youngsters my brain was troubled but after a while i was light and comfortable sitting with them and chatting uncle even recommended strongly to the orphanage manager that one of the older orphans could work in his shop and start earning his livelihood but was politely refused by the manager considering his immature age by now i was feeling strong if these children can live in such adverse circumstances then why not me i was changed and no one could stop me nowi someway or the other knew how to leave this spot in the way i needed to and i ended the silence a silence that made kingdoms fall and leave generations disturbed naani nearly suffered a heart attack and it was now moms turn to cry and my uncle he was standing like a statue not to know what to say mom always told me at your age dont think too much just enjoy and speak up whatever you have in mind it will always lighten you and i could not think of anything else anger clearly showed on moms face she screamed so hard at uncle that i could feel people from other houses peeping out of their windows this summer vacation was a journey to hell i held moms hand as if i was feeling sorry for her now i knew that during my visit to uncles shop why was the young boy working for him was sad and scared he was one of those boys who ran away from the orphanage refusing to stay there and uncle hired him as a worker now i knew why the manager of the orphanage rejected the offer when uncle insisted on retaining another one naani took me to a nearby temple every day for worship but it seemed my faith in god was quickly fading if this could happen to a perfect family like ours then what would be the fate of thousands of innocent children on the streets i had no idea how naani and uncle are going to spend the rest of the time or days in the house i also didnt know if my mom would ever want to come here again but i knew somewhere something i had done was rightso i think i spoke my heart for good all of us live with our past all of us allow it to shape our future but some of us know how to shrug the past i think this is who i am i shrugged the past by speaking up else my past would have killed me entirely mom silently hugged naani and we both left looking out of the auto rickshaw i took out the ring from my finger and gave it to my mom probably my birthstone was not quite right for me but now i felt liberated for good as the autorickshaw moved towards the station my mind was wandering somewhere in the universe and only thoughts that came to my mind