Reflection of the times...

Tears well up

But I cannot Cry

I wish to explode

But all I can do is implode

I am lost for words 

All that echoes is a deathly silence

There are certain times and certain situations that crop up all of a sudden, leaving you totally unprepared. You are lost. Yet, you cant share it with anybody. Today’s world is a very materialistic one. People are there around you during the good times. But they all wither away, during your lowest moments.

    This picture was taken sometime time in 2008, during the economic collapse. One day, while stepping out for lunch on a sweltering afternoon, I saw this person sitting on the staircase of the office building. Nothing untoward came to my mind and I proceeded on. On my way back after lunch, he was still sitting there. His shadow falling on the pavement was probably showing his distress. With some hesitation, I clicked this picture.

Thereafter, I approached the person. As I drew closer, his eyes were shut, his head rested on his hand. Tapping him on the shoulder, I asked him whether all was well. After moments of hesitation, he told me that he had just lost his job, that very morning. He was the only breadwinner of the family and the only child of his parents. His father was bedridden with a paralytic stroke. This was his first job and he had medical bills to pay.

                I offered him some money for emergency purposes. He politely refused, saying the money would sustain him only for a short time. All he needed was a job, to help his parents. It broke my heart. He even refused my offer, to take him out for lunch. He said, his mother had packed some yoghurt rice for him, to beat the heat. He just wanted to be left alone.

Walking up the stairs, I only hoped that he would have the strength, to face the journey ahead.