Keeping a secret

How right Benjamin Franklin was – and why not? After all, he was an intelligent man. Ask a woman and she would say ‘intelligent man` is an oxymoron. For those of you who don`t know Benjamin Franklin…he was the guy who invented bifocals, lighting rod, Franklin stove, and odometer.

Even as I sit in front of my computer I carry with me a huge secret. Had it not been for the strength of my character I would have revealed it to the public by now and made a fool of myself. But we Maduraites are born strong and determined and don`t give in to pressure. If you don`t believe me ask my Reporting Manager at work…whatever pressure tactics she uses, I always deliver beyond the due date.

I have always loved keeping secrets. There was this incident which happened when I was in class seven. A very studious, so-called Tam Bram class mate of mine walked up to me and said: “Can you keep a secret?”

“Sure. I can.”

“Nahh. I doubt if you can.” My classmate didn`t seem impressed by my convincing.

“Serious. Did you know that I am actually the Spiderman?”

“No. I didn`t know,” my friend looked surprised.

“That`s the extent to which I can keep secrets.” I think I made a mark with that statement.

“Are you serious? Are you the Spiderman?” I could see respect for me in my friend`s eyes.

“Yes.”

“Wow…I have always wanted to meet Spiderman.” Even as he was saying this sentence my classmate was holding my hand and feeling it. Maybe to check if Spiderman was a flesh-and-blood man.

“Are you convinced enough to tell me the secret?” I persisted.

“Well, here is the secret ….My father told me. He works for Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and is privy to some of top-level, classified information.”

“Wow…now what is this secret?”

“The secret is…the Indian Government has hidden a Nuclear bomb in the Indian Ocean. Including you, me and my father only six people know – so please keep it to yourself.”

My classmate did sound honest. Nuclear bombs were important too…otherwise America wouldn`t have dropped just two of them in Japan and kept the other 2482 nuclear bombs for themselves. I decided to keep the secret.

I kept it closeted in my heart for 20 years. But then, even RAW de-classifies information after every 20 years. So, for those who don`t know yet…there is a nuclear bomb hidden in the Indian Ocean.