Skip to main content

That Old man

   I don't know if anyone of you has ever faced this situation in your life. But I have. And I am being nothing but truthful.

   The old man was trailing me for some time now. It was getting awkward. So, I quickened my steps, trying to loose him. I finally did.

   I stopped at a vendor for a glass of juice. While I waited, to my surprise, the old man appeared out of nowhere, bearded and wearing shabby clothes and holding a walking stick in his hand. He started gesturing with his right hand, wanting something to eat. I ignored him, but kept looking at him through the corner of my eye.  It was a public place. People were miling around. A few more people stopped by the juice stall. All this time, the old man stood there, repeatedly pointing his joined fingers towards his mouth and kept bobbing his head. It was getting so uncomfortable for me. I just wanted to finish my juice and get out of there. At last, my glass of juice arrived. Usually, I savour its taste, taking it sip by sip but this time I just guzzled it in one go.

   I felt the old man's eyes on me. I looked at him and saw the pleading in his eyes. My insides squirmed. I didn't dare look at him again. Without uttering a word, I motioned the vendor to prepare another glass and give it to the old man. I didn't wait to see if he did. He just wore an appreciating smile while I paid the money and left.

   I felt an urge to look back and see if the old man got his drink, whether he liked it. But I didn't look back. Because doing that would have been like appreciating myself for doing a good deed. It might have seemed like one from the outside but it definitely wasn't. There was no compassion here. Deep, deep down my heart knew whatever I did was out of sheer embarrassment.

   Does this make me a bad person?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LIFE AND LIES #77 | The English Teacher

When we are young, the world is full of possibilities. We can do anything, and become anything. We antagonise anyone who even hints at thinking otherwise about us. It's probably why most of us have a story to tell where the villain was a school teacher. Even I do. I don’t remember exactly how I ended up in the Headmaster’s cabin that day. All I remember is that back then I blamed my House Master for it. It wasn’t just me who had bunked the STD XII Pre-Board exams. There were many. But he made a scapegoat out of me. And the moment, I set foot inside the cabin, I received a big slap from the Headmaster. My ears rang. But that wasn’t the worst thing that happened that day. The Headmaster instructed him to call my father. Tell him to come or his son would be rusticated. I wasn’t a notorious student. I was good in my studies and had no disciplinary complaints against me. Had this incident not occurred, I would have completed my schooling in a few months with a clean record. My fat...
5 comments
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #98 | Talk To Me

*** The woods are gloomy, dark and scary. You were supposed to keep me company. Even when the roads diverged, You promised me we wouldn't split. Talk to me, man! The mountains spit fire. The rivers run acrid. I walk the barren valley All by myself. Talk to me, man! You and I had concluded long back That life is a joke and Death is the punchline. Then why am I not laughing? Talk to me, man! While I grow old and frail, You'll remain forever young. I say that out of envy Or maybe to content myself. Talk to me, man! I hope you have the answers now To all the questions that befuddle mankind: God, soul, afterlife, rebirth, heaven and hell. You can go on a rant about them if you want, But just once come and talk to me, man! ***
2 comments
Read more

LIFE AND LIES #100 | The Blurred Lines

Nitin was utterly shocked when he woke up on Saturday morning with a hangover and without any recollection of what had transpired the previous night. He had been drunk before. He had lost all of his senses before. But everything always came back to him the next morning. However, that day, it didn't; complete blackout. There must have been something bizarre in that drink. Over the course of the week, though, he started remembering flashes of it and began looking for an opportunity to talk to Sandhya, sober and alone. The weather had taken a sharp turn today. A sweltering sunny day gave way to a cloudy evening with thrashing winds. As everyone raced to the office window to watch the scene unfolding outside, Nitin saw Sandhya signalling to him by pressing two fingers to her lips. He couldn’t help but smile. She knew he loved to smoke in this weather. After all, she was his smoking partner in the office. Together, they went downstairs, but as soon as they stepped out of the building, t...
1 comment
Read more