The Window

[ Its not written by me, I got this stuff as a mail]

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should he have all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button, which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

The Leeches

It was a usual day. Rehanna got up early in the morning at about 5 am. They live in a slum. In such places even the youngest member of the family has some responsibilities on his/her shoulder, so does Rehanna has, she is the only earning member of the family, her mother is disabled, bedridden. She is suffering from tuberculosis, counting her last days, for a call from somewhere unknown, where there will be less responsibilities, less toils, and off course less poverty, Rehanna’s father is an alcoholic, the only job he does is to torture her sick wife n daughter, n clinch even the last pennies from them, he’s like a leech that sucks every traces of blood from one’s body, the only difference is that you can’t shake off this kind of leeches. You’ll have to bear them with you as long as you live..like a chronic ulcer, that pains n never heals. However we seem to get a little diverted from the main topic. She wake up before there were any light, all the birds were chirping like it’s the end of the creation. A sweet smells surrounded Rehanna, the smell of virginity, virgin dawn was there. Much like a child Rehanna does not want to work n earn money, she wants to study or to do something else. But the circumstances compelled her to get engaged in this profession, she works as a maid in houses, doing their works, helping their children to get ready for school n everything that an usual maids do, nothing extraordinary, but sometimes it appears a little bit difficult for a 8 year old girl,

This day Rehanna’s body was not permitting her to work, a mist of something was surrounding her, as if she was getting choked under it (she was having a sore throat n fever yaar). So she came to her father. “Abba, I’m not feeling well!! Please lemme take a break today”. ” What!!”Her father shouted” you little bitch, you r***y, you have gone after your mother!! You dirty bitches always find some lame excuses to avoid labor… m not gonna listen, what will happen if the Babus expel you…. No no!! I’m not gonna listen, you must go to the work…whatever be your condition.” A feeble moan came from her mother’s side, which ceased at once when her father gave her an elbow…” now get ready… the last day you were late… n the Babus complained me of it…. Get ready quick…. F****n w***e”. Rehanna realized that there is no use. So she started to get ready. She was really feeling sick… as if something is gonna happen… something bad… worse….worst.. but whatever be the situation, she had to go for the work unless she will get punished by a strong beating possibly with a whip or something resembling that.

It took just about 15 minutes to get ready….” You nasty little minx… do you have an appointment to sleep with someone… you are going to work… you need not such make ups… do u follow”. its about 30 minutes of walk from Rehanna’s house, her hut better to stay… Rehanna started the daily journey… but today she was dragging her feet… her body was willing to go to the bed, or to the lash green fields with blue sky touching its edges… she was a small girl not accustomed to the world…

Rehanna reached the crossing that she has to cross daily to get to the other side of the… it was an usual day like any other… but it was not an usual day like any other…her organs were not co-operating her… but the usual traffic was there… she did not noticed the green signal… it was an usual day… but it was not an usual day… the bus driver ran his bus over her… finally the organs won..they are now free to go to anywhere they want… some other vehicles followed that bus… n Rehanna turned into a lump of raw flesh smeared with blood just like we smear the ham with butter when doing a barbecue. Her brain scattered on the roads… none noticed… the pedestrians halted for a while, some sympathetic words, some “how did it happened… n everyone followed their way… it was a usual day for others…they had to go to their work, otherwise their bosses will penalize them.. none has time..

A hearth came… there was no need of an ambulance, you may treat a wounded man but not a wounded soul, a lump of meat n some cerebral juices. But the blood refused to follow others… for him the dusty roads was a very comfortable place. In Kolkata there’s no arrangement for washing streets… so the street remained brown for a while n slowly started to turn into black…. Usual.

“Now why did that silly girl made an absence today!!” the Babuma was thinking. She had to work herself to make little Aryan ready fro school. She was wondering all these while walking on the footpath n holding Aryan’s hand.. Aryan was enjoying a lollipop… the same crossing came with the streets showing some signs of brown till then..” It’s red! Lets cross the road” Babuma said. While crossing the roads suddenly the lollipop fell from Aryan’s hands on some brown portion of the road n before Babuma could say anything Aryan picked it up n started licking it again. “What the heck!! Don’t do this again.” Told Babuma” n by the way!! Why the hell is the road brown?? Oh I understand!! It must be the soil that the lorries carry… silly drivers… destroying the beauty of the roads”- Thought Babuma.

Leeches are there; some intentionally, some unintentionally. But they all do the same job ; they suck BLOOD.

The Suspension

“Phewww”-a deep warm sigh emerged out of Atin’s otherwise cold nostrils. Its 9:50 and he had missed the 9:36 Diamond Harbor local for only a few minutes. “What now??”-thought Atin. Being a daily passenger in this route he knew that the 11:20 Diamond Harbor always remains overcrowded.” I will again have to hang from the gates”- thought Atin.

At this stage, we should make ourselves a little bit familiar with Atin. Who he is? From where he has come all these details are immaterial here. The sufficient information about Atin is that he is still single and works for a B.P.O.

“Whooooosh-koooooooo”- the 11:20 arrived at Bullygunge junction with the passengers hanging from everywhere and it is only Bullygunge so it has way to go and gather some more stubborn passengers.Atin managed to keep a foot in the train and the train left the station.

