...& Henry was left Wondering

"Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him." - Aldous Huxley

Henry was a little boy who lived in a tranquil town in a cozy little home. He lived with his parents, elder brother and his grandpa. Henry was the youngest. He was loved by everyone at home and he too loved his family dearly. Henry’s grandpa told him to be proud of his family and his roots. He did this by telling Henry the great achievements of their ancestors and how popular their family was. Henry was proud of his “stature” in society. Until one day when Henry was standing in a queue for cinema tickets when a big, hefty old boy came and pushed him out of it. “Hey!” protested Henry, upon which the big boy did what he knew best. He nonchalantly pushed Henry away and also gave him a punch to suppress any further “protests”. Henry cried for a while and then got in the queue again. But grandpa had said that everyone in the town knew who he was. Henry was left wondering.

Henry started school a year later. He enjoyed school but hated homework. He was taught about the virtues of a good human being and the sins that men could commit which qualified them to be categorized as bad people. He thought his concept of good and bad was quite strong. Honesty is good, cheating is bad. Peace is good, war is bad. One day Henry and his best friend forgot to do their homework for a class. His best friend suggested that they copy the home work. Henry refused. Honesty is good, cheating is bad. Henry was quite clear on that issue. He tried explaining this to his friend also. Nonetheless, Henry’s friend copied the homework; and got away with it. Henry quite predictably was scolded by his teacher and threatened (with what he perceived as) dire consequences. But, Honesty is good, cheating is bad. Henry was left wondering.

Christmas was coming soon, and it was time for a family reunion at Henry’s home, like every year. Henry enjoyed the Christmas season; he got gifts from all his uncles and aunts, played all day with his cousins. It was a lot of fun every year. Henry however had this suspicion that his parents did not quite enjoy all this celebration. They would yell at each other a week before the Christmas vacation. Henry obviously was sent to his room before the yelling began. This year was no different. Henry decided that it was time for him to find out why this phenomenon occured. So he listened intently with his ear firmly pressed against the locked door of his room. But to no avail. He couldn’t figure out why they were screaming at each other. What he did hear though was the frequent utterance of the words “money” and “responsibility”. Henry didn’t make any sense of the commotion and preferred to think about the gifts he was going to receive. Christmas came and so did all the relatives. Henry got a lot of gifts, ate great food and played a lot. Whenever possible he observed his parents also. They seemed happy, smiling all the while. But then why were they yelling, why did they always yell before Christmas? Henry was left wondering.

When Henry returned from school one day he saw his brother working frantically on his computer. Every once in a while he would hear him say a word which Henry had never heard before. They certainly hadn’t taught it in school. Henry sat there in his room looking at him (since he had no homework that day). As time passed by that was the only word his brother would say. He seemed tense. Henry finally decided to ask his brother what had happened. Henry’s brother told him that he was stressed. He had a test the next day for which he wasn’t prepared. He was sure he’d fail it. He also asked Henry to not disturb him any further and to let him concentrate. The phone rang. Henry answered. It was for his brother. It was from the girl who called his brother everyday. Henry passed the phone to his brother. And the whispered conversation began, as usual. After hanging up, his brother promptly got ready and went out. But just a few minutes ago he had said that it was very important that he studied that evening. Henry was left wondering.

There were many such instances that Henry had wondered about. Some he thought he had figured whereas some were just impossible to comprehend. While crossing the road once he was lost in his thoughts and was hit by a car. Henry died. That was so unfair. He was so young. How could such a tragedy happen? Everybody in the tranquil town and the cozy home were left wondering.