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8 8 A Hero

A Hero

War
Warm-Upm-Up
Swami’s father wanted his son to be brave and not be a baby listening to bedtime stories by
his Granny. He believes, that way he could earn respect of others and get patted on his back
by the teacher. For making him a fearless person, Swami’s father wanted him to not to sleep
beside his granny, but sleep alone in the office room and show acts of valour. Read this story
to understand how Swami becomes a hero at the end.

For Swami, events took an unexpected turn. Father looked over the newspaper he was reading

under the hall lamp and said, ‘Swami, listen to this news — an act of bravery of a village lad who,
while returning home by the jungle path, came face to face with a tiger...’ The paragraph described
the fight the boy had with the tiger and his flight up a tree, where he stayed for half a day till some
people came that way and killed the tiger.

After reading it through, Father looked at Swami fixedly and asked, ‘What do you say to that?’
Swami said, ‘I think he must have been a very strong and grown-up person, not at all a boy. How

could a boy fight a tiger?’
‘You think you are wiser than the newspaper?’ Father sneered. ‘A man may have the strength of an

elephant and yet be a coward, whereas another may have the strength of a straw, but if he has the
courage, he can do anything. Courage is everything, strength and age are not important.’
Swami disputed the theory. ‘How can it be, father? Suppose I have all the courage, what can I do if
a tiger attack me?’

‘Leave alone strength, can you prove you have courage? Let me see if you can sleep alone tonight in
my office room.’

A frightful proposition, Swami thought. He had always slept beside his granny in the passage, and any
change in this arrangement kept him trembling and awake all night. He hoped at first that his father
was only joking. He mumbled weakly, ‘Yes,’ and tried to change the subject; he said very loudly and
with a great deal of enthusiasm, ‘We are going to admit even elders in our cricket club hereafter. We
are buying brand new bats and balls. Our captain has asked me to tell you...’.

‘We’ll see about it later,’ Father cut in. ‘You must sleep alone hereafter.’ Swami realised that the
matter had gone beyond his control, from a challenge it had become a plain command; he knew his
father’s tenacity at such moments.

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