Love Lasts

It’s a rainy afternoon, streets bustling with crowd and the only view that can be seen from a 10 storey building is of streets covered by umbrellas depicting of a huge roof covering the streets and between these potholed streets a incident occurs that could be forgotten after few days but a lesson to be learned at that moment.

It’s a story about….you will figure it out just after 5 mintues…..Read on…

July 23, 2008 – 1:00 PM

It’s raining heavily and everybody’s busy trying to keep distance from the overflowing gutter caused due to heavy rains. But somewhere between this noisy activity, a distinguishing voice can be heard a rather painful one asking for something which is weird in itself. And as you follow the distressed voice, you encounter a young boy in his teens (i will name him Sri), shabby and torn clothes, injured knee, seeing his condition no one would argue that he is a slum dweller but why is he crying???

Sri was crying out loud and asking for some plastic sheet, a cloth or something that could cover him up. Maybe he needed something that would  protect him from the rain but it’s obvious in Mumbai to get wet then why was he crying and begging for a plastic sheet. Strange.

Sri approached a tea stall and asked him whether he has got some cloth, plastic sheet or any such sort of thing. And the tea-stall guy arrogantly pushed him away. Then he approached a well-dressed guy maybe in his 20’s, and asked him to please lend him his umbrella because he needed it more than him. The “sophisticated” guy rather unproved his sophistication without saying a word and pushed Sri.

Sri fell and injured his elbow and was bleeding but he was least concerned about it. He roamed here and there but never went too far, don’t know why? he was pleading to each and every person he would possible place his hope upon, he even searched the bottom of each dustbins he can lay his hand upon to search if there is any cloth or a piece of plastic sheet. But the only thing that was shattered was his hope.

After few minutes he saw a beggar sitting near the station roof with a plastic sheet covering him. Sri approached him with the last bit of hope left within, and asked him “Please, can i have your plastic sheet i need it more than you do”. The beggar was furious and yelled at him saying “Why is it so important to you? Just because you don’t get wet? Then what the hell i am going to do tell me?”

Sri said “Its not for me its for some other reason”. The beggar with an anxious look, said “I will give it to you only if the reason is appropriate”. Sri agreed with him and took him to a distant highway.

Sri pointed downwards and showed the beggar that’s the reason why i wanted your plastic sheet. The beggar was in tears when he finally knew the reason. Sri then took the plastic sheet and bent downwards to “cover his mother’s dead body“.

The beggar inquired who is she? Sri said she is my mother and a car hit her here. She was getting wet that’s why i was searching for a plastic sheet to cover her.

The beggar was stumped and thought this is love and we people here…..

(The accident really affected Sri, and it took his mental stability but the only thing that was still within him was his immense love for his mother. Nobody knows what happened to him afterwards…..)