Four years have passed by...memories still fresh as yesterday in my mind.
It was one (not) fine day 6th August 2003, Wednesday...when this young girl of 18 used to commute everyday to college in gurgaon from faridabad where she stayed with her parents. Unfortunately, she had to manage in a cab with rest 9 as boys as its members...not much known to her, as only an year had passed that she joined college and around 6-7 months for her to commute thru this cab...still they were strangers to this girl. Courtesy our social strata of not easily letting opposite sexes mix well so easily n nicely...plus i'll say the immaturity of all the members of the cab to still feel at school n not growing their social levels beyond it...though you might be wondering how is it possible that so many boys n
just 1 girl n still so much gap to the limits of no communication with her in the journey of 1.5 hours twice in the day! I too wonder!!
She always knew that she was one unwanted member there...as boys just lose the freedom to talk all d rubbish they like...u knw wat am talking about...but they lacked options. They simply needed 1 more person who could share the cab rent. Alas! it came out to be this girl who never knew she will either be so disliked or misinterpreted as an introvert or watever. First few days, all tried to adjust I guess. The girl, a bit shy, but tried to be affable. But the evil i was talking about...society, here all these boys, who even if one communicated with her, started to pull his leg as if some blunder was committed! What trash!! The girl had always been introvert but was very open n broad-minded..which comes from the fact she accepted to come along with those 9 in the same cab all the days through the path..if u people have any idea...faridabad to gurgaon has a hilly path...a very long lonely road...not even a single person around...on the way sometimes, but a few tea stalls in between at a place or two.
It was early morning when she was on her way to college when suddenly our cab's engine failed due to reasons unknown to me...The driver tried for sometime to repair with the handful of skills he had regarding it but finally gave up within some time. Only 7 boys came in the cab this day and by chance, there was a stranger who she didn't really know how was a part of the cab members that day...may be related to cab owner...The driver also had joined just 4 days back. So the girl hardly knew these 2 people...but fully relied on the rest of her college mates that they will be there at such time of trouble when they have to think of an alternative to reach the college...may b ask for some lifts, going by any trucks,bus(if any) on the
way...etc..
She kept observing things happening around for sometime...n within 10 minutes from then out of the 7 boys, 5 had already left...thru d lifts they got. None bothered to even think about this girl..how she will manage it on her own in such a solitary place with 2 strangers as another danger to her! The last 2 of boys had atleast d decency to ask her even she wants to come along, but their reluctance while asking made her even more doubtful to get accompanied as she always kept feeling as if she was a burden for all of them. By the time she could take a decision to go with them, they had already gone with the blink of an eye, leaving her morose......poor she !!..never realised that she wasn't even the "burden" for them...she was NOTHING...for them.
By this time, as she was already scared by the ongoing scene...n could foresee the trouble she would soon be in, got a call from one of friends, who though worried now, atleast gave her the wisdom to call up parents right away...n be on phone throughout so that she feels less scared n mope secured that people are there with her. Next thing she did was to call up her parents n ask her father to just come immediately n pick her up which definitely would not take less than very long 45 minutes...as it was conspicuous that she wont ask for a lift from strangers..just like those guys but could have gone with them if they ever wanted...Totally disappointed and agonised she was...
But I simply appreciate the courage she showed then, of not disclosing her fear to those two strangers as she didn't have an iota of an idea who they were. She could hear her heartbeat sitting right at the corner in the cab..didn't move at all or came out of the cab...may b was afraid that some outsiders may not also see her alone. Her eyes full of tears...but she was trying her level best not to let them trickle off her cheeks n somehow managing to wipe off her moist eyes..without letting those 2 strangers be aware of it. She didn't talk to them at all and could hear the new person talking to driver outside the cab n telling how could those guys leave this girl like this in between. She wondered if none of those 7 boys felt the same too!
All that girl could do then was to pray to God that her father flies up to her right
then before she has to suffer more n she didn't miss a second to do so. Now came this new person as a blessing in disguise (totally unexpected!!) when he quite hesitantly asked, rather tried to reassure that we are trying to contact the owner n he might send another cab but it will take sometime. The girl simply said a meek 'ok' and realising her own reaction, very confidently told that her father is coming very soon...so as to make them aware she is (so-called) strong. Inside she knew the truth...
I guess that man could see her perturbed and also the way she was hiding it...so he
continued asking questions like which year of college she was in and what are her subjects and mentioned that he too had passed out from engineering an year back which gave her a big sigh of relief that atleast she was talking to a genuine man and talked about few books she should read...
At this moment of uncertainity and the risk to face the unknown, she could not have been comforted more! He simply talked to make her feel relieved as he had sensed what was going on her mind. Now you know why I described him as a blessing in disguise...Both didn't even ask each other's name in those crucial 45 minutes..that feeling can not be described better with any other term than 'Humanity'.
Time sweeped soon...her father was there unexpectedly early..may be he was more scared than his daughter and drived the fastest ever! She soon slipped into the car and was taken back home...with a bit of scolding from father...which she still wonders why...may be he expressed his concern n reverence out through it! She still controlled her tears as she was so perplexed with the incident just happened to her and finally, on reaching home...on meeting her mother she just cried cozing her head on her lap n cried her heart out...cry of 'anger' n 'relief' together...anger on the boys for their misconduct and herself for relying on wrong people.
That day she learnt a lesson of life n even continued commuting in the same manner later but now, as a much stronger female...Talking about those 7 guys, she could not see even a pinch of guilt in their eyes...they reacted as if nothing happened and never asked for how she managed...its blatant they got to know it all from the driver.
