Johnny,an old beggar,tall and broad shouldered,looked like a character of some adventurous movie.Some times ,his getup took me to old actors like Gregory peck, Richard Burton and Sean Connery,wearing long untidy beard, filthy woolen cap touched his ears,open shirt showed his dirty vest ,carrying a paper cup ,request every passers by to pour some dime ,.Every passers by knew ,Johnny is so hard luck living a lonely life ,slept outside ,sat near the office corner every day.Different people Different views like “He is a spy,He belongs to intelligence agencies”,but when ever I passed through him,I gave him something for his daily roll on.He always smiley received it. There was a placard hanging beside him in which it was carved “These days would too rolled on”.I never understood about the phrase inscribed on his placard.”yes,no doubt time never stops”.Some sarcastic passed their comments with out pondering it.As I noticed,Johnny had a style in his communication.few people noticed it or either nobody ,yet when ever I had some talk,usually a small talk but he never went vague.Sometimes,youngsters when they drove their bike fast,or they didn't shields a helmet,he abruptly turned and said "Tariq ,this is too much,when they bought an Expensive bike,Why they don't go for helmet,its perilous to drive a bike with out helmet.It's a clear murder offense .In other countries they usually wear Latex or a Driver kit before take out their bike on road".These types of remarks really made me pensive for a while.But how can a beggar have such thoughts.One can never be expect these views from a beggar.Once he really made me to think he viewed"Tariq,I know you are a learned and seasoned gent.There is a great mistake I've found in a News channel,a bank officer pronounced "State Bank of Pakistan" you know the" of"pronunciation is "ov".He should say "State Bank ov Pakistan not of Pakistan,its wrong,its impact bad."
So sometimes my views about Johnny changed but when I glanced his appears,it was entirely in matched and different.He had a knowledge more than an educated person,but one notion about I made for him that he had an experience of life,may be learned these knowledge from some highly qualified persona,or may be he is fond of watching Tv,he must extract knowledge from these sources,as well.
One day,he looked tired and pessimist.”Johnny,why are you look so down today.?I asked him. Looked towards me and replied”Tariq,now I’m fedup of this life,I know people abhorred me,I also want a home with lovely life and children.Dime in my pocket a happy prosperous life.”I saw tears,in his eyes, first time in my life.”I don’t know any skill to work,I’m useless ,begging since childhood,I’m devastated”.He hid his face in his both palms.I stood up thinking about him,”Why do you not shift in old people’s home,they would take care of your food and shelter?”I desperate said.”I don’t need any such place like you said,i want my own house and family,Why God is not giving me”and he turned his face towards a Mosque( masjid,where Muslims offer prayers) paused for a while “I do believe,not hope ,he would be graceful to me one day and I would get rid of this # street begging,my prevellence would be changed”,He smiled with his wet eyes.”,.He stands right,his notions needs lot of luck,he is a poor beggar,spent all his life on the same walkway ,how would he become rich,to full fill his desires.Impossible”I endorsed it myself.
A year passed.One day as usual he was sitting on the side of the foot path.A lady came close to him and kept herself Some money in his paper bowl.”Baba,this is enough for you for at least a month,its now almost winters,you should take rest at home ,”that lady affectionately worded.”Home,madam this is my painful destiny,I don’t have any house,I’m born to die on this pathway. The lady got amazed,the old beggar Johnny speaking English.She got shocked.”You are a well spoken English,how do you speak English fluently”.?The lady surprisingly asked.”Oh my God,what I’ve done,its a secret of my life,I thought I would bury with this secret,I won’t tell any body”.Old beggar Johnny,now looking down towards the trail.”Baba,please tell me,open your self to me today “that lady insisted to unveil his life’s secret.The old beggar Johnny looked all the side and put his hand in his inside pocket of the vest.He put out a vignette and showed it to the lady.She got stucked,she stood up with his hand on her mouth .The print depicted Johnny, clad in a uniform of a ship captain.Handsome and lively.”Were you a captain of a ship? “That lady asked him in a timid voice.”yes,I remained a captain of a ship,one night I got drunk,the ship lost its direction,went on a mountain side,I jumped from the ship,the ship devastated with all the killing 32 crewmen aboard,I became coward and couldn’t save my ship and the crewmen.I went courtmarshalled with five years imprisonment.From that day I vowed to kill my self daily,I die daily,since the last twenty two years I’m #begging ,crushing my self.”The old beggar narrated his life story to that lady.That lady , Najma,went engrossed for a while and left the place came back to her office.She was not in a mood to work.Her fellow worker,Nelum asked her.Najma wanted to help Johnny and to take him out from a contrition situation,he imposed on himself..Nelum gave her a solution,to start up a campaign for Johnny on social media.Najma,did it and that campaign worked.In eight months she gathered Twenty five lacs of rupees.