“Shit! here comes the fatigue again!!”-thought Atin, his forearm was aching because of hanging. The passengers know that the only way to get rid or better to say, suppress the pain is to indulge in some conversation with someone so that the mind may remain distracted. Atin looked at his sides. At right was a coughing old man (possibly an alcoholic), he looked as if his days are almost over.Atin looked at left. A lean and pale boy was hanging there. Despite of the poverty that clearly reflected from his clothing, his eyes were exceptionally bright almost like glittering marbles. “ Hi!”- said Atin. The boy looked at him n smiled.” Are you habituated with this kind of journey??”.” No, not really. But I reckon I better do so”- replied the boy and the conversation started. From the boy’s words, Atin came to know that his name is Asesh. Previously they belonged to a middle class family as his father worked as an LIC agent. When he was eleven, his father passed by. Asesh finished his studies with great difficulty and secured a job in a small company. He has his mother in the home and his mother is completely dependent on him.

Surprisingly Atin realized that this guy has a great potential to be his friend so the conversation never seemed to stop and the train got crowded even more. Being an experienced fellow Atin was able to orient himself in a comfortable position but Asesh was unable to do so. But still they continued to talk as if they were a pair of long separated friends. Then the moment came.

It was between Baghajatin n Garia. A fellow inside the train elbowed a man standing at the gate. Unable to control himself, the man fell over Asesh n Asesh was so absent minded that he failed to withstand the thrust. As his grip slipped from the bar, he tried to clasp the air. Once, twice, thrice but the air betrayed him, a screeching halt, few droplets of fresh bloods stained Atin's face. “oh my god!!”” what happened”- questions n comments from all over the compartment filled the air. It took 5 mins to Atin to realize what actually has happened.

Finally the train got running after 15 mins but it again made a long stop as it reached Garia. Atin got off from the train, sprinkled some water on his face n vomited a little. He could not believe that the boy, to whom he was talking moments earlier, is now no more. The train reached Sonarpur most of the passengers left the train. Atin retired to a vacant corner n occupied a seat there, when a lady entered.

She was an angel, an absolute beauty, “ Wow!!”- thought Atin, she must have fallen from the heavens!! Atin stared at her, as if a child is staring at candies. The girl noticed it n came to him n sat next to him. The hint of smile in her face encouraged Atin to speak to her-“Are you a regular passenger??” “Oh no!! But I will be one soon.” “Do you work in ********??”, “ yeah! I work in a phone booth”………….. The girl’s name was Puja. She lived in **********. Atin came to know many more information about her but I will not bore the reader narrating all them. In a nutshell, a small bud of romance bloomed in both minds. Atin thought himself to be lucky to board 11:20. Time went on as if he has a hurry to attend the first class in the school n ******** arrived. Atin will get off in the next station. In the meantime, he managed a date with Puja. Atin wondered of the times when he got humiliated by his friends for being single, of the time when Priya dumped him leaving him all alone, now he has an answer to all of them, he has arranged a date with a gorgeous lady.

While building all these castles in the air n talking to Puja, Atin unmindfully reached the door. All on a sudden, the train gave a powerful jerk as if something huge has thrashed on its sidewalls, the passengers all fell on each other n on the ground. Puja got smashed with the seats. When she managed to get into control, she looked for Atin. He was not there. A loud shriek came out of Puja’s throat n the train squeaked to a halt for the second time. Soon the guards n the stuffs arrived. “Very unfortunate case indeed, anyway its a suspension problem”- reported the engineer.

Next day, when Puja entered the same compartment, she saw a very handsome guy staring at her. As usual, the conversation started soon. The guy’s name was Pradip. It took no time to turn strangers into friends n friends into something special. Pradip managed Puja for their first date at some place. Meanwhile the train reached ********. Pradip went to the door and………..

No, nothing happened this time. It reached the next station safely n Pradip boarded off. Whether Pradip became able to impress Puja on their date or if the became able to marry her are all immaterial here. But one thing for sure- Both the animate n inanimate suspensions worked fine this time!!

Note:- Carefully note the nomenclature n the words in bold at the end, think......., this is not a very easy to comprehend type of story, n the english of the author is a little bit weak so please excuse him.

Sometimes we refuse to see what's in front of us,
sometimes we want to embrace the dear old pillow more tightly but the straws hurt us,
sometimes we want to fight standing on a base that descends continuously,
sometimes people become so austere that they don't hesitate to kill innocence,
sometimes we don't want to dream cause it frightens us,
sometimes we don't want to love cause it brings gloom in our already gloomy lives,
sometimes we don't want to live cause death beckons us,
sometimes we don't want to die cause there's much to be done yet.
If these phases come to your life my friend
then its time for you to get changed,
just give a kick to those old dearings,
and stare at the world outside;
it still has something to give to you
it still has something to share with you
and you too,
has something for it
it requires prowess to accept whatever has happened
and you need not have that in you.
Don't forgive anyone
don't forget anything.
A day will come
when you will have your chance;
you need not be a noble person
you are what you are
but till then you have to stay alive,
you have to stay alive to shut all the mouths
you have to stay alive to reply all the critics
you have to stay alive to show that what you can do
you have to stay alive to see them regretting
begging to you
but till them you have to stay alive.
So never say die
a blind man can also survive in this world
so you need not see what's in front of you,
if the old pillows hurt
just throw them away n go for a new one,
if you cant afford one then also throw it away
at least you won't get wounded, you wont bleed,
if the base descends then try to be taller, a mile or so,
if they wanna kill you, then before they can do so, you kill yourself
and reappear like a phoenix,completely rejuvenated,
if people try to kill innocence, why not you kill it before them
there's no place for innocence in this stern world,
if the dreams scare you, don't sleep
there will be no headache if there's no head
if you fear to love, then get accustomed with sorrow,
if you don't want to die as well as to live then try to kill your mind
try to kill your inner self cause its behind every problem

and finally don't take all these seriously
cause even I don't know whatever gibberish I have written