The doorbell rang. Hurried footsteps rushed towards the door to open. A newly minted 10-year-old walked in, his school uniform a bright white with matching shoes and socks.

“How was the parade?”

“It was fine, Mamma. Where is Appa?”

“Oh, he’s in his room. Go in. I think he has a surprise for you!”

“That’s nice. I have a surprise for him too!”

“What is it?”

“I want to tell him first.”

With that he opened the door to the study to find his father, who was reading a big book. He only read big books. Doesn’t he know Kindles exist?!

“Ohho! Here’s the birthday boy! How was the Independence Day parade?”

“It was fine, Appa. Not too much parade, but lots of speeches. They were so boring!”

“Yes, most politicians love wasting your time with empty speeches.”

“No, Appa! The Principal’s speech was the longest and most boring!”

His father smiled.

“Appa, the Minister’s speech was good though. He was very funny!”

“Oh, that’s nice! Good to know our Ministers can be funny.”

“Well, you always call them jokers!”

“No, that’s not what I…”

“That’s okay, Appa. He was telling us how we can contribute to the nation. Even before we vote, we can do good for the country!”

“That’s very nice.”

“Yes! And they’re giving us great prizes for helping them. They even had an iPhone as a prize.”

“Wow! What do you have to do to win the prize?”

“It was so simple. They gave me a questionnaire… multiple choice questions… those who got the best answers won!’

“So a quiz competition. I’m sure you did well!”

“Yes, Appa! I won the iPhone!!”

“That’s amazing!”

“But they said they’ll come home to give it.”

“That’s strange! When did they say they’ll come?”

He barely finished when the doorbell rang again. Hurried footsteps rushed towards the door again. But this time it was followed by a loud commotion.

The father stepped out of the study to investigate. Three burly men, cops, had entered the house yelling orders at his wife.

“What’s going on?!”

“Are you Ashok? Arjun’s father?”

“Yes. Is he in any trouble?”

“No, I have been asked to bring you to the police station for enquiries.”

“Regarding? I’m not going anywhere. Tell me what this is about.”

Ashok then noticed a fourth person at the front door. He was not as well built but looked more menacing than the cops. He entered the house slowly before speaking.

“We suspect that you are a gaddar.”

“Gaddar? A traitor? What do you mean?”

“We asked your son to tell us the kind of TV shows you watch, the YouTube videos you share, and what you say about our government.”

“But…”

“We did a search of all your posts on Twitter, Facebook and Reddit. You think you are anonymous online but we traced everything from your IP address.”

“Son… Arjun…what was in that quiz?”

“Don’t ask him questions. He did the right thing and he will be rewarded. But you, sir, you are a danger to our society. You eat our food, use our resources and yet say bad things about our government? Our country? We will get to the bottom of this. We will find out who you really are working for. We will then send you to reform camp.”

“Reform camp?”

“Yes, lucky for you. If your name was something else, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation!”

Arjun jumped between the two men, and started pleading.

“Please don’t take him away. My answers were wrong!”

“I know, beta. But you are a patriot. We will ensure your photo gets published in the newspaper. You are a hero!”

As if on cue, the cops caught Ashok, handcuffed him and dragged him away. The echoes of his protests bouncing off the walls of the corridor.

The man exited, as slowly as he entered. He stopped for a moment, turned around and presented a gift wrapped box to the weeping child.

“Here’s your iPhone, beta. Use it to spread positivity. We need more youngsters like you. Heroes.”