StilL ALive

It was yet another day when the sun shone bright in the off-winter season and yet another day for everybody to look forward to their expectations.

The people were engaged in their work, working to earn their living and working hard to provide food to their family. Since last many years, my routine was the same. I used to get up and thank to god for providing me the basic necessities that I require and then going on to work. I used to open my shop, sit for hours, waiting for a customer to stop by and ask me to repair the bag chain or to sew the torn out bag. I had nothing else to think except for a better life for my growing kids. I wanted to earn and send them to a better school and let them learn English. My dream is to see them at the top of the world one day. But, my dreams shattered on the same night of this bright start of the day. The dark, stormy night has changed everything and took away each and everything that I had or I dreamt for.

The silence of the cold night broke when the jeeps of police officials stopped in our slum colony along with the car of the collector of our district. We all were asked to assemble below the big banyan tree. We all followed the directions, thinking there is something good for us by the government. But, all our happiness shattered when one of the officials read the order aloud… and the notice read that our houses were to be emptied by tomorrow morning as there was an order to break our houses and shops by the government because the roads were to be widened and we had built our houses illegally. A sense of fear and hopelessness could be seen on everybody’s face. There was nothing worst to come then this. “Where would I go now with my family?” was my first question, as the others might have also thought.

There were only 7 hours left for dawn to overtake dusk and we had to empty up our houses. My wife, my children were crying. We all still managed to help and support each other and set our household things aside. We took the wooden gates off the door and the teen shade apart from the roof of our 2 roomed home. We moved towards the other side of the street in a small colony from where our house was clearly visible. Money…. We only had some few pennies with us. My wife took them with her and tied it to the end of her sari. Crying and half-heartedly we prepared ourselves to see our home get destroyed in front of our eyes. It was 8 in the morning when the officials came again… with the bulldozers this time. All set to destroy our homes. We all assembled ourselves on the opposite side of the street. They started their work.

Within next one hour our house was destroyed. Each brick fell down.

The 2 roomed home, my sweet home, where I had spent 15 years of my life with my family, my wife, my children, my mother… where I had lived a dream each day was now no-more. With the house no-more… my dreams also shattered. I had nothing else to look forward too. There was nothing else to think about. Seeing the house fall down, my son rushed to me and asked me an innocent question- “papa, are we going to build a new big house here for ourselves???” and I had no answer to his question now. I had no roof to find shelter under, no money to feed him and no dream for him. I was a man with all senses and organs working but still felt like disabled. I had no more reason to live. The day passed by… the crane came and the dumper too. They cleared off the bricks that had fallen down. I stood there unmoved, watching my own house go off. I could have done nothing. I was helpless.

This is the story of a man who was turned homeless by being asked to empty his own house and get ready to get it destroyed. The dark side of moon… the other side of midnight... What worse can come in somebody’s life then this? Think of all the worse situations you fall in and you think to end your life… then read this real life story again and find the difference between your situation and the situation the man was in… you’d probably understand that whatever god has given you is enough and you should be happy with it. Never criticize for whatever you have… enjoy life, each minute, each moment because you never know what your tomorrow holds for you.