it happened one nite....
if u all have thoughts running in ure head the moment u read the title, im sorry pls stop. what happened that nite could be easily a case of mistaken identity, somethin like that shouldnt have happened to me or anyone else for that matter, or as ppl usually say, i was at the rong place at the rong time ( did i mention, i was the rong person)
ok...so wat happened?
flashback to circa 2002, september 12, 2:30 am : the sounds from iron maiden's fear of the dark keep ringing in my head
I am a man who walks alone
And when I’m walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it’s dark
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a constant fear that someones always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone’s always there
Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no one’s there?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you’re sure there’s someone there......
every time i walked thru the woods, on north macgregor sat nites after my work at the OB hall, i felt this would be the nite, now would be my time facing the rong end of the barrel, now would be my time where i use all my know-how on how to fool someone stupid enuf to point a gunAnd when I’m walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park
When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it’s dark
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a constant fear that someones always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone’s always there
Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no one’s there?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you’re sure there’s someone there......
at me, now would be the time when i become one more story that shall pass down thru generations of students at macgregor, on how bad it was that i was robbed at gunpoint. the sad part of all that was it never happened ( or was it?)
here i was circa 2005, 22 march 12:45 am.
this nite i was miles away from Macgregor, with a car to help me getaway, in a secure neighborhood (huh?) I had just returned from bhogus place having had dinner there. It had been a few days since i checked my mail....so i had this sudden rush of walking over to my
mailbox and then it happened.
The kallus have always been a sad lot of ppl, I usually would refute that point everytime someone said that. To me, being a humanitarian, I felt it was wrong when ppl blamed an entire race for the rong doings of a few. It just wasnt rite since they got the rotten end of the deal in
the land of the free. But all that changes when u have a personal experience. and it did for me.
a young kallu, around 5'7" came behind me that nite. I usually dont bother about that since ppl have stuff to do and it makes no sense me lookin at them. My awareness signals were all shut, and there was no way in the world, i could have seen this coming. It was the brightest
spot in the whole complex, 10 flash bulbs, 4 apartments on either side. It was almost a party zone, after the party. But apparently i was rong, as i have been in the last few months about most things. Learning is a great experience, and some learn the easy way, and some the hard. I
guess i had the hard way.
He came up to me and I actually stopped thinkin he needed some help. And in a second the jokes were on me...I was the one needing help. I guess thats what happens when u go out of ure way tryin to help everyone. I needed that lesson, STOP THE HELPING FRENZY DUDE!!! URE THE ONE WHO NEEDS SOME HELP!! i think my shrink would like to read that!
Gimme ure money..gimme ure money.....and in all that chaos, i suddenly lost all reasoning power, and mujhme woh baccha jagrut hua ( the kid from ek titlee..anek titiliyaan)
I instead handed over my keys to him, ( OMG! what the hell r u doin, shouted my chota dimaag) Well fortunately for me he turned out to be as dumb as a door knob...probably a dope addict lookin for a quick gig. He said...I dont need no keys...gimme some money...and then he did it....
The entire debate on Banning Guns sounds so cliche especially for a desi. To most its just another one of those american issues on somethin entirely useless. I dont see a desi walkin up to buy a gun with the same enthusiasm as buyin a masala dosa or a buffet lunch ( clash of civilizations anybody?) But the part of actually intentionally arming someone to harm the world just beats the bejeezes outta me....what other purpose does a gun serve, even if it is used for self-protection, it is only achieved by harming someone else....Micheal Moore and
Bowling for Columbine , kudos for standing up to the system....
The Silver gun was pretty awesome I must say and the way it shined in the aura of the flash lights gave it a halo of its own. Awesome till he pointed it at me. Gimme ure money M****r*****r.....and i had to move my eyes from the gun to him. I then checked for the next thing that came into my hand. The next best thing.....A sony ericcson T-309...shucks....my cell...i had numbers in the phone that id never get again in my life. Gone.
Gimme ure wallet...and my wallet gone.
Now usually the mugger would somehow create a distraction for the muggee and make his getaway. This guy didnt do nothing. He just ran. And there I stood. Shaking with fear?...Not really, I actually was blank all that while, and this sudden calmness gripped my body. I didnt
have a million thoughts running in my head. And it was almost like I wanted to part with my cell and my wallet. I dont think there's any debate on that. They were gone.
I just stood there in that very spot for the next 20 minutes, not knowing what to do. I didnt want to go home, and invite the mugger who might still be around for a cup of coffee and play a game on my PS. Na that wasnt the best thing to do. I instead went to my friends house,
and called out for help.
The cops arrived at 230 am, Constable Venables ( reminded me of Terry Venables the English Football player and coach, the last i heard about him was when he was with Leeds as a coach...) He was a nice guy, helped me with the details, and was surprised twice actually when he noticed my politically correct description of the mugger as an african american as against nigger. He asked me to price my wallet, which my sis had given me a year ago. To me that night at least, the price of my wallet was the least of my concerns. He said, it was imperative to lay charges
on the mugger. I said ya ok...just fill out 35 bucks...he smiled and said, ya thats better...in any case u wouldnt be getting these things soon enuf... I shrugged...
The next 3 hours were spent calling up my customer service friends all over the world, cancelling my cards, and wishin that the joker didnt spend a lot....luckily he spent only one of my credit cards at a gas station whose owner was yet another desi, Mike Panjwani. Desi Nite out?
It was around 430 when I went to bed, and i did sleep well, except for a second when I thought Elisha Curthbert was a mugger ( No dreams, a scary vision from my poster of the girl next door) I though was both a little pleasantly surprised and shocked that there were no tears. Surprisd that I could bear such shock with a calmness not known to me before, and shocked that I had become so inhuman.
But they did come, the next afternoon, while I was driving home. and all bcos of the thought that had the guy shot me and i happened to die...wat difference would it make to anyone, anywhere in the world. For that 10 minutes, I was just all alone, there, right at that spot, with no second thoughts about my past, or my future. I would just be a blip off the radar screen, and was it even worth it that I was here thousands of miles away from home, fighting my battles. They say India is an impoverished nation of millions, how come nothing ever happened to me the nites I was out in the middle of the streets of Bombay? Was it just my luck or is India much safer than the home of the brave? I am moving towards India this time.... Will surely answer that the next time it happens.
and Sumanth, I dont agree with you that Nothing ever happens twice..how about getting reborn as a new person?
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