Flash…

It is morning. My digital clock shows 5 AM. I look outside the window. It is dark. The sun is still down.

I folded my sheets, took my glasses which were placed near the lamp on the side table, and placed my left foot on the ground. As I was heading towards the washroom, my eyes fell on a newspaper, which was placed on the side table. There was a quote written on it on the left hand  side column of the front page. The quote said:  “ Believe in yourself.”

After one hour I am standing at the bus stop to catch my bus and get to work.

My office was almost 2 hours away from the bus stop. I was looking outside the window and enjoying the morning breeze. There was some warmness in the surroundings because of the rays of sun which just touched my hand. And two hours passed very quickly as I got occupied with my thoughts.

It is 8.30 AM. I am at the outside of my office building.

I entered the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor. I opened my cabin door and sat on the chair. I started sorting out some files. I got busy with work. I forgot about the outside surroundings. And then I heard a knock on my door.

It is 1 PM. The office maid knocks my door. I say come in. She enters. She asks, ‘do you need anything, it is lunch time?’.

I told her that I don’t need anything. She said that I should stop my work and have lunch. At first I didn’t pay any attention to her. But I noticed that she was upset. It was not her fault. I should have listened to her immediately and that was really rude of me. I then said sorry to her, pushed my files on one side and opened my lunch box.

It is 7 PM. I am waiting for my bus. I look at the backside of the bus stop. There is something going on there. I walk towards the back side of the bust stop.

I saw two young boys, around 20 years old. They were forcing a girl towards the far end behind the bus stop. They were misbehaving with the girl, she was around 25 years of age. I saw them from a distance. Their faces were not clearly visible. I ran towards them. I ran almost a kilometer. They stopped at a large tree. They started assaulting the girl. And as I got  nearer, I realized that she was my office maid. Both of them were forcing her and beating her. She was shouting but her voice was not able to reach very far. It was getting dark.

It is 7.15 PM. I am watching the maid being raped, thinking of what to do.

I thought of going back asking for help but the time was scarce. They were on to the maid. So I ran towards them and jumped on them. I kicked one of them and pushed them away from her. They took out their knives and ran towards me. I kept kicking them as they tried to stab me. One of them cut the skin on the back of my hand. It was bleeding. The other started forcing the girl. A flash appeared for just a second inside my mind. I kicked the one who was beating me, and I kicked so hard in his stomach that he was almost unconscious. I grabbed the other one by his collar and threw him towards the tree. I took the maid’s hand and we ran very hard and never looked back.

It is 10.30 PM. I am inside my room holding the newspaper which I saw in the morning.

I took a paper and a pen. I wrote on the paper in capitals: “BELIEVE IN YOURSELF”. I fixed that paper on a wooden board pinned on the opposite side of my bedroom wall. I realized that I need this flash in my mind everyday.