We are all the same

It was just another ordinary morning. Woke up late, had a quick shower, dressed in a jiffy and left for college. It was barely a 10 minute walk to the Trivandrum city museum bus stop to which I hurried.

The scenario around was just the same as always. Morning joggers in their fifties pacing around the museum track with their pot bellies leading the race while some professionals in their forties, who had been working hard till date, exhibit their muscle accumulated stomach. Aren’t these 2 groups similar?? And are they really running for their health?? No way…it’s just too stupid to even think like that. They are just eager to display the enormity of their stomach size which apparently symbolizes what they’ve earned so far. It is just eagerness to exhibit their own “laziness”…oops!! Supposedly their “workout” in public. I walked forward as it was just blase scenery.

I reached bus stop and stationed around a corner side. I looked around and sees few people standing here and there, waiting for their bus. In my near right side two little boys and a cute little girl were standing in their beautiful white uniforms. It’s very lovely to watch them, they were laughing, making little sounds, showing some actions with one hand while grasping one on their mother’s dress.

After few minutes, a school bus arrived and stopped in front of me. I just looked the name of school, it says ‘Little hearts special school, Trivandrum’…What!! a special school?? I watched children, their parents were helping them to entering bus, and they get in and seated. I spend few seconds on them, to check if everything is alright. But suddenly, I took my eyes off, I felt something wrong. Why am I spending so much time watching them, is it because of knowing they were students of special school? But would I care if it is a normal school bus. I don’t think so. Oh my god!! I shouldn’t do this, it’s not fair to them and all students need to be treated in same.

The school bus started to move, ladies started to walk quickly towards my right, while walking they move their head little downwards, avoiding any other eye contacts. I checked on others, all were watching these ladies, but every face displaying some emotion, ‘is it compassion?’ No!! . They were not watching, they were actually staring. I looked sharper their mind says “Is that your child? Oh! That’s so cruel…. I am very sorry”. Now I understood why ladies left eagerly.

Is they all enjoying a crime of the utmost savagery .Why? Why people are like this? I don’t understand, what this displaying is nothing but a streak of sadism. Why this happens? It’s not their mistake to give birth a special child or sending their child to a special school. Why they don’t understand it?

I kept this thought in mind while getting in to the bus but I had to prepare my mind for college hours. I reached college and walked towards my classroom situated in second floor, ha! There is our Preeja Miss, standing with the text book of optical communication engineering, and staring into it for searching any one sentence in the page that’s familiar moreover understood to her. She passed B tech with 80% (definitely out of 200%) and M tech with 85% (Mystery of Math!) unfortunately specialized in this paper.

“Miss, May I come in”

“Get in”.

For the first fifteen minutes, I was continuing my rest of sleep which I couldn’t finish in the morning. But I came to sense after Sandeep’s pinch started to heart, he was complaining about not ‘liking’ his new Facebook profile pic. During boring lectures, husky talking, idly peeping, I kept my thoughts in that bus stop scenario. First Period ended, I think this is second one or the third. Actually I don’t know what is going on there, whatever lunch break came. Ate lunch, some usual chit chat with friends, again the periods, sleeps, periods, talking, oh! Finally last period ends.

I left college and get in to East fort private bus to reach my house, it’s normally a fifteen to twenty minutes ride but during peak traffic, as now, journey will take thirty minutes. I love to travel in bus, it’s my favorite personal time where I and my thoughts cherish together. Bus moved slowly, all seats were filled.

I looked on each faces, all are seemed to be tired, of course… they just left from office, but there is something more than that, may be a “I don’t care” attitude. Most city people are like this. I accept the fun & glittering side of city life, but an essential element is missing, I searched for it, I call it ‘values’, an imponderable element. The value of relationships, value of our life, value of human emotions, value of hard work. But at least they are blessed with Job, family, financial, Management stresses.

I looked outside the bus, how tightly they build here? If one put his head out, surely his nose tip touch the next house. And when the power failure occurs, every walls start to transmit whispering voices, each building is like each radio station. And believe me, if you once listen, you will not need any other entertainments.

The driver just turn on the FM, mm…do you know why FM get reachable more in cities than in the villages, because these FM stations are mask of city people to cover up their values, they pretend to listen music, muting their own social rhythm of life, while in villages they don’t have enough time to spend with the FM.

My destination reached and I got down at museum, then after spending time on nothing any important, same as always, I slept.

Next morning, my mobile kept ringing. It’s my friend Vivek

“Dude didn’t you woke up yet? Do you forgot whose first period is today? It’s Usha miss period”

 I said “oh sh*t!”

“Last time she cut our one week attendance, she is a heartless creature, and we have to be there today!”

“Yes I will be there at 8.35am”.

