Sunday, June 6, 2010

true Joy of living




Oopss!!! My sandal broke as I was running to board the train. I looked behind to see who caused this to me and I saw a Lady

(in her 40's) trying hard to get inside the train. I was so annoyed at her, at once I even thought of not letting her get in.

But since she was heavier in size she managed to get in.

I badly wanted a seat, but could not find one. I somehow managed to get in with my broken sandal and found one. In no time I could see thetrain full of ladies. Few geared with earphones, few fast a sleep, few complaining of their neighbours and few fighting for no reason.

I was not at peace with anything that happened today with me. My alarm didnt ring, my phone was out of charge, I could not find my office locker keys and most of all I was getting late to work. My boss had given an ultimatum last week. Everything seemed to turn upside down. For once, Ithought I should just close my eyes and stop thinking. I wanted everything to go to a still stop.... Just a pause to take place and nothing to think about.

Last night I found that my salary was deducted to half and the reason was 'recession'. For all the toil I put in, all I found was half of what I deserved. I broke down, for I wanted to pay my children's fees. I had to pay for mother's medicine, I had to repay the debt and most of all the rent for a shelter I found. It was too difficult for me to take this as a single mother.

I prayed day in and out to God. But still could not keep up my family expectations. I thought to myself, this is it. What has
God done to me. Doesnt He know that I have a family to look after. I just complained and gave up.

Once the train travel is over, I need to travel by bus to reach office. I wasted 15 minutes just waiting for the bus to come. Finally I saw my bus coming my way. I got into it and looked out for a ladies seat. I found that a gentleman was seated on a ladies seat. I stood next to him and took real pride in being a woman and telling him that it belongedto me.

Immediately, he got up. As he moved aside, he smiled at me. Soon I realized that he was paralysed. I was literally taken aback and was really very guilty of what I did to him. He struggled even to stand. Before I could offer him the seat, he got down and left without complaining. But for a split second Ithought I knew this guy and have seem him somewhere.

The bus was getting vacant as I waited for my stop to come, which was only 2 stops away. This incident was about to fade from my mind when one ofmy office collegues tapped me from behind and came to sit next to me . She asked me why I was so upset and looked so helpless. I just looked at her saying, it doesnt matter to anyone what I going through. She smiled and said, it does. All you have to do is speakto me. But I kept mum.

She had seen, what I did to that man and asked me if I knew anything about him. My heart started pounding when I recalled that incident. I told her, i didnt know. She said, this man could once walk and stand properly. But, he was unfortunate to have met with an accident which lead him to this state. It seems that he could have been revived completely had he been hosiptalized a few hours. But he was hospitalized alomst 3 hours after the incident

The moment she said this, I recalled where I had seen this guy. It was a saturday night, when I got really very late from office. I had no choice but to walk frommy office to the railway station. As I walked, I saw a guy lying on the street, knocked by a truck. I could see the truck passing and this guy shouting for help. His body was bleeding badly. I ignored him and walked off. I was just scared of the police verification and didnt want to waste my time behind anything. I just walked by without giving a helping hand. There was no body else who noticed him. I eventually forgot about this incident.


He was abandoned by his wife and children after this state. He is trying to do his bit to look after his poor old parents, said my friend.

His life was just devastated. Whoever comes across this guy, have loved him because of his simple nature. He would never complain of anything in life. It
seems he lost his job last month and is been trying to do all he can to get a job.

After having heard this I could not eat anything and just wanted to leave and rest for a while. I waited half a day and realized I could not concentrate on my work. I could not wait for the bus because I just didnt have enough strength in me. I took an auto and left post lunch. The auto driver had a different plan. He took me to an estranged place with a dirty intention in mind. This place had a small factory with very little people in and arround it. I was scared and screamed for help.

I struggled for life and tried to escape from him. After a while, I saw a few men coming my way to help me. The driver fled immediately. I could see a few men chasing him and wanting to get hold of him. However, he succeeded in escaping.

The men who came to help where very courteous. One said to me 'Madam, you are very lucky that we could save you. If it was not for Ramesh, we'd not have known of what was happening arround'. I wanted to thank Ramesh and wanted to meet him. When I saw Ramesh I had tears in my eyes and just didnt know what to say. Ramesh was the same person whom I had left to die on the streets a few months back. It seems when Ramesh saw the auto driver, he screemed aloud, but no one could hear him. He injured his leg badly as he broke the safety alarm and informed others.

I felt so guilty of what I did to him. Had I helped him, he would have been normal today. Had I done my bit to him, he would

have been with his wife and children. I only cried and cried and cried, when I heard Ramesh saying - Thats ok, I know why you are crying. I have forgotten that night. You can forget it too.

Ramesh taught me that true Joy of living is by helping others live. He also made me realize that every human being has troubles in his/her life. Its better not to complain of them and take them as they come and tackle life with a smile :)

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