Racing Back in Time : National Movement Revisited

Battalion's arrival

"Life is beautiful", I thought as I awaited the arrival of my children and grandchildren near the flying car pad of my home in Kumbakonam. I was born in the year 2000. Since then, life has been full of 'goods in the bads' and 'bads in the goods'. I had a memorable childhood, went to my dream university, worked for my dream companies and organizations, got married to the man of my dreams, had two amazing daughters Meera and Meghna and travelled the world. These happened in between pandemics, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, global warming and pollution and other personal setbacks. Wow! I can't be more grateful.

My reminiscence about my past was interrupted when my battalion – as I call them – landed on the flying car pad. Their homecoming meant that I would get a break from my usual 'oldish' life. Gosh! My grandsons have grown up so fast. There is always something special about grandchildren. It's like watching your own kids grow again but with a different and unexplainable kind of bond. My grandsons Advik, 12 and Pranit, 11 hurriedly came up to me and asked, "Grandma, what is the wi-fi password?" "Oh yes, it's 2070", I thought. The customary hugs, kisses and how are yous have long been replaced by what is the wi-fi password, do you have good connectivity here and so on.

Post-lunch, I gave my grandsons a tour of my home. When they saw my collection of books, they were surprised.

"It's too strange why somebody should stock too many books when we can read almost any book on our tabs", said Advik.

"Yes grandma, I have close to one lakh books on my iPad", said Pranit.

"Your tabs can never replace physical books, my child. You should definitely try reading one of them", I said.

Pranit then stumbled upon the book, India's struggle for independence by Bipan Chandra. For a second, I was so happy that he picked that book. I was broken when he said, "Oh, it's a book about the National Movement. That's so boring".

"Yeah. It's all about British taking over India and India fighting back to get independence. What's the big deal?" said Advik.

"It would be embarrassing to tell our friends that we read something about India's past. Let's pick some other book", said Pranit.

Even now, when I just hear the words 'national movement', 'freedom struggle' etc., I become emotional. Thinking about our freedom fighters, martyrs, the adversities of the common people and the unity of Indians; I am getting goosebumps and emotional even when I write this. I think these feelings became extinct with my generation.

"I've planned to take Advik and Pranit back to the National Movement", I declared at the dinner table. Meera, Meghna and their husbands were more than happy with my decision, while my grandsons were desolated throughout the night. But they don't have a choice.

The next day, we packed our bags for the trip. I also booked a 'House-bot' (a robot designed for housekeeping) and a drone for delivering groceries. I sent my caretaker, Anjali, on a solo trip as well. It was 12 noon by then. I took out my time machine and entered all the particulars. A big portal opened up. As soon as we stepped into the portal, we reached our destination.

So, this time machine has been my best friend since 2060. There are two things which I love about time machines. One, we can only travel to the past; hence, the excitement about the future is never lost. Two, we will only be visible to fellow time travellers and no changes can be made to the past. Also, there is a 'Time Traveller's Inn' in almost all the places and all the years starting from 1600, where time travellers get boarding and lodging facilities. The inn is invisible to the people of the past as well.