10:10

                         10:10

It was a much quieter morning for the city which had a torrent of rain falling harshly during the last night. There was a bit of drizzling in the early morning hours and day light had not yet been able to make a fenestration through the gloomy clouds. The billboard of the Meridian Times which advertised their latest model of wrist watch looked clean as if wiped with a wet duster except for some dry fronds of the adjacent palm tree which hid a corner portion of the hoarding. This big board was a prominent landmark of the junction where three roads crisscrossed to take people to different quarters of the city.

The junction looked a bit deserted for the usual bustling activity it usually has during the morning hours. A young rustic man dressed in simple village clothes was looking curiously onto the advertising board of this Meridian Times which exhibited the picture of a man’s wrist wearing a chrome coloured wrist watch with the smaller needle in the 10 ‘O’ clock  and the  larger needle in the ten minutes past twelve positions. It was an attractive advertisement and the watch displayed was a captivating one with all the features in it clearly exhibited.

The simple man was captivated by the exhibition of the image and he was the lone person in that junction for a few minutes except for the sweeper lady who swept away the mud back into the drain and the dairy man who passed by in a hurry. Then came up a well-dressed middle aged man with slow careful steps because he was more occupied with the folding up of his full sleeves than what lay ahead in his path. He clearly disliked the time wasted for folding up the sleeves while dressing up and so took that job to the road which he could do even as he walked to the bus stop. He clearly was a man of city origin. Once his folding up of sleeves was complete he looked up and there he was in the bus stop looking right onto an evidently simple looking man as was proved with his poor dressing style, torn slippers and an unshaven face with ruffled hair, who was staring onto the advertising board. The City man standing next to the Simpleton inspected him for a brief period of time as he would inspect his junior staff. The Simpleton didn’t even notice the man standing next to him as he was much mesmerized to the attractiveness of that advertising panel.

The City man thought to himself even as he checked again the folding of his sleeves. “What is this guy looking intently at?  He is evidently new to the city. Maybe he got down at this junction from one of the early morning bus that came in from the far flung villages”. It now occurred in the mind of the City man that perhaps the Simpleton had mistook the bill board picture to be a real big clock and he was trying to read the time. It was at this thought that the City man had the prankster moving about in him. He felt like laying a prank on the simple guy as he had enough time before the bus for him arrived. 

The city man slowly unfolded the sleeves that he was folding up till now so that the sleeves would cover the wrist watch which he was wearing.  “Let me test him” he said to himself and made a throat clearing sound to catch the attention of his neighbor who he thought was a village bumpkin.

“Ahem! Friend, could you tell me the time?”. The City man asked teasingly but politely.

“Time!” The Simpleton was aghast for a moment. This guy who was much wiser than the City man  had a reason to be aghast  because it was evident in his own appearance that he was having no instrument with him which could inform the time or  date. To the Simpleton the City guy who looked formally dressed with a purple tie against a navy blue shirt which was well inserted to match a dark brown trouser and a black shoe seemed quite awkward not to have a wrist watch.

It occurred to the Simpleton that maybe this guy was out to tease him, expecting him to answer his question by looking at the bill board. The Simpleton slowly turned his head towards the sky and said “Sorry sir, why can’t you check it out yourself”?  

The City man realized that he had been caught in the act but he was reluctant to let the Simpleton win. “Oh! I am sorry”, saying it,  he too lifted his head towards the sky and started to act as though he was blind and added a declaration,“ I am a blind man”.

 “Oh! Sorry for that” the Simpleton appealed.” I too am sorry to tell that I am another blind man”. The Simpleton too started to act as a blind man would and added “In fact I too wish that somebody could tell me the time”.

The City man could not believe the statement that Simpleton made. He asked rather curiously “Then tell me where were you looking all this time?”

“A blind man can look up anywhere for endless period of time my friend” the Simpleton quipped. “Don’t you have that gaze?”

“Yes of course I have” the City man replied quickly.

The Simpleton took two steps closer to the other guy and asked. “Did you feel that I was looking on to something for some time”.

 “Yes” the City man said, but he suddenly corrected himself. “Well not quiet. I was asking in what position you let your eyes fixed”.

The Simpleton thoughtfully replied. “I usually let my eyes stare upwards.”

“Well I keep mine down” the City man replied. A smirk came on to the Simpleton’s face and he suggested. “Is it to give you a humble look?”

 “It is not that” the City man replied. “Upward gazing is gazing onto time, rather timelessness”.

Even as the two were having an animated conversation, a man in a nice tailored  suit with an executive look walked in towards the place with a briefcase in hand.

“Speaking of time I hear somebody walking towards us”. The Simpleton saw this man walking towards them through the corner of his eye without moving his head an inch. “Maybe he can help us”, he said.

