c'est la vie

I'm in a deep blue mood today.
I tried to post this yesterday, but had dial up issues.

What do you say to a boy, when you discover him at the point of despair
because his father has been in prison [in Bihar's Beur jail]
for the past fortnight
and he's struggling to keep it a secret
trying to hide it from the neighbours
the nosy relatives...
what can you say...
and not appear to be prying...
he says his father is imprisoned
because of some loan issues
he had told me a month ago that there was a case of a failed business
somewhere along the line.

and now...
he's got to juggle school
[he's a school captain in the eleventh grade]
and visits to the jail
and be a source of support to a harried mother
and keep the nosy neighbours away...
and then there's the issue of just what might happen
if the landlord finds out that the father has been arrested
they may not have a roof over their heads

that's life
for the lower middle class
in Bihar... if you have no political clout
no money for bribes
no contacts with big ganglords
then you can get thrown into jail and run for bail for over a fortnight
for defaulting on a loan....
and you don't want to go to the press
because it's a matter of family honour.....