LIGHTS AND SHADOWS
LIGHTS AND SHADOWS He opened his eyes, looked at me and smiled. 8 year old Bhagaban was lying in the second bed of the paediatric ward of Ashakiran hospital. The scene was quite different few days before. Brought from a distant hamlet called Badigod, he was the second son of a family who were finding it hard to make both ends meet. Badigod had just begun to taste the fruits of development. Mobile networks had intruded the air space; roads connected them to social mainstream. Bikes, cable televisions, urban colours through migration had all affected this remote part in tribal Orissa. But this family was not fortunate enough to enjoy this progress. As if poverty was not an ailment enough, Guru Mattam the head of the family had passed away due to an undiagnosed illness. The mother took up the baton of leadership and worked as a daily labour to fetch some food for her young ones. Soon another tragedy struck. The elder son Bhagaban had begun to develop swelling of the body. It h