Grazing Land
Author : Urmishree Bedamatta Swadhin Pradhan always knew he was cut out for great things. He had a large head when he was born and everyone was sure he had great ideas in it. Born on the fifteenth of August some years after India became independent, he just would have no other name, his grandfather said. Like a true soldier of his motherland, this destiny's child never missed a rally and always took part in picketing. For this he landed in lockup so often that his school once decided to rusticate him. ‘Gandhiji went to jail so many times. He was not a criminal,’ Swadhin replied when confronted by his principal. Why the principal with thirty-three years of experience of running a school could not say anything to this, we do not know. The boy continued and completed matriculation. The elders of the village, clueless about his passion for such romps, smiled and said nothing like indulgent parents. With nothing to do and faculties refusing to be employed in active vocation