~ What a Friend ~

Sitting in mute silence and absorbed in aura of time, Ashok - a societal recluse comforts himself in a small shanty he made out of torn leftovers by the world. His prawning eyes looks at the speed of life and the traffic which passes every now and then. It seems like he has done his part of the ‘rat race’ everyone is engrossed in life, he has taken to his stride various vilification's life had to offer. At an age many of us peak in our working lives, Ashok finds ample time to adjust himself towards doing nothing and being a beggar as per society’s definition.

For me he has been a visual delight every now and then as I tread myself to my office near my dwelling.

The market is full of mendicants and vagrants but Ashok stands a class apart amongst bunch of them. Seems like life has thrown starlets at him at one point of time, but has now decried him of time and space. How he finds himself in the newly found pittance seems to be an inquisitive question for me.

Breaking the stagnant silence I take courage to speak to him at times, the first such approach lead me to believe that he was a graduate from Delhi and had been working in an office as an assistant but the cruel dance of destiny snatched away his parents and sister- in an accident and he was left alone in this lonely world full of betrayal and opportunism.

At first, he hardly used to talk to me and would just sit in silence and had a watchful eye towards the world passing by, but as time passed he has made friends to me. His words of prudence and deep dive observations of life has an edible mark on my thoughts. How can one be left over like this in our society with no compassion and gross ignorance? Does not a human life has a meaning and honor to be helped and assisted if someone in our society gets unfortunate?

Of course, these questions make me fill up with anger and insensitivity towards our society and doctored world we all live in, running after inanimate accomplishments, we have only decried humanity to our own whims and fancies.

Now that Ashok has become my everyday meeting friend, he wears no mask as he has no qualms of dying and is indifference to what world goes through. Fancy enough, he has much regards towards stray dogs which hover around him as these canines have become his everyday passion to be fed. He adamantly denies clothes or money as help, but asks me to buy him a Cigarette as it is the only ‘habit’ he throngs on.

His only askance towards me is to give something to his “Best Friends” for that is what he calls them his family. I know Ashok you have been let down by all of us and we are your culprits – we have to swear by destiny’s wrath one day and the sooner we mend our ways the better – for one phrase which I truly believe in this time of uncertainty is “ Karma Bitches”

Hope one day I become your confidant and we share good memories in this phase of our life and if possible you can be more useful to society and I feel so much proud of making a friend who has seen the decree of rise and fall and what providence can do to all of us!