It was a blistering afternoon and I was already running behind time for my office so I decided to board an autorickshaw. I had an assignment somehere at Defence Colony. On the way, the auto halted near the Mulchand flyover red light. I glanced at my watch, it was around 10:30am and the road was chock-a-block.
In the cacophony of the dinning horns and sound of the engines, I was trying to concentrate on my yet-to-attend assignment, as it was my first assignment after joining my new office. I was trying to figure out the questions that I was going to ask the cricketers, playing the informations time and again in my mind. Just then a voice broke my reverie.
"Beta,...beta?" the voice said, in a rather emotional note.
Even in that escalating pandemonium of different noises, her voice were very clear and almost jolted me out of my day dreams.
"My daughter is pregnant, she is bleeding and needs medical help or else her baby may die.
"Please help me, beta, please help me."
I turned and looked at her. She must be above 60, I thought.
Her eyes were embedded in the skull and cheeks sans any flesh, as if they were just stuck on her facial bones. she looked very feeble and weak.
I then turned to have a look at her daughter. A rather too young girl to be a mother, how can she be a mother? It can't be -- was my first reaction. But then when I turned my eyes to her abdomen, I realised I was wrong. Her abdomen was swollen and she had covered it with her saree.
"It is not about money beta, I am in a very dificult situation that's why i am asking you, please help me beta," the grand old lady continued.
".....I have to take her to a hospital immediately or else anything can happen, please have mercy."
All my life I have been rather too emotional while dealing with such situation. But coming to Delhi had made me quite the oppostive of my usual self. Also the alarming number of fradulant situations and characters that I had come across in all these months in the capital made me quite a hard nut to crack.
But being at that situation and seeing that old lady and her daughter in such a condition, put me in an uncomfortable situation for reasons that I have no answer. Moreover, in these last few days I had come accross many reports of many pregnant women dying either because of the negligance of the doctors or the people to whom they had seeked help.
Those haunting reports now started hovering in my mind as the lady kept pleading for help. I tried to withdraw myself from the whole situation turning a deaf ear to her words more than once as she continued, "don't be so inhuman beta, please help me...I will pay your money back, give me your address and phone number."
Meanwhile, the light turned green and the blowing horns of the vehicles touched a crescendo. As the vehicles parked ahead of my autorickshaw started moving, I realised, although a little, it will still take some time to clear the mess.
I knew within the next few seconds I will be gone, leaving the lady on the road and I will never meet her ever in my life and since there was nothing by which I could have proved if she was telling the truth I was sure I was doing the right thing by not offering her the money. But my mind gave way to my heart and in a haste I took out a Rs 100 note and handed it over to the old lady as my auto slowly started to make a move.
No sooner I had handed over the note, all of a sudden her expression changed. Without saying a word, she just walked away and there was a strange blank look on those eyes which just a few seconds ago were flooded with helplessness and humility.
My Auto engine was roaring now as it was racing ahead. With each moment the lady was gradually getting lost in the maddening crowd of humans and vehicles and soon she was completely out of my sight.
Many days have passed since then, although she has been out of sight ever since then but she certainly has not been out of my mind. I still ponder whether I did the right thing by offering her the money. I still don't have any answer to that.
Recently, I told the incident to my friends and unanimously they offered me the same feedback: I had actually made a fool of myself. May be yes, may be no but one thing for sure it certainly taught me a lesson. But should I repent, to be frank and honest I don't know yet.
