Every Clouds Has A Silver Lini

( A Short story By Vaman Acharya) Jagadishpur, a remote tiny village lost its name and the people started calling it Jhagadapur, which means the quarrelsome village. A young man Chetan took an oath to regain peace in the village. He felt very much for the bad name given to the village, where he was born and brought up. He decided to fight with those who were responsible for this. Chetan wondered how Rakesh Singh, son of Pratap Singh, created bigger trouble? Pratap Singh was chairman, gram panchayat, and the only rich man in the village. He did not stop his son. Rakesh formed a gang of unemployed illiterate youths.

 Chetan was a school dropout and had exceptional noble qualities like helping the poor, particularly old persons. He had experience of five years in the car garage. After coming over to the village, he purchased an auto-rickshaw of six-seater by obtaining a bank loan. Earlier, people went to the railway station or the bus stand by walking four kilometers. Most of them being poor walked barefoot and suffered unbearable pain due to the thorns and stone pieces. The majority of the villagers were agriculturists. Few people were engaged in various activities like selling vegetables, fruits, flowers, mud pots, and bamboo baskets. All these people need to go to other places for one or the other purpose. Chetan was accommodating eight persons in his auto-rickshaw. He used to take 4 to 5 trips daily. In case of breakdown of the vehicle, he himself attended to it by virtue of his experience. He always keeps the petrol tank in full. The trouble-creating guys always fought with the public without any reason. Their target was Chetan, tea shops, grocery shops, school teachers, and the general public. Whatever these bad guys say, it was final. Nobody dared to protest against them. There was no peaceful atmosphere in the village for the last year. Why did Rakesh create trouble for the villagers? Rakesh had a particular type of disease. He was irritated to see poor people. He derives happiness by giving trouble to them. The villagers were unable to protest these bad guys.

 One day, at 8 am, Chetan was ready to start the auto-rickshaw. Suddenly, Rakesh and his gang arrived and occupied all the seats in the auto-rickshaw. The ladies and children were already waiting. Chetan could not control his anger and said, "Rakesh, I warn you to vacate the seats. Otherwise, I have to show my strength to attack you all. I know how to mend you people? You never understand the difficulties of others. Don't you have the shame to target innocent poor people? Have these people given you trouble? You have already spoiled the character and the image of our village." "Chetan, I strongly protest the misbehavior of Rakesh and his gang. I condemn their tendency to quarrel for no reason with innocent people. In fact, all these ladies and kids were waiting before these irresponsible boys.," said Suma, sister of Rakesh. Suma was an educated girl and hated her brother and father. "I will not drive an auto till these rascals get down, '' said Chetan "Chetan, I will shout against them till they get down", said Suma. By the time a group of people arrived with sticks. On hearing the conversation between Chetan and Suma, and a group of armed people, Rakesh was in an aggressive mood and said,

"Chetan and Suma, both of you are insulting us. Do you know I am the son of a chairman, village Grama Panchayat and richest man in the village? I warn my sister Suma to go home. I also warn the small group of people who are threatening us with sticks. If I wish, I can seize your auto and teach a lesson to all," said Rakesh. When the situation reached a climax, all the ladies along with the group of people took bold steps to physically pull all the guys from the auto. There was a tussle between both parties. Realizing the danger, Rakesh and his gang members got down from the auto. It was a great insult to Rakesh. Irresponsible guys created havoc in the village. Earlier, there were a number of incidents of similar nature. Chetan took the lead of all the villagers and approached Pratap Singh. He was successful in his task to present the facts before Pratap Singh. Rakesh was admitted to a hospital in Bengaluru for special treatment. All the elderly people including Pratap Singh appreciated Chetan. Suma was very much impressed by Chetan and expressed her wish to become his life partner. He too expressed love and agreed to tie the knot. Jhagadapur retained its original name Jagdishpur. The village Jagdishpur had undergone an unpleasant situation for a short period. There will be something good in everything that's bad. 

Every cloud has a silver lining.