Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Birthday.

It was twilight and I was hurling towards the bus stop. But I must have missed the bus by a whisker. I reached the bus stop gasping for air. I could see no one apart from an old man. He too must have missed the bus I thought. Son, is everyone in the family alright? He asked. I was in no mood to answer any question. Yes, I snapped back. Why was he concerned about about my family? Are you sure? He asked. For a moment I gave him a glaring look but then realized that he was not the reason for me arriving late at the bus stop. Why do you ask I inquired. I am sorry son but such is the coincidence that I could not stop asking. Then he began to narrate an incident.

It was 28th of October about 20 years ago said the man. I was still young enough to earn my living. But I was poor. It was twilight and I was waiting at this same bus stop. From across the road I could see a young man running towards me. I was a bit afraid but ready to fight back. As he drew nearer my fear was gone. He looked like a decent fellow just like you but older. He too was gasping for air and asked me if the bus had left. I replied affirmatively. He was full of tears. What is wrong? I had asked him. He had come to a nearby pharmacy to buy some medicine for his child who was born on the same day. The child was very sick. But his car had broken down and now he had missed the last bus too.

Why not try a cab I had said. I can accompany you to the hospital. It was such an easy suggestion. But he had been overrun with too many worries. I accompanied him to the hospital. He had paid the cab driver and had given me some money as well. I was embarrassed but I accepted it thinking about my family who had nothing to eat that day. I had saved some of that money and used it in the right manner. The money had turned out to be very lucky for me. Today I have become a rich man. But I could never find the man who had made me rich. I had tried everything in vain to find him.

For last 15 years I visit this bus stop on 28th October to remind me of my past and to remind me of the person who had changed my life. Looking at you come up to me in the same way, I expected you to ask some question and when you did not I was tempted to inquire, he said. I consoled him saying that he would find the person one day.

Just then the last bus had arrived and I had hurriedly climbed in. For a while I was thinking about old man's story when I suddenly realized why I had been rude to him in the first place. It was my 20th birthday today and I was late to a party that was organized at my home. I had not even asked the old man for his name.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Deepavali.

Or in short Diwali is a festival of lights. It represents the victory of the good over the evil. It is celebrated every where with zest. There are different traditions associated with the celebration that vary across countries and across religions. But none of the us in our village had celebrated Diwali for last 7 years. Today was the night of Diwali and everything was dead quiet. Except for the chirping of birds and a cry emanating from the house. A cry we had heard for last 7 years. A cry that would not let us even think about celebrating Diwali.

He had been their only child. It was a Diwali day and he had gone to the city to buy crackers for the entire village. It was a custom to send best behaved child to the city to buy the fireworks. But misfortune had struck. They had met with an accident and even though all of them had survived the child had succumbed to the injuries. That was 7 years ago. The child was the darling of the village and every Diwali had reminded us of the loss of a son, loss of a friend and a loss of countless other emotions.

Then through the window I could see a man running as fast as he could to the village elder's house. What had happened this time? Did the curse of Diwali strike again? I ran outside. Then the man and the village elder were briskly moving towards the village outskirts. I began running to keep up with them but remaining out of site lest the fear of anger.

It was a site that would have a great impact on me. There he was, another child who was sitting there happily. He was lonely but was not afraid, alone but not crying. The village elder and the man were asking him questions about his identity. But he did not say anything. He just smiled. In one of his hands were stones he must have been playing with and in the other was a pack of crackers.

The parents of the deceased were called outside. Upon looking at the site the mother grabbed the child. It was as if she had recognized him. Every one in the village were looking at the scene with tears in their eyes and smiles. Then for the first time after 7 years the village heard the sound of the crackers.

They said he had the same birth mark as the deceased child. This child too had become the darling of the village.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Challenges.

I arrived at the bus stop well ahead of time. Dang I said. Luckily I could connect to the internet and follow the greatest spectacle of the decade, Anand v/s Kramnik. A fight between two of the best players of our times. A clash of two schools of thought. An enticing prospect on the whole. It would be a great challenge for the players to fight the battle. But there was a bigger one in store and it was not related to the game.

I was following the game closely trying to analyze the positions when my attention was diverted to a family with one kid and his parents. Tragedy had struck them. The kid was blind. But they had overcome this difficult situation. Today they were teaching the kid to identify an obstacle in his way. The kid was trying hard to overcome this challenge. But he was faltering every single time. He was getting frustrated with his progress but with the help of his parents he was rising again with a new hope. This was going on for around five minutes and I had completely lost the track of the spectacle I was so eager to follow just a while ago.

Then to my pleasant surprise Anand had won the match and had taken a sizable lead. Anand had overcome his challenge. At that moment I could hear a joyous cry and I was greatly relieved to see that the child had overcome his obstacle once and then several times. There would be many more challenges in his life.

Today, the challenge I had was to identify an issue customers were complaining about. I hoped I could stand up to it. Just then the bus arrived and I scrambled to pack my bag and get in.

A thought in the background made me realize that each one of us have a set of challenges. It is not easy to step into each others shoes. I could not imagine myself being in Anand's position or in the kid's shoes. I wonder what the kid and Anand would have to say about that.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Scatman's world.