“You don’t know her, whole this semester she gets in 8.30 itself, I don’t know how fast she comes to our classroom, I think she is faster than P.T Usha, you won’t get any attendance if you came five minutes lately”

“hey don’t try to frighten me, I will be there OK ”.

I hang up phone, run to bathroom, after two minutes I get dressed up in college uniform, oh! It’s disgusting, found my bag somewhere below bed and left my room. I walked quickly through the footpath, I glanced around, not only me everything seems to be in hurry. Other people were trying to walk faster than me, like am in a walk Contest.

Something….. Something… is not right, because not only human machines are doing the same, bikes seems to flying on the roads, cars moving like no day tomorrow, something is going on here….. And without any thinking I stepped one step to road for crossing, all of a sudden a huge wind swifts in front of me, I moved backward and I stunned for a moment just to realize what had just happen. I glared to my left side I see a green bike going, he just waving his head through the helmet, it’s surely not his mistake, it’s mine. I scold myself for being reckless and I waited for my turn to cross the road.

A huge cracking sound filled the air immediately…I paused …it is from my left side, Oh my God!! It’s an accident ….. The same green bike that just passed in front of me. Bike felled down in just a 50 meter from me and in left of that, man is lying down and trying to get up. It’s probably occurred due to unawareness of that long Non AC Volvo bus driver, he couldn’t see him coming from the turn as it’s from his left side, even he didn’t realize an accident occurred due to him, I can see the bus moving forward.

Silence everywhere, I looked around for others reaction, they all standing there shocked just like me, but…but I also realize that no one is going near to help him. Hey! You not gonna believe this, whole silence just disappeared, city sound came back in.

I can see a fifty year old office guy was walking towards accident but now he just turned around from it and trying to cross the road opposite to him, like he is allergic to this accident . A thirty five year old man was standing near me calling to someone had just resumed talking “It’s a bike accident…. hey nothing serious, just little blood in the road, that’s all, he seems fine”. Two married ladies seems to be work in govt. office were paused talking, just waved their head back to front and resumed talking, most probably about new paramour story in yesterday’s serial. A private bus is passing in front of me, driver slow downed and everyone in the bus is standing up, trying to have a peep into the lucky celebrity lying on the road.

I am fed up with these people, same like yesterday, no one is bothered about what is happening here, only what bothers them is their one minute distraction, yes that’s only. Who want to bother about him, he is totally a stranger. That’s all…. Why? Why am in a world like this?

My phone just vibrated its Vivek again “Hey I am in the private bus that just passed in front of you, come on catch it”.

I looked right side, I started running towards that bus, it stops, I ran fast and I get in to the bus. I reached college, entered in to the class before Usha Miss came and get my attendance, then morning brake came. Sandeep came near to me and asked

“Dude, how do you manage to wake up early?”

“Oh man, it was tough, look into my eyes…am still in the sleep. But I would have arrive earlier, an accident took place in front of me”

“Oh yes, a Green FZ, ha? Vivek was saying about it during Usha miss hour. You were standing there right?”

“Yes, but you won’t believe about what just happened there, everyone around me just watch the accident and after they find out that nothing serious happened to him ,they did nothing, even to lift of him or his bike or anything, they all resumed their duty ”

“Oh! But what was you doing on that time?”

This question flips out my mental state, I paused for a second …..I am confused, my mind is blank now…

“I…I…It was Usha miss period… Vivek called…. and I get into the bus….”

My friend get that, he said “Vivek has called me to share breakfast, I am going”.
I said nothing, I sat up on the bench, feeling some kind of silence, it start haunting me and I can hear an echo

“what…was…you…doing…that time…”

Each word sounds like a 10 big bell clanging at the same moment, seconds stopped now ,except these words my ears are not capturing any sounds, silence fills out everywhere, my eyes started to dim. A Big Bang is happening in my mind galaxy. I looked around the classroom, I can’t see anything, I closed my eyes, I can now visualize museum bus stop or the accident area, I can see other people, the heartless ones, but I looked closer, it’s not a stranger’s face but it’s mine…..it’s me itself, every faces are same, my face, my own head above that disgusting college uniform.

I realized it, I am not different from others, I am also one of them. One who enjoys illicit happiness over watching the ladies on the bus stop or the same person who turned around and continuing walking opposite to that accident spot or the one in the bus who tried to peek, or the one who resumed talking in phone after disappointing about nothing serious happened to him.

Now I can’t remember any other faces, only mine, It’s the face which I thought familiar to me, a face that I watched from mirror throughout my life, but now I don’t know him, he is a stranger, a complete stranger.

May be you had already experienced this, you did nothing but stand still, just watched all. It’s not your mistake, it happens, because you are one of us

“You, me…… or we are all the same”.

From the same weeds of evil, sinful, cruel, merciless, pitiless, heartless sprouting from the seed called inhumanity. We were called ‘Humans’ most intelligent and emotional creature of the world.

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