Usually when I drive to office, I am on auto-pilot. The mind is free to think. I have often received stares at signals since I was singing loudly or rehearsing dialogues. I am that absorbed in my thoughts !
Today too was no different. The traffic was relatively less and as one signal turned green, I raced ahead, close on the heels of an autorickshaw. Suddenly the autorickshaw swerved to the right and, naturally, so did I. As the autorickshaw went forward, I saw why it had swerved. There was a pair of kittens, probably 2-3 days old, cuddled up with each other, exactly in the middle of the road ! I cringed. By the time this fact registered, I was a little distance ahead. I quickly took my motorcycle to the left to park it. I saw that another guy on a motorcycle had just parked his vehicle and was rushing to the kittens. I parked my motorcycle next to his. I couldn’t help myself and I too started walking back towards the kittens. Just then, a car was pulling up to the left. The door opened and a lady motioned me to stop. She asked me, “Are you going for the kittens ?” When I nodded in the affirmative, she said, “OK, then I will not stop. Thank you !” Immediately I resumed walking towards the kittens and much to my horror, at that very moment, I saw a car go over them :(
Then the guy, who just reached there a second after the car went over them, ran into the middle of the road to prevent other vehicles from going over. Seeing all this, my eyes blurred with tears and I stopped in my tracks. The guy picked up what looked like two limp kittens and kept them on the pavement, out of the way of passers-by, near the corner of a shop and started coming back to the bike. I couldn’t bear watching anymore. I walked back to my bike. As I sat on my bike, he sat on his, which was parked next to mine. I simply couldn’t bear to hear the answer but my hopefulness got the better of me and I managed to ask, “What happened ?”. He looked dejected and replied, “Before I could pick them up, a car went over one of them and also over one leg of the other. I don’t think it’ll survive either. Are people blind ? Stupid !”
I grew really upset and drove away.
Then the guy, who just reached there a second after the car went over them, ran into the middle of the road to prevent other vehicles from going over. Seeing all this, my eyes blurred with tears and I stopped in my tracks. The guy picked up what looked like two limp kittens and kept them on the pavement, out of the way of passers-by, near the corner of a shop and started coming back to the bike. I couldn’t bear watching anymore. I walked back to my bike. As I sat on my bike, he sat on his, which was parked next to mine. I simply couldn’t bear to hear the answer but my hopefulness got the better of me and I managed to ask, “What happened ?”. He looked dejected and replied, “Before I could pick them up, a car went over one of them and also over one leg of the other. I don’t think it’ll survive either. Are people blind ? Stupid !”
I grew really upset and drove away.
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