Scatman, fat man, black and white and brown man. Tell me 'bout the color of your soul. The lyrics hit me like a lightning bolt. The song was creating a strange effect on me. I decided to take a tea break and get my composure back. Thoughts were traveling back in time at a scorching pace. And then in an instance, it finally dawned on me.

I had been listening to the bromidic songs for a long time and was desperately trying to find something new to listen to. Then the search result displayed Scatman's world. To me its a kind of song that I can hear for a while but it fails the test of time. However, it had been a long time since I had heard it. I decided to play the song and after a while I was off for a tea break.

What was it that was nagging me? Was it colonialism? Was it the slave trade? Was it the caste system? Was it the religious wars? or Was it about the other divisions that humans had inflicted upon themselves? The lyrics were surely sounding different this time. Finally I knew I was thinking on a much bigger scale. In reality it had been an incident that had happened when I was young that was gnawing me.

There were two groups of 3 students each who were rivals in everything they did. The rivalry had been started very early and over the years it had been blown out of proportion. They were destined to fight over everything. I was a part of it as well :(.

The quarrel had started in the same fashion as it always had. Arguing over a minor statement that had nothing to do with the subject that was being discussed. It had not come to blows this time. But I had a feeling that this was different from the normal angry disputes. The fight was taking a more serious turn. Others were trying to intervene but to no avail. And then one of us said something that should not have been said. It was related to every discrimination that has divided the world for last thousands of years. Instantly all the six of us knew that this had gone too far. What had become of us? Was it worth it? We left the battle field silently. For the first time it looked as if both the armies had lost the battle.

The next day went by silently and so did the week. Then almost the start of another quarrel. But there was no steam in the fight. We were all coming to same conclusions. Now that had never happened. And then to everyone's surprise we were on talking terms. Then exchange of good words for a while and then jokes. The wind of change was blowing.

Now we were a single group of six. But we were not searching for another group of six to fight. It seemed like we had seen the color of our souls. Today we talk once in a while and celebrate the day when we had fought our greatest war and lost.

Dedicated to putting an end to discrimination and the violence arising out of it. How can someone win if winning means that someone loses.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Road.

A political representative was paying a visit to our village. The mood was upbeat. Preparations had been underway to welcome him. Elders and children had been preparing for this visit in different ways. Me and my friends were planning a coup to cajole the representative into providing a better play ground to our village.

He was greeted with a lot of cheers. There was a small platform setup on which he and the village elder's were sitting. We had to scramble to bring the chairs at the last moment. All the villagers were sitting on the ground. Me and my friends were looking for an opportunity to talk to the representative.

The village elder was the first to speak. He gave a hearty welcome to the representative and made us aware of all the achievements of the representative. He then spoke about how our village had improved since the last year and finally spoke about the shortcomings of the village. He then asked the representative to address us. I was disappointed that the village elder had not spoken about the need for a playground. The representative spoke eloquently about all the initiatives he had taken in the entire state with a small mention of our village as well.

As the representative was about to finish his impressive talk, me and my friends were fast walking towards the platform. But we had to stop as a young child beat us in the race to climb the stage. She went straight to the representative and displayed the injury she had sustained while walking on the village road. Can't you do something about the village road she said? Me and my friends had made a silent retreat. After another 6 months the tar road had been constructed.

Besides an article that encompassed the entire page of the daily describing a film star, there was a small section that read "A teacher makes difference to the village. For the first time two kids from that village had cracked a competitive exam held in our state.".

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Flood.

The torrential rains had battered the village. The water level had steadily risen over the past few days and finally crossed the menacing limit. There was water everywhere. Everyone was trying to protect and recover whatever they could. Overall the mood was gloomy. People were depressed to see their entire year's toil going kaput. Our lives had been affected in more than one way.

They had been the best of friends since very long. Nobody in the village remembered the day they had become friends. Probably the two had forgotten the day as well. They had built their houses opposite to each other. Both were known to help the villagers in times of difficulties. People would ask for their advice in situations that required good reasoning. Both were respected a lot in the village. But that was before the last year.

It had started with a petty argument over their religion each one trying to prove how his religion was greater than the others. After a while the debate had become a minor altercation and finally it had come to blows. Timely intervention by some villagers had averted the situation. Since then they were at loggerheads. They were no longer on speaking terms. This fight had led to the beginning of a split among the village community as far as their advice was concerned. The village elders had been concerned about it. They had tried to fix a compromise but neither would budge.

The flood water was still rising. Suddenly there was a gush of water. A child was about to drown. Then one man without caring about anything had jumped in. He had caught hold of the child. For a moment there was a smile on everyone’s face after a long time. But the next moment there were tears. The man was losing his control. He would not hold for long. Then we saw another man jump into action and throw in support for the other man and the child.

People were smiling. The child was in shock. The two men were in tears and hugged each other. They were friends again. One had saved the others child and the other had provided the much needed support.

There was no longer any feeling of uneasiness in the village. It had once again become normal. But two questions had been imprinted on my mind. I have never successfully answered them.

1. Did the two friends fight because of the concept of religion? Or was it because of the basic instinct in the every living creature?

2. Did they risk their lives because of the qualities imbibed in them by their religion? Or was it because of their friendship?

PS: Dedicated to putting an end to communal violence.

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