8 Who Am I? (1/2)

”Mom, the pakodas are delicious.” Ved was trying to talk while stuffing his mouth with those pakodas.

He loved the onion pakodas made by her mother. That was his favorite snack. If the things went by his wish, he would like to eat those pakodas in his lunch and dinner too. His mother loved to hear complements. So he was trying to appease her.

After hearing that, Renu looked towards him with a smile on her face. She already felt full after hearing those words.

'To be a good mother' that was the goal of her life now, after the adoption. She turned around and went towards the kitchen to get the tea kettle.

”Son, I heard you were late to come home again.” After seeing his wife went back towards the kitchen, Vivek asked curiously.

”There was an old lady whose bag got robbed. So I went to help her.” Ved replied in a low voice which only both of them could hear. He didn't want his mother to know of it and it seemed like his father also shared the same thought.

”Oh, then what happened? Did you get back her bag or not.” Vivek asked eagerly. His eyes were filled with curiosity.

He was different from Renu as he took pride in Ved helping others. These things made him certain that he raised his son in a righteous environment.

He himself was an orphan so no one ever taught him what is right and what is wrong in this world, that's why he was more sensitive towards these things than Renu.

”Yeah, I caught the culprit and took him to the police station.” After seeing his father not getting angry, Ved replied with more confidence this time.

”Did you get to meet your uncle Vishwesh?” Vivek asked.

”Yeah, and I got an earful too.” Vivek answered.

”You didn't get injured, right?” Vivek looked at him with a hint of concern.

He knew in his heart that his son would never get injured by these lowly thugs but he wanted to confirm. He already knew that his son was not ordinary.

There were many incidents which happened in his house after the adoption, which made him believe that his son was not ordinary.

When Ved was just four years old, he got ensnared by the beauty of a red rose once and grabbed a branch of it in his little hands. The pre-existing thorns on the branch of the red rose p.r.i.c.ked his soft hands and blood started to flow.

His little soft hands looked b.l.o.o.d.y from afar. Vivek was anxious after seeing blood oozing out of his hand and ran towards him.

He opened the baby's hands which by then he formed into fists and tried to look but to his surprise, he couldn't even find a scratch on that bloodied yet soft tiny palm. That palm was miraculously alright.

Vivek thought that this was impossible. So he never told anybody about that as it was absurd to even think that a four year old boy has instant healing powers like this.

He put this incident aside and lived as he never knew about those things but it seemed as though fate had some other plans. One day, a few years later Ved came up to him voluntarily and confessed.

Tear filled his eyes as he approached his dad and said in a shaky voice.

”Dad..! I think there is something wrong with me.”

Vivek wiped his tears and pulled him into his embrace. He patted on his back as he asked in a soft voice.

”What happened, my son? Did you have a fight with your friends?”

”Tell me and I'll scold them. Don't cry.” Vivek thought that maybe his son fought with his friends and now he thinks there is something wrong with him. He tried to comfort him but the next sentence which came out from his son's mouth made him stood there in awe.

”No…that's not the matter, dad. I….. I think, I'm not your biological son.”

Every word of that sentence felt like it had hit him straight on his heart just like a hammer. He felt as though his heart was being squashed by something. His body stiffed as he stood there silently as a rock.

'What could've happened to an eleven year old that he would think like this? What came into his mind that he got to this conclusion? Who could've told him?' Vivek thought while looking straight in those moist eyes.

”I think, I'm not normal... actually I think..... I'm not even human.” Ved continued.

”Yesterday, when I was walking back from school with my friends, I got angry all of a sudden and in the frustration, I punched towards a stone monument with all my power.”

”Suddenly cracks started appearing on the stone monument but my hand was all right, just as before, not even a scratch was on it.”

”That scared my friends and they looked at me as if I was some monster.” Tears started rolling down on his cheeks as Ved kept on talking.

”To prove that I'm not a monster, today I tried to cut myself with a knife but instead of hurting, the cut disappeared after a couple of seconds.”

”Was that how a normal human supposed to be... tell me dad? Was that how a normal person behaves?”

”Dad…. Am I a monster?” His voice became hoa.r.s.er as he asked.

”Who am I, dad? What am I…..?”