Short Story ......... Another Day in Paradise

Lying in bed, the warmth of the early rays of sunrise on my face, the sweet fragrant magnolias heighten my olfactory and the music of migrating skylarks ringing in my ears. The world is so beautiful when man is asleep. No smell of automobile fumes or of the chaos of people rushing about aimlessly. I wait for these moments when the beauty of the world heightens all my senses, making me feel alive and blissful. But these moments are short-lived and as dawn breaks and I feel the strength of the sun’s heat on my skin, it is time to face the realness of life, as we know it.
My day is not very different from everybody else’s. A walk around the park in the morning to get the blood pumping and muscles in shape. I can faintly hear the tones of music from people walking with their earphones plugged tightly and walkmans on full volume. Where is the joy to walk if you don’t leave your ears open to the sounds around you? Housewives rattling on about everything from their neighbor’s affairs to masala concoctions. Little children screaming and laughing while they prance around on the grass. I leave that park, every morning, feeling physically and emotionally invigorated.
The journey to work is the toughest part of my day. A half hour to cross the road and get the bus. After a grueling 1 hour in the congested creaking metal box, seething to the brim with people scurrying about to catch some breathing space, I reach my destination. As I attempt to alight from the bus, the driver who apparently has a deadline to meet moves away a little to early leaving me sprawled on the pavement. I guess he decided his job was more important than my legs. Lifting myself up, with the little dignity I have left, I make my way to the office.
At the end of another mundane day at work its time to head back home. As I step out into the wild again I can sense the absence of the heat of the day and can feel the cool twilight breeze on my skin. In the midst of the familiar drone of people talking, feet tapping on the concrete pavement, sound of automobiles roaring and squealing of tires on the hard asphalt, I tread homewards.
My ears snapped open to the sound of people screaming and tires squealing. As I struggle to identify the source of the sound amidst all the noise, I feel a sharp rap on my hip that sends a jolt of pain through my legs. Next thing I know I’m laying on my back on the pavement. My legs feel like they are on fire, the nerves sensing every single bolt of pain. The warm smell of blood as I feel it trickling down the side of my face, with the soft sound of each drop falling on the pavement. I tried reaching out for my walking stick, it wasn’t there. I started to panic, I could here a commotion nearby but nobody seemed to notice me lying there. I had no idea what just happened and didn’t want to even think of how serious my injuries were. As I lay there, staring into the black space that I grew so used to, my mind wandered to that special place I was in this morning, Thursday morning. The blissful feeling I experienced. The pain in my legs disappeared and was replaced by a faint numbness. All the sounds I had ever heard and the aromas I had inhaled were coming back to me. It began to lull me into a sense of tranquility and calmness.
And then my mind raced to the day before, I was sitting before my doctor and he had a light shining in my left eye. We had just finished talking about the operation. He said I was ready and that he admired my courage for agreeing to undergo this groundbreaking surgery that had been only tried once before and was a success. I told him how I had been waiting for this moment when it would be possible, medically, to perform such an elaborate procedure. He took my hand and told me, in a reassuring voice, that Friday would be the day my eyes would open.

~ Luke

WHERE HAS THE COMPASSION GONE!

I had the misfortune of having to visit a police station to file an FIR (First Information Report) and was deeply disappointed by the response i received. Have these officials become, over the years, cold and indifferent? Has the sheer volume of cases handled by these people contributed to their sense of disservice? Who is to blame? I still believe that a few bad apples could ruin the basket. We still have a lot of compassionate, hard-working respected officials who will go the mile to serve the people but at the same time these few are hard to come across.
So what can WE do to improve this sorry state of affairs? Most important of all we need to treat our officials with respect ,and by that i dont mean saluting an officer when he walks by but, by talking to them with the respect they deserve (NOT MORE!) and admit our faults if we are in the wrong. All said and done our police have a tough job, a BILLION people breaking laws almost everyday is a hard bunch to regulate. So give them their due.
Secondly the very sensitive affair of bribery. Can we avoid it ? YES! And we should. It sure is tough staying away from bribing an official in reality but all it takes is a little convicttion and a LOT of patience. Dont be afraid to fight your way up the official echelons to get justice. Its our right. Bribery is never the way out. Avoid breaking the law instead of avoiding a conviction with a bribe.
Finally compassion and comradeship in society. A simple thank you can brighten up anyone's day. From the rickshaw driver to the grocery store owner. A loud and clear "THANK YOU" can bring meaning to their profession. It's importrant to remember that no body or noone's problems are less insignificant than yours.
So lets strive to inculcate a measure of humaness in our lives and live knowing that all it takes is a single humane gesture to change the world!