Dark Horse Arts and Sciences

I am the richest guy in the country. Money, fame, cars, buildings, girlfriends; what I don’t have is a null set. What I have; even I don’t have any idea of. What I eat; you wouldn’t have even heard of. What I experience is out of the fathom of your comprehension and imagination. What I see everyday from the top floor of my building is something you will opine a God will only see from the heavens. 

But a certain encounter with a man on the streets of the town transformed my whole perspective or idea of what and how the world is, around me; and how I have been oblivious to my surroundings in the past few years as I have only grown richer and richer. 

I was just waiting for a friend on one side of the street as a man with a torn out white shirt approached me and asked for some money to have some meal. I wanted to help him as I put my hand inside my pocket to see whether I had any change or not; but there wasn’t any. I tried to find something in my purse but it only contained credit and debit cards. Of course, I couldn’t have given him any of that. The man kept staring at me with eager eyes possessing the hope in his mind that the man in front of him with that heavy purse would at least give something so that he could have his meal. But that couldn’t happen as I didn’t have any change. I had to refuse the man in the end. 

Suddenly, my mind got infused with a sense of remorse and utter regret. Despite having all the money in the world, I was unable to help an under-privileged man at the time of his need and hunger. I couldn’t cope with that sense of repent as I hit the electric board beside me with utmost anger and frustration. How could I be so ignorant of my overall vicinity! Despite being called one of the most intelligent and knowledgeable men, how could I have been running away from such a harsh truth all this time! 

The problem was I became so rich and famous that I let slip of the fact that poverty still exists in this world. I became rich which couldn’t have implied that the same occurred to the whole world. I lived in air-conditioned rooms; consumed healthy and hygiene food; complained about silly things that didn’t even matter; which ultimately created the distance between me and the jarring reality that the others were enduring all along. 

But now this certain incident has made me realize how poor we are as a nation and a society. How poverty is killing millions of people everyday, makes me sad and anxious; anxious as to why I haven’t been able to realize this yet. I am rich and blah blah blah; but does that add anything to society? I don’t think so. Does my immense wealth contribute to the poverty-stricken human beings? I don’t think so. All my money is either in the bank or invested in the stock market; nowhere near to help anyone. Despite being so wealthy, seldom have I ever reflected upon myself about opening a charity to help under-privilaged people. That’s a shame on my part. 

My greed for acquiring more and more wealth has ultimately made me blind to everything. But that’s it. I don’t think I can live like this useless guy anymore. I have to take some steps so that I can at least help the poor in some way or the other. 

I am the richest guy in the country. I have everything one can ever desire. But a certain encounter with a man lately transformed my whole perspective about the world in my vicinity. As I was waiting for a friend of mine on one side of the street, a man just stopped in front of me on a bike. They were waiting for the traffic signal to turn green. He wasn’t alone in his bike though; with him, maybe, was his wife and a little son sitting in front of him wearing black glasses as if he’s the don of the town. As I watch them, I feel a sense of calmness and a bit of happiness too. The don is laughing as his father said something and also his wife bears a little smile on her pretty face. They look really happy. I was really tired and frustrated that day. But seeing this sweet and small family on an old torn out bike and especially that kid who gives an aura of a don, induced on my face a hint of smile. I felt relieved and relaxed as if everything in this world had suddenly turned into a beautiful garden of gorgeous flowers; as if there existed no tension and suffering anywhere; even if it did, I tried to forget it for that small amount of time. Their happiness kind of infected me with the same feeling of joyfulness and cheerfulness as I forgot all my worries and anxieties for that tiny period of time. 

Now the signal had turned green and the small family have departed my range of vision as I tried to grasp their images receding far away from me. As they left, I nodded my head a bit with a bit of sadness. But I have no idea about the reason for the same. Maybe I got connected to them for that little amount of time. Maybe I was longing for smiley and joyous faces. Maybe in the midst of all this suffering, what I need is a bit of harmless fun and playfulness and naughtiness with my friends, girlfriend, family and everyone in my life. Maybe they symbolized what I have always longed for: happiness.