Are people really like that? I ponder...
What exactly went wrong??
I have not been able to find an answer to it...
She never complained them back...never said a word...as she felt her silence will speak it all.
But her thoughts weren't any reality...
Now she is out of college n thankfully does not get the sight of them anymore...
She simply prayed to God n still does...that they learn a lesson of their lives some day and He imparts them with some wisdom...n realise that what they did to her was cruel. But for sure she doesn't want to see their faces for the rest of her life...
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8 comments:
Surely those guys will be brought to justice. That was horrible on their part.
Presumably the reverberations of that incident still rings loud and clear in your ears and the contusion it left behind hasn’t stopped bleeding either. Evanescent as these incidents might seem, the memories they leave behind are anything but ephemeral. They become a part of you. And however hard you might try to force them into oblivion, their shadows still loom large and heavy over the horizon, sometimes growing so terrifyingly dark that you find yourself ducking for cover like a frightened child.
All said and done, let us momentarily shift our perspective to a different level and give a good hard look at the repercussions these incidents might possibly have in our life. Most folks (including me) firmly believe that the people who hurt them should pay dearly for the pain they caused, that they should be punished, not forgiven. Indeed, this is the most natural reaction that one might evoke. But the point in question is – are we doing ourselves any good by endorsing that school of thought? A little soul-searching and the answer stares right back at you. No. The fact of the matter is, if we righteously hold on to anger, resentment, and betrayal and hurt, we are the ones who suffer in the long run. It is not vehemently difficult to see that, is it?
So, how do you get over it? This is the million dollar question to which we all would like to have answers. Again you don’t have to look elsewhere for the answers. All you need to do is take a journey inward, and the question answers itself. You feel jolted out of a deep slumber and feel awakened and suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit together.
You realize that it’s not you who is accountable for the actions of others, however thoughtful or cavalier they might be. You learn to turn a forgiving eye to human frailties and imperfections. You begin to acknowledge that you don’t have to shoulder the onus of cleansing the world of the turpitude that pervades humanity. You understand that you don’t have to be down in the dumps because someone who is a ‘nothing’ in your life did something that you didn’t approve of. You simply put the past behind you, break the self-imposed shackles and embark on a new journey. Finally, you give up trying to look at everything through the prism of reason. In all, you learn to let go.
Most people still labor under the delusion that it is holding on to something that manifests courage, when in fact it is in letting go.
It seems this incident had hurted u very hard at that moment...but also gave a good lesson of life.....so go ahead and accept every class of life....
All your friends say itni badi badi baatein??
I just came to this blog while surfing some other blog and want to clarify sm thing frm those guys behalf
Might be true for you but it might not be what they thought at that particular time.
She always knew that she was one unwanted member there...as boys just lose the freedom to talk all d rubbish they like...u knw wat am talking about...but they lacked options.
Guys themselves it seems were very introvert and being a guy myself I can guess what possibly they would be thinkin. You were by no mean an unwanted jus that they were too shy to talk 2 u or perhaps scared of leg-pulling by their frnds.
I know its not a reason enuf for them leavin u alone wid strangers but guys obviously dint have any other option. Even the few who asked u were soon gone 'coz they all thought tht u arent feelin comfortable going wid them. So what are they suppose to do? wait till ur parents cm? I dont think they could 'coz even doin that would make them feel embarassed (standin there, doing nthng, can't talk coz of their shyness).
I dont blame them for their ignorance. Guys are supposed to be extrovert and talkative n supportive. all can't be same. Sm ppl are like tht only and they are like it 'coz of society. Look in the eyes of ppl, evry1 hate guys who has a sympathetic hand for gal . wht are they suppose to do who cant talk in public who feel shy, who were always taught to keep a distance frm opposite sex and who were told not to induldge with the ppl they dunno.
Society is to be blamed for it not those poor guys who never knew what they were doin and never intended to do so. (If that is true)
Anyways.... Nice reading tho.
And Guys beware never do it again with anyone else....
btw wasnt it ur responsibility to talk to the guys n ask for their help if they werent thereselves doin it for whatever reason.
I'm not denying the fault on their part but being rational what was it that stopped u frm askin fr the help frm those guys who were less strangers to u.
Guys are always expected to take the first step, but if it comes to your own security it should be you who must be proactive and taking the first step specially in situation like this.
As you have written that you travelled daily for 2 hours with those guys, so it sounds really strange to me how any of them not talk to you .Even a guy who is very introvert would try to atleast talk once & see your reaction,how you respond back to him.
I guess there may be 2 reasons why guys not talked to you. Firstly, it may be because of the reason they feared of the other guys pulling his leg.Secondly , there are also some guys who are very emotional types --> who think that the girl in front should not feel bad , as his other friends are pulling his leg by taking her name.
But incident that you have mentioned here & how the guys reacted to it is totally unexpected.I guess even you might not have expected that this guys would leave you alone with two strangers.At such a moment a person helps a girl even if he doesn't know her, but this guys were travelling with you for quite a long time.
The only thing I can say is even if none of the guy talked to you for whatever reason,the way they reacted to the situation ( left you alone )was really inhuman.
The reasons I mentioned for a guy not talking to a girl doesn't apply to them.Those guys proved this by their reaction to such situations.
I guess every person [ specially to persons who are very introvert ]should use this logic in maintaining a realtionship with a person :
" We know what kind of relationship we carry with a person in front of us(& even that person knows), then why the hell we should think for the others,what they think for our relationship "
That last comment in this case I mentioned for those guys.
But it applies to all in general.
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