Chakravyuha

Images that flashed through my mind when I heard that Bilawal, Benazir Bhutto’s 19-year old son would be replacing her as the PPP head-
First- Of a puppy thrown out into the streets during a stampede.
Second-Abhimanyu in the midst of the Chakravyuha during the mythological Mahabhartha war. He was surrounded by veterans in the art of war, each out to seek his blood. He didn’t choose to get into the Chakravyuha (roughly translated, the unbreakable circle) either. He had to, simply because the only others who could break into the circle were away. He was very young too. Sixteen, if I remember right…

The news made me go clammy. Here’s a boy as old as me with the weight of a nation possibly resting on his shoulders. Here’s a boy as old as me with lots of people filled with hatred for him and plotting his death. Here’s a boy as old as me who just lost his mother and has no time to mourn it…

This isn’t fair! It’s almost cruel. He should’ve been an ordinary kid who worried about his college grades. The greatest thing that scared him should have been his mom getting to know that he drank on Saturday nights. He should’ve woken up each morning, hugging his pillow, dreaming about some pretty girl he knew.

When Benazir Bhutto said, ‘I didn’t choose this life, it chose me’, I didn’t quite understand. ‘Nobody forced her’, I shrugged. Watching Bilawal, I now know what she meant…