endurance

09.04.2026

A: In your endeavours, when do you accept defeat?

S: I don’t give up. I keep on going. I have never been rewarded for being a genius. Yet, still, I write. I am the writer and the poet. I still orchestrate the dance of the letters.

A: How can you keep on going?

S: The Tiger had a grandfather. A scholar and an athlete. This grandfather who was the top of his class in his university, when he came to this country, he had to work in manual jobs beneath his qualifications because of their racism and hostility. Because he had a family to support and he came from absolute poverty. He had to build everything, the house, the stability. But this grandfather had a dream. The dream of learning. He worshipped the architect of the Indian constitution, one of us, the Untouchables, Dr. Ambedkar. This grandfather believed that we could change the world.

A: And then?

S: The flame did not pass to the son. It came to the grandson, the only one with the same colour eyes as the grandfather. All the talent of the grandfather went into nurturing this grandson. And this grandson? Everything was built for him. He had a stable home and family, unlike his grandfather whose father had left the family to struggle with poverty and malnutrition. This grandson did not have to worry about work or money. The grandfather and the father had built it. His mother cared for the home. After two generations, the Untouchable was free. There was a special duty and privilege for him.

A: And?

S: This grandson was born in special circumstances. Like a god. He is special. He went to the London School of Economics like Dr. Ambedkar. He is a doctor too. He is also a genius. There is a special duty on him for his people, The Oppressed. For The Mother, who they have dishonoured.

A: So?

S: This grandson is the dream of the grandfather, what he has created. He is the dream of India. Of the independence into which the grandfather was born. Do you think that with this history, that this grandson can ever give up? He is The Tiger. He is what the people have prayed for. The history gives The Tiger his endurance. When my grandfather worked as a child, fanning his master, the master took pity on him and sent him to be educated. The promise of education that the young one had has been realised in The Tiger. He is gifted. He sees what no one else can see. He is the guide of this world and the people. And that, my friend, is why he can never fail. Because he can never disappoint his grandfather. Because his grandfather is the independence of India. He is freedom.