Evolution, evolution, evolution……

That day Mrs. Sharma felt frustrated. She felt helpless and with no power. She kept thinking how she could make a difference.  That day’s events had disturbed her to the core and she wished from all her heart that she could correct it. The biggest question that loomed in her mind was which way our society is moving. There must be a way and surely she would find a way to spread her message and make people more aware.

            Mrs. Sharma who has retired from Government service had been a committed officer and has contributed to the public service immensely with her wisdom and hard work. She had a long stint of working hard at the office and trying to balance work and home. It had kept her very busy for a long - long time in her life. This was clubbed with the pressures of growing up of her children, their careers, their marriages, etc. Now after her superannuation she has chosen a quiet life and she suddenly has a lot of free time.

            She has two grandsons from her elder son but they live far way lives about twenty six kilometers from her. She often misses them.

            During the winters after lunch she likes to take a stroll in the nearby DDA Park where she often meets some neighbors and exchanges some gossip with them. She also likes to watch birds the park. Daily around two o’ clock a number of school children pass through the park and she enjoys looking at them jumping around, playing small pranks on one another or sometimes chasing one another. She likes the noises and their chatter. She loves the boisterous energy oozing out of their youthful faces. They seem to charge the atmosphere in the park with a vibrant and joyful energy. Though noisy they are full of life and excitement.

That winter afternoon as she was alone she sat on a bench for some time to enjoy the sun. She watched the children pass by and observed some of them buying peanuts from the local vendor. She could hear their chatter. Her attention was caught by a small yellow colored butterfly which was moving swiftly among the bushes in front of her. Her eyes followed its zigzag movement. It was fun observing its disappearance among the bushes and sudden appearance from another side in a few seconds. A light breeze warmed by the sun was blowing which made her doze off for some time. The park had become deserted when she woke up. She felt thirsty as the sun hit hard then. So she decided to walk back home by a shorter route than the one she generally followed.

As usual she could see three-four uniformed children hurrying home. As she neared her block she saw two small boys on the other side of the road. They were carrying large bags on their backs. She felt a pang of sympathy for them because the bags seemed heavy and much larger in proportion to their own size.  The boys had stopped in front of a house. They climbed the front steps and started trying to reach the door bell which was too high for them. Both of them tried one by one to reach the bell but it was too high for them. Then the boy who was a little taller held the other one in his arms and lifted him. But this attempt also failed because even with their combined efforts they could not reach the button of the door bell. Out of curiosity Mrs. Sharma stopped walking to watch them from across the road. She thought they must have banged at the door earlier and nobody was opening the door she remembered her own grand sons who were about the same age as these children were.

She was amazed to see that the younger child pulled out a long stick from his bag and then the elder one again raised him and they attempted to push the bell button. Noticing that the children were a little unsteady in reaching the bell button Mrs. Sharma crossed the road and approached them. All the while Mrs. Sharma kept guessing how careless the parents or their mother might be. This was the time for all the school children to return home. Their mother should be prepared expecting them to come anytime now. She could have left the door open when she knew that her children were due to arrive at this hour. Mumbling under her breath that parents these days don’t care for the children and remembering that when her children were small they had a special arrangement when they came back from the school and never faced so much difficulty as these poor kids are facing now a days.

Determined to impress upon the inhabitants what their duties are Mrs. Sharma reached out and firmly pushed the button of the door bell for a long time. To her utter amazement, the boys turned around and screamed “Quick, run fast.” She also heard someone shouting from inside. Before Mrs. Sharma could realize what was happening the boys had jumped and had already crossed the road. The door flung open and a very old man whose back was bent appeared shouting “Wait, you rascals! Today I’ll show you what it means to ring the bell.  I will not leave you today…….” His voice trailed off as he sighted Mrs. Sharma and was taken aback. His voice was now a little incoherent and low “I thought it was those ruffians who….”. “They ring the bell everyday and then run away”. Mrs. Sharma just nodded and feeling sorry for the old man she could not collect herself to say anything. She left the place with a bad taste in her mouth. The door was closed quickly. She heard distinct giggles but could not make out the direction they were coming from. The boys could not be seen anywhere.

She silently cursed the boys for the discomfort they were causing to the elderly person and the embarrassment meted out to her which spoiled a lovely afternoon. The boys were having fun without realizing that every movement of that elderly man who had a bent back caused him so much pain.  The pain had manifested itself in the form of a deep bitterness in his voice. The trail of her thoughts was broken by a speedy red car that rushed past her, barely a few inches away.  She could hear the blaring music even from a distance.  She was startled to witness such reckless driving. Why would a person drive so fast on a small colony street? She was again perturbed by this incident.

After a few minutes she heard a loud screech and a big thud as if something had fallen. The street was curved towards right in front of her, so she could not make out exactly what had happened.  But she could hear footfall of a number of people rushing in the direction from where the loud screech of metal had come.  She hastened towards the point in the gully.

There in front of her about 500 meters away was the red car crashed on the opposite side of the street, jutted into a light pole with its right half badly dented. She could see the driver’s head bent on to one side and his right arm hanging out of the window.

There were three people near the car talking about the action that should be taken.  But a number of people had gathered encircling something near the middle of the street.  From a distance she could not make out what it was.  Her curiosity drove her to the spot.  She was shocked to find the same two little boys lying on the road, terribly injured.  The legs of one of the boys seemed to be badly crushed and the other seemed to have been badly hit on the head.

She heard one of the persons in the crowd saying that he knew the boys and had already called their fathers. Even the guy in the car was known to someone and they were calling his kin and would be taking steps to take them to the hospital. Another lady who seemed to have witnessed the accident was recounting it. The car came speedily from the curved side; the children were running in the middle of the road. Although the driver honked the horn and applied breaks, the car rolled over the boys and in a futile attempt to save the kids the driver turned to the extreme right but jutted into the street pole. 

The gruesome sight shook.  With a heavy heart she walked back home.  She could not understand what carelessness had resulted into this disaster.  The giggles had transformed into a grave misery.  Recklessness could lead to such devastation. Surely it could have been avoided. The children don’t understand that playful, carefree acts may sometimes turn into in-sensitiveness and even rash actions.  But we adults, what about us? Do we understand? Are we any different from those children? Are we not being reckless, insensitive to the feelings of other people and oblivious of the harm we may bring about to others, even though unintentionally? Mrs. Sharma was haunted by these thoughts when she reached her house.