metal items, gold, and valuables worth many crores. He with his son would kidnap children and then sell them to other countries for high amount of money. That explained the loss of children never to be seen again, thought to be eaten by Rancho.

The Inspector couldnt control his emotions when he saw Veeru brought back alive by Krishnan. He cried holding Krishnans hand, thanking him for bringing his son back, when they had lost hope. The villagers heaped praise on Krishnan who now had become a local hero. Nanda was bursting with pride wherever he went he heard the story of how his son courageously saved not only Veeru, but also how he ended the mysterious case of Rancho the ghost.

He was also praised for his large hearted decision to save his enemy who had put him in trouble many a times. Veeru couldnt stop apologizing for his behaviour, and he secretly vowed to learn from Krishnan and be his friend lifelong. Veeru realized it was his simple ways that made Krishnan so popular and yet humble. There was indeed a lot to learn from Krishnan.

Ordinary people think simple. Simplicity made Krishnan look at Veeru as someone in trouble and not his enemy at the moment of need.