The City man too played accordingly and controlled his instinctive impulse to see who the man was and he said calmly “True, Maybe that person can tell us what time it is”. The Simpleton held out his head in the direction from where the man of executive nature came and the new person to that junction came and stood right beside the other two people who were acting blind.

“We are two blind people here. Can you help us by telling the time”, the Simpleton asked innocently.

The Executive looked on to his hand and then realized to his shock that he had forgot to wear his watch. He had never forgotten his watch and he could not continue his day without the watch because for him all the job for the day was according to the precious time.

“I am sorry, I forgot my watch. Let me go and get it”. Saying he hurried of across the street from where he came. It seemed as though his house was somewhere around that corner.

The two blind men couldn’t  follow the Executive with their eyes for if one turned his head to see where he was going then that person would be caught, for which blind person would do that. The eyes of both persons were stuck to some corner on the bill board and for sometime it seemed to them that they were blind, alas in what quagmire they have been caught in by themselves.

It was then that they heard another man coming up to them in haphazardly steps. Clearly he was searching for his way and he was scanning all the sign posts and boards to get the direction he was walking to.

“I can hear some footsteps and that man there can surely provide us the knowledge of time” said the City man peeping with his eye towards the advancing man. “Let us see” the Simpleton said inquisitively.

As the fellow came to a standstill near the two supposedly blind men, the smell of alcohol emanated from his mouth informing all that he was drinking till the early hours of the day along with the turbulence of nature yesterday night. He extended his neck towards the City man to ask the direction. But before he could ask, the City man acting blind asked “Is anybody there?”

“The Drunkard was excited. “Not any body. My body is here”.

“We both standing here are blind and hence would be kind of you if you could tell  us the time. The simpleton asked very politely.

The Drunkard wheeled his head around and then taking a look at the hoarding said smilingly “It’s clear, it’s 10.10”. Saying this he just walked off in a direction after failing in an intent search to choose the direction which he had to take  in that junction while the  two supposedly blind men stood aghast hearing the time.

Once the Drunkard went of orient less, the two supposedly blind men had some conversation of their own, both not budging to admit that they were not actually blind. To both it was understood among themselves that the other person was not blind. It was an impasse which they themselves had created.

After ten minutes the Drunkard came back swaying more than before and in a pleading voice said, “I lost my way. Can you tell me in which direction I should go?” The other two looked surprised at each other for a fraction of a second and suddenly went blind again.

“Yeah, you both were searching for something, right? Oh yes! Time”, exclaimed the drunkard.

“Not searching, but wanted to know the time”’ said the City man.

“Put me on the bus to go home and I will tell you” whispered the Drunkard.

“But we don’t know where your house is and if you remember it, maybe then we can help you” the Simpleton said.

“Yeah, true. My house is beyond the iron bridge and since you have promised me to put me on the bus I will tell you the time”. Saying it the Drunkard swayed his head across the advertising board and gleamingly said “10:10”.

To the city man it was a quite impossible thing to happen and he quickly reacted, “What? It was 10:10 ten minutes back and still now is it 10:10?

Paleness came over the drunken man, “mmm, you are right, how it can be?” The clock is not working then. Maybe the battery is out”.

“If your house is beyond the iron bridge then that means you will have to catch the bus 12 B and that bus is supposed to come at 10:10 said the City man and as according to you for the past ten minutes the time is stagnant on 10:10.

“True, true, the bus won’t come since the time has stopped at 10:10” the Drunkard retorted.

“Incredible” said the village guy, how can that be, the driver has his own watch to check the time and he will come as to the time scheduled.

“Then why isn’t he coming” the drunk man cried. “You won’t understand, we are in a time warp for the past ten minutes and the time has frozen. The only chance for me is to run towards the east side.”

“But why?” the Simpleton asked in surprise.

“Running east I will be ahead by ten minutes and I can catch the bus, get a seat and sleep rather than standing here”, the Drunkard said gleefully.

The other two seemingly wise men were so much confused and confounded. It indeed seemed to them as if they were really frozen in their deeds and time too.

It was then that the Executive man who went back to collect his watch returned. A chrome plated watch was there on his wrist of which he was clearly proud of and it exactly matched the one that was advertised on the billboard .

The confounded men in the junction needed an answer and finally their prayer was going to be answered regarding the time. As the Executive man came beside, the City man asked, “Sir, can you now tell us the time please”.

“It is 10:10”, the Executive announcement came. All stood amazed for a moment.

A strong wind was blowing towards the west and the gloomy clouds were pushed out from the sky. Clear day light began to pour in and in that process the strong wind also brought down the two old dried palm fronds which hanged over one side of the advertising board. Once the palm fronds fell down, the advertising board invited the full attention of the gazers once again. On the bill board they now could clearly read the logo of the wrist watch company. Meridian times never lie.