PERSPECTIVE

There I lay – in wait of my master. Around me were others, doing the same.

I looked around at my surroundings. There was a pair of worn out chappals, one which had seen many a long, dusty road, lying close to a pair of branded flip-flops.

I tried to imagine the two owners standing side-by-side, just like their footwear. All I felt was despair. It seemed unimaginable.

I looked at myself, an ordinary pair of Bata sandals. Even I couldn’t stand my ground near those flip-flops.

Mundane thoughts filled my head.

Suddenly there was a huge commotion. I looked ahead and saw two mangled vehicles! A bus and an SUV. People scurried across to see how they could help.

I heard footsteps near me and saw a pair of unknown, hirsute, dirty feet wear me and walk hurriedly away from the scene. First, the footsteps were urgent, then they slowed down, and then they turned back toward the accident site. I thought the thief had had a change of heart and wanted to return me to my owner. However, he crossed the spot where I was kept and ran toward the accident site. He started helping others in breaking open the jammed windows of the bus.

The SUV door had already been broken open. A bloodied and unconscious young man was carefully being carried out by what seemed like street urchins. They were thin, grimy and disheveled. The man must have been wearing white shoes, which had now been ripped apart in the incident.

I saw a sliver of a blue tick mark on what remained of the shoes. The urchins wore no footwear.

Though I missed my owner, now, I didn’t mind the thief either. He moved from one window to the next, skillfully breaking them open, without hurting the ones inside. People were slowly trying to crawl out.

From one corner I saw that the flip-flops (remember the branded ones?) too had reached the scene, and was helping a haggard old woman out of the bus. After getting her out, he swiftly bent down and brought out her cloth bag and slippers, ones which had seen much wear and tear. He helped her steady herself on the ground, gave her a smile, and then busied himself with getting the others out of the mangled remains.

Hope. Prevails.