The Secret Society

My brother was the self proclaimed leader. He had all the makings of  a capitalist. He decided the name of the society we were to form. There were seven of us within the regulatory framework of the society. The self proclaimed leader had authorised the rules written in 'bril' ink on an old tattered note book. And yes our society also had a flag made out of one of my mother's expensive sarees. It was red at the top and a pale yellow on the lower sides. I had no option but to pretend to abide by the rules because the seven of us needed each other socially and yes sentimentally to survive island living. The leader named our party secret seven : My brother A****, the capitalist, gyam neutral core, R**** anti capitalist, g***** anti r****, arun the no rules guy, m*****(murukku) the all rules guy and me, the communist(and our unofficial/executive member, me****).

The communist in me could not withstand the inequality and the hierarchy that existed so openly in the society. The capitalist leader would decide which game was to be played when and how, and to him the rules book was a great tool to contain unwieldy me inside the society. We had to stand he said when he unfurled the flag and put our toy guns to the sky as a mark of respect. Now the communist in me felt the domination unfair because the philosophy I believed in said all men are equal. Everytime I argued with the leader he would say the rules are so that some are just less equal and some more equal.

 So I secretly conspired with ramesh, the anti capitalist to insist for the elections and to stand as the opposition candidate. He did. And on the day of elections the unofficial member sensed my conspiracy and informed the former leader that I was casting a vote against him. But through the canvassing it was the capitalist who was smarter. R**** was a dullard when it came to canvassing. So while the capitalist was at the height of his oratorical skills mesmerizing the audience(a five member audience) R**** walked about like a dull head. So when the polling took place all seemed peaceful(including the cats were quiet) except the former leader's visage. He was grim and his eyes had a dark rage. I cast my vote anyway and the one i voted for lost with no vote but mine.  So I had to stand and salute as the re-elected leader unfurled the flag and then because I didn't salute I was expelled for two months from the party. Those two months were my best philosophical months. As I watched the capitalist lead his followers to games I was excluded from I realized "all men are equal, just that some are less equal, others more equal than those some".I guess childhood is always a precursor to what we become later on in our lives.