It was a fine day in a small town in Orissa. A smaller town compared to the other two major cities in the state of Orissa. My name is Abhi, a Hindu hindu boy who has a great interest in Islam. And what happened that day changed my life in so many ways and not all for the good.
I go to the Rajghat High school and that day I was heading back home for dinner from school, like I do every day. As I was walking back home I was thinking about my confused life. I am a Hindu boy but have a great interest in Islam and want to learn more about Islam and its people.
Before I had even finished crossing the busy main road, I saw a man standing with a young boy, maybe not even 10 years old. I don't know what was it about, but something drew me towards the man. I felt drawn to them, as if I was meant to meet them. And I stopped and stood and watched as they went.
I don't know why, but as soon as I saw them walking away from me I knew it was time for me to talk to them. Even though the sandy streets were busy, I found myself following the man and child.
Suddenly I heard a shout from the boy and turned around to look. I saw the boy shouting at the man. Whatever he had said, it sounded like the man had done something bad to him. I don't know why, but I could feel the boy was angry. Whatever it was, the man tried to yell back that I couldn't understand anything he was saying.
I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor man, for why did the boy hate him so much. I have never seen anyone as baffled as him before. And I don't mean confused, I mean he looked like he didn't know what was going on, or who he was.
I don't know, but I had to try and make things better. I couldn't let the boy be upset and go on his way. I could see the look in his eyes, he was angry and feeling upset. He was just a small innocent child and was being hurt like this. I couldn't let that happen and wanted to help this boy.
The man led them to his home. I lost them from my sight and started to walk the other way. All of a sudden I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whipped around to find the man looking at me with a strange look on his face.
"Why are you following them?" He asked me.
"I want to help them." I replied.
"How so?"
"I want to know why the boy is after you."
"I don't know. I don't think he's angry with me. Maybe he just wants to talk to me and I don't know why."
"Do you think he's going to hurt you?" I asked.
"No. I know him, he cares about me a lot. I just want to know why I was bothering him."
"If you don't know why, then why are you acting like this?"
"What?" He looked somewhat confused.
"You know you said you don't know why your chasing him. Why are you bothering him if you don't know why?"
"I want to know why he's after me. That's all I want."
"Maybe so, maybe you are confusing him."
"What? How?"
"Maybe he just wants to talk to you and you are chasing him. Maybe he is confused."
He looked at me for awhile and paused.
"You think he wants to hurt me. I guess it's possible."
"No. I know he could never hurt you. He wouldn't hurt anyone. Maybe you are just confusing him. You don't have to chase him away.