JON

A Beginning...

Rishikesh is hardly a place where you would question people’s rationale on anything. So when his parents, educated and modern as they were, decided to have the birth at home, like the good old days, under the watchful eyes of an octogenarian midwife of dubious credentials, nobody raised an eyebrow.

Only he decided to come out the other way ceremoniously garlanded with the umbilical cord around his neck. Of course, nobody panics in Rishikesh, the abode of Gods and he was, rather embarrassingly on a cycle rickshaw, shifted to the nearby nursing home with his mother all entangled over him and howling as if she was the only one under any discomfort.

The pediatrician in attendance completed the opening ceremony and reported that he was somewhat short on Apgar scores. He had come second in life’s first exam, quite befitting of how his life will unfold later.

Thus, Janmenjay Krishna Sehgal, reluctant to cry, slightly blue, fuzzy in the mind and almost causing the disaster of his mother’s death right away, made his grand entry into this world.

P.S. Hi guys. I invite you to explore the life of Janmenjaya (Jon) with me. For starters, feel free to write a defining and powerful event / incident in the life of Jon when he is 5-6 years old. Write anything but just be consistent with the last paragraph above in terms of building Jon's character. Its an open canvas and feel free to create your own situations, places and side characters... And no word limits!