Picture
this.
Gloomy ,
beautiful Bangalore morning – the weather is just perfect to fall in love with,
pretty faces to look around at 9am. You think you’re gonna have a good day, you
think you will survive one more day in this big bad-a** world, you think you
can take up on this universe & you feel so energetic that you think you can
take anybody down. Got that picture ?
That’s how I was feeling on a terrible Thursday. I dint know what was
ahead of me, I din’t know if I was even ready to take up on this
universe-challenge thing, but there I was – happy-smiling, glee over fact that its gonna be weekend in
two days, I had all the reasons in the world to be happy about. All the excitement covered over the fact that
I was about to experience something big, something worse. I’m giving such build
up, I don’t know for sure if this is actually as big as I think this is. Okay,
I will come to that later, yeah ? A little background check first.
With only a
year completed at job & no work to do, all one can do is sit back & read
blogs, read motivational speeches, try and study something & go for n
number of coffee breaks. This was my usual day, my usual Thursday. In came the
thoughts of how awesome it would be to work in radio station, surrounded by
music 24/7 & 365 days a year and how cool it would be to travel around the
world(of course, with your own expense) & try out different cuisines, meet
different people, share the thoughts, exchange ideas, & etc etc.. but I was
brought back to reality by this friend of mine who keeps telling me that I shouldn't get excited for each n every single thing that passes me by. I should
wait for that perfect moment & then get excited. Yes, I know I can go
hyper, I can go Wheeeee at things that wouldn't even matter to most people. I
can be really happy when I see a distant cousin working in an office next to
mine. I will be excited at the fact that I am gonna meet my girl friends even
though I know most times its gonna be cancelled [ but it’s the little things
that matter, right? Can somebody pls tell that to my friend? ] I will be
over-the-moon-happy when I see a long lost friend approaching me wondering the
same question as I do – Have I seen u before? I am happier when I know a little
something new about my brand new phone that I got for my happy birthday . I
feel good when my office cab driver stops the cab right where I need to get
down. I laugh with joy seeing the clear clouds, when it starts to thunder
making way for the rain, when I get a perfect cup of coffee, when I hear my
favourite song on radio – I will make my sister switch on the radio &
listen. When there is a really good movie on TV & I have all the time in the
world to watch it.
I will probably jump with joy if I see someone good-looking
too ;) . So what if I get excited about all that & more .. it only makes me
happier & its no loss to anybody. I even feel happy seeing somebody smile/
giggle when they are looking at their phones [ probably a text/image ;) ] and No,
I am not the creepy kind to stalk people like that, but if I get a glimpse,
then yes, I do feel like smiling. When there are things like these that can
make me smile, I am pretty sure its gonna be tough for that man [my man] out
there to figure out how to actually make me happy when he knows I will be
watching every movement of his ! Okay, thats creep & for another blog. Coming back to office, while I am busy
reading/ pretending to not look over what others are doing, checking texts once
every minute, making sure I’m logged in communicator, another thought crosses my mind. The same
friend who thinks I am psycho for being happy/excited about every little thing,
thinks that my life is full of drama & he calls me Drama queen ! C’mon –
whats life without some Melo-drama! Some fights, some love, some regrets,some
unexpected moments, appearance of
unexpected people in your life -
brings the joy out of every tom, dash & harry right??
Yes, I like
a little bit of drama in my life as well.
But the one I’m about to tell you all isn’t a pretty one & doesn't have a happy ending. So if you’re already sick n tired of reading this
piece of unusual blog, what are you
waiting for ? Christmas?? Get back to
your usual life :D .
And for the
rest of you lovely,amazing bunch who are still continuing to read – Mwaaaaahh,
I knew I could always count on you guys ! Thanks a heap.
So here it
is. Me and my colleagues are done with one of the coffee breaks & are
walking towards our building when we hear a
loud noise. More like a bomb-blast kind of loud. And my heart skips a
beat there. I cross my fingers & we hear that loud noise again & again.
I was expecting the earth to crack open & all that but nothing happened. We
entered our buildings safe. End of day
is here, I completely survived this bad bad world with some learning online ,
some chai to go with, some gossip to live to & unlike any other day, some
loud-noise to be scared about, I get in my office cab with another expectation
– Pls Rain-god, Let there be rain today! But like always, Disappointments in life!
Anyhow, I climb the bus, my usual play list starts, a bunch of talking gang have
started their “what happened at your cubicle today” gossip and a bunch of people who are so tired of
their 9am-6pm job schedule, they slept right away.
In midst of all these & some
traffic signals, peeping through the window to look at the beautiful sky, I was
lost in another one of thoughts & was texting a friend about why he doesn't pose for camera, or be in the picture for that matter. Remember -photos are memories for life , right?? I
mean, I know there are people who are camera-shy, but this nut just doesn’t
seem to b in any picture – so invisible & so difficult to be with when he’s
with camera – lover, poser. [ME] ! And I go on telling him – Be in the picture,
when my bus stops suddenly at one of those last minute red signals! This is where it gets exciting.
Now, picture this.
A guy who is short, long – hair, white T-shirt,half sleeves (as told to me, as I
couldn’t see his face) just snatches the phone right away from my hand. Mind
you, I am not listening to songs or am I talking to anybody , or trying to put
my hand out of the window. NO. I got a
text, I see the light & within Milli seconds , I feel like someone is
reaching for the phone & running away. And me being the perfect drama
queen, started yelling PHONE PHONE inside the bus , waking up everybody & I
get down from bus, between all those trucks, bus,cars & what-not & try
to catch hold of him. I know, I know – that’s definitely not , what one should
be doing at that time & there was no police around so you can’t really blame
me okay ? I get down & see a guy [ pink shirt] running away to another
signal & I just start running & yelling these words randomly - Phone,
Thief, WAIT !! I still don’t know if this is the same guy who grabbed the
phone,but you see somebody running away from you , what do you do ?
So, nobody around comes for help & I am still following him,
barefoot!!!!!!!!!!! Hundred thoughts
cross my mind “will I catch hold of him ? Will he get away? Will he throw away
my phone ? what happens to my brand-new-baby phone ? Are people gonna get to
him,beat him up & give me back my phone? Where is my chappal? My bus !!
OMG, I just got down from my bus without telling anybody & now I am running
behind this nomad, how am I gonna go back home !” and such thoughts. And I see,
I am still running & there – I fell on my face. Hurting my knee, hand, leg, stomach.
Thank god my teeth is fine – U know its terrible to lose a teeth right ? I get up & start again. But now I
feel like I have been just going nowhere & fall again trying to reach for help.
*This is where I think of the most stupidest thing ever – I fell for a guy,
Twice*. Okay, not cool. I know.
After all that running, I see him talking to
one more guy – No exchange of phones, nothing & he’s super calm. I go to
him & start telling “PHONE, GIVE, ME,”!
And like a cute little baby he tells me , that he’s running to find the
thief as well. And that he was trying to help me. Damn right he’s gonna help
me. I start telling people around & they gather. Within quick seconds, he
makes a escape again. And this time, entire troop of people run behind him. And
me. After going around for about 2 3 blocks, he gets caught & he’s trying to tell me-
He was only helping me. How could I believe him ? If he was trying to help me,
why did he run in first place when he dint even know I was gonna run behind
him. I am not being completely rude here
because I told the people around that he wasn't the one who snatched the phone
right out of my hand, but as soon as I got down, I did see him run. So it was
only obvious for me to catch him, first! Wrong ?? And then people start
questioning him & I look around – I am not in a good friendly neighborhood.
50 people surrounding me. All trying to
jump on him & I cannot breath. I feel blank. I don’t know how to react. Do
I go back to my bus, I don’t even know if the bus is still there.
The Signal
will go green after 60s, what was I thinking running like that? I feel
suffocated. I feel paranoid. I feel like screaming for help, but even with 50
people around, I felt helpless.. I was looking for a familiar face & there
was none. Was it my mistake to get down & try to catch him? Should I have
kept quiet & made a complaint later when the signal had just turned Red ?
With million wrong things going in my head, one thing was clear – Phone was gone.
I was behind something that’s already gone. I start crying & I make a call
to home – told them what happened & there I see – Police trying to beat him
up. I tell them entire thing again & police just starts vacating the entire
group, makes me and him sit in police jeep & they tell me to calm down.
They console me & I feel like what did I just get into?? Is this a dream or
is it really happening? Of course, I
shouldn’t have gotten out of bus without telling anybody, but what choice did I have. I felt like I should
make an attempt while I could. And I did. That’s my side of story.
But
I also know,it’s the wrong thing I did. More than his stealing, I feel like mistake
is more on my side. But it felt like I had already jumped into the pool & I
din’t know swimming. I got into jeep & then I see a colleague of mine
rushing towards me. He gets into jeep as well & we head straight to police
station. As scary as I felt back there on the roads, I felt much scarier to
enter the station also. Its supposed to be making you feel comfortable with so
many guns & police men around, but it just dint seem to do the trick for
me. I was nervous, scary, fell on my face
- so lots of bruises on leg ! My jeans got torn & I am limping. They
take me inside to meet the head of police to that station – I start explaining
. And they listen to me carefully & tell me to calm down. I can’t. I just
lost my phone. I ran to catch him. I fell on the roads. And I might have caught
the wrong guy as well. No, I cannot calm down.
But then , I see whole lot of my colleagues show up at police
station. Now, I can calm down for a second. They start explaining to police
that they did see a short guy snatch phone outta my hand & that the guy
whom I was following wasn't the guy who actually stole but he dint have to
run if it wasn’t him,right?? That’s what I don’t understand! Its late night
already & I am hurt. I am crying. I am shit-scared for life. I start
calling home & telling not to worry & it still hurts. The entire scene just flashes before my eyes & I feel awful. There are plenty of
things that I could have done to stop this from happening. I could have not
used the phone at that minute. I should have let that text go unread. I could
have grabbed him by his hand & not let him take it away. I could have not
ran like that & let it go for that moment. There are plenty of things like
this racing my mind at that time & I feel regret. Cheated. Horrified
Being the
nice police for that area, they take my complaint, I give away the details of
phone, family & everything needed. And its time I got to hospital. Two
policemen take me to hospital. I am accompanied with two of my colleagues &
I visit hospital. This was one of the scenes that I can’t take out of my
mind. They had to tear open the jeans from knee length onwards . I get first aid & some
injection shot – tetanus & we go back to police station. All this while, all I can think of is “things I should & shouldn’t have done at that time”. I
feel like that was one of the moments when I wish I said Thank god, it was a dream”.
 |
| The jeans that doctors tore with the blades . Shocking. Scary. Damage. |
I reach police station & they explain to
me that this is very common around Bangalore. Girls should be more careful. And
that’s when I learn few things in life. Being independent doesn’t mean you go
around feeling nothing can stop you, nor anybody. As much as I tell others to be
careful, never really thought that I could be this careless. I was one of those who kept thinking – That
would never happen to me.. & here I am. A victim. And I can’t do nothing
about it.
I did not
get down from my bus to get phone [ I did, but that wasn’t my primary reason],
I got down because I got anger, anger on all those people who hurt me over past
few years & I felt like if I can catch this guy, I can get by any kind of
people. It’s silly, I agree but everybody has their ways to get over their anger.
I hear stories about rape, stealing, robbery & when there’s nothing I can
do about it, I feel helpless. People chose Bangalore because its one of the
beautiful cities to live in. people feel safe around others. But with so many
horrible things happening around and not being able to do anything , you feel
like you need to get over that anger. And that was for me, back when I ran for
him. I just din’t wanna quit running till my last breath. Sadly, it isn't always the drama that holds life together. It’s the people around you. The
trust-worthy people, the ones whom you might not know well, but good enough to
actually advice you the right thing. I met such a bunch of good people today.
My colleagues. Yes, I have my share of fights, office politics, love-hate
relation with them but at the end of day, they stood by me. They ran behind me
as well. They were with me , holding hands at police station when I was
shaking. They held my hand tight when I was crying because of injection. They
all might not be there for me forever, but at that moment when I could have
been kidnapped or (god-forbid) fell on wrong foot when signal went Green, I dint even think twice before jumping
signals & they were all there for me. I felt like I was safe already. I couldn't care less for the phone.
Yes,
I lost a beautiful looking phone but whats gone is gone. Complaint has been
taken. Procedures are followed. People
stood by me. I think that’s alright. After all this drama, police finally
dropped me & my colleagues near my
bus – where people are waiting for me &
the gang to come from past one & half hour. I might know not them all well,
I don’t hang out with them daily, I don’t speak to them daily, but I do see them
daily - what they did for me there,
being there for me .. I feel blessed. I feel like I am back in my comfort zone.
I reach
home safe & sound. But even now, when I just think of that signal, that
snatching of phone – its like a dream. A bad one. The one which will wake you
up at the middle of night looking for help, for support, the one I am trying to
get over with , soon.
This has
changed perspective of life for me. Not everything in life can be awesome, cool
& happening, all the time. You take responsibility for your things, for
what you do & be aware of your surroundings. Be aware of what is exactly happening around
you. Treat your body like it is EYES. Have an Open eye for everything that
happens around you. You blink once &
they are gone.
There’s
always two versions. There’s yours & theirs.
Today
morning, my father went to police station & found out that the guy who was held at station over night because I ran behind him & blamed him for something that I wasn't even sure of, doesn’t have my mobile. But he’s one of the usual thief
around that area & that they had been looking for him as well.
Here's the link to what happened next!!
