Chapter 1: The Purest Light

The boy was born into chaos, yet his heart remained soft. From a young age, he believed in love with a pure and foolish faith. He was a whirlwind of energy - always running, laughing, turning ordinary moments into adventures. His family called him the chaotic one, but to him, the world still sparkled with possibility. Every small thing excited him: a stray dog on the street, the sound of rain on the tin roof, or the rare sweetness of a stolen mango. He loved fiercely and trusted without question.

He was the youngest of four siblings, living in a cramped rented room where privacy was a luxury they could not afford. The space was so tight that at night their mats almost touched each other. His mother was kind-hearted and gentle, rarely raising her voice even when exhaustion weighed heavily on her shoulders. But it was his eldest sister who truly held the family together. Only a few years older than the rest, she moved through life with the stern authority of a man, making decisions, enforcing rules, scolding when necessary, and ensuring they survived another day. Their father had abandoned them when the boy was only two years old. He had betrayed their mother and married another woman without a second thought. While his older siblings carried faint, warm memories of a father’s voice or hands, the youngest knew nothing of it. Whenever curious neighbours or school friends asked about his dad, he would lift his chin and say with quiet pride, “He is no more.” It was a small lie that protected his dignity and spared him pitying looks.

Poverty wrapped around them like a heavy, suffocating chain. Five people shared one small room - sleeping, eating, laughing, and crying on top of one another. The walls were thin, the roof leaked during heavy rains, and meals were often uncertain. Some days they went to bed with empty stomachs, listening to the growling of their own bellies. When the boy was still very small, his mother made a difficult, heart-wrenching choice. He was too young to help or understand the weight of their struggles. She sent him to live with his grandmother in a quieter part of the city so she could work longer hours and earn whatever little money she could to feed the rest of the family.

Those five years, from age two to seven, became the brightest and most cherished chapter of his life. His grandmother’s small home felt like paradise. The air smelled of fresh incense and home-cooked food. She spoke to him in a soft, loving language, told him bedtime stories about brave kings and kind gods, fed him with her own hands, and protected him from the harshness of the world outside. He did not fully understand time or age, but he understood love in its truest form. The bond they shared was the purest thing he had ever known - unconditional, warm, and safe. When the day finally came for him to return to his mother and siblings, the little boy clung desperately to his grandmother and cried as if his heart was being torn apart. He screamed. He begged. He threw tantrums for days. He was not ready to leave her.

But the world rarely cares about a child’s readiness - it simply takes what it wants, leaving behind scars that would one day turn a loving boy into something unrecognisable.

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