I checked my bike’s handle for the third time to ensure there were no stains and entered my house finally. I remembered someone telling me “For everything there is a first time” but this first experience, I had today was not a pleasant one!!! I was totally exhausted, shocked and preoccupied with random thoughts, because of this particular “first experience”. I went straight to the wash-basin and started to wash the blood stains off my hands. Water and blood started to flow with a very characteristic color and smell. As I was watching that, the realization that, the blood flowing off my hands was not mine, and the fact that it belonged to a total stranger gave a very painful and odd feeling.
I slowly washed my face and looked into the mirror. Having always assumed that I would grow up into a responsible citizen, my own reflection in the mirror appeared like a stranger. It seemed as though the reflection in the mirror was questioning me “did you do the right thing today??” I, all of a sudden hated to look into the mirror and shut my eyes. And it all happened again. The scene I had witnessed today unfolded itself as though my mind was just waiting for me to shut my eyes.
I was riding my bike at a decent speed in a street highly crowded with people doing their festive shopping. Everyone were in their “Own world” with high festive spirits. I thought to myself “just because the people are doing their shopping and enjoying the celebrations of dussera why should they turn deaf to all the horns honking around? Why don’t they realize they are not walking on the platforms and thereby causing disturbance to the traffic?”
I moved a little away from the platform towards the divider, where the vehicles were moving at better speeds. Immediately the bus driver behind me honked the horn at full blast and I returned back to one corner of the road and the bus sped past me. I was staring at the bus with anger on the driver and suddenly a hand appeared out of the window behind the driver seat and she (bangles were visible) threw away a polythene cover, ignoring the fact that the bus is moving inside the city in a crowded street. The cover rapidly blew away by the wind reached the rear of the bus and got stuck in the face of the rider(Mr.X) beside me.
And all of a sudden things went chaotic. Sudden brakes, screeching tyres, and people screaming everywhere!! As I moved towards the platform and stopped my bike to look back, lot of things had happened. Mr.X had tried to remove the cover stuck on his face and lost control of his bike and fell down and a car which had come behind him skidded to a halt and there was a chain accident with 3 cars colliding and 2-3 bike riders losing control and falling.
I immediately ran towards Mr.X, and was the first to reach him. The car had not run over him, it had stopped just in time but due to the impact of the cars behind it(chain accident ) the car had forced him between its wheels and the divider rods!!! He had suffered major bruises and was bleeding badly but thankfully he was still breathing. I checked out if I can stop the bleeding by tying a hand kerchief, but in vain. I looked around and saw a policeman come running towards the scene. He called control room for help.
Then he looked at me and asked “do you know him??”
“NO”
“Did you see what happened??”
Yes I had seen it totally but what did I reply ?? “No sir. I am just trying to be of some help… I mean… some first aid stuff”. And the justification “I have to go and pick dad up, he will be waiting for me”, “what will mom say if she gets to know that I am in the police station giving witness to such a case?” ,“do I have to appear at the court giving witness and stuff?? No, I cant!! I have to go back to college on Friday” just like any irresponsible man in the streets.
“Clear off. Let me do my work. you don’t get involved in such mess or else we will have to call you for enquiry and stuff.”
I wanted to shout “Mr.X is my relative, ill accompany him to the hospital. I know what happened. Stop that bus. The culprit totally unaware what damage she had just caused is moving away in that bus.” And a number of other things, but all that I could manage was a faint “ok sir”, and I moved out.
A simple act of littering had cost such huge damage. And the person responsible was totally unaware of it. Yes, people do throw things here and there they don’t look for dustbins. But atleast, why don’t they look out before they throw things out of the window of a vehicle.
I could hold it no more. I opened my eyes. The reflection of me still had a questioning look on its face. “Did you do the right thing today??” may be I should have acted in a more responsible way, by informing his family and stuff. But its all over now. There is nothing that I can do now. I don’t even know whether Mr.X is alive now!!! If he is alive “Get well soon”, else “may his soul rest in peace”. Is this the reality?? Am I being realistic or irresponsible?? “Some facts are hard to digest”!!! I justified myself telling that I was realistic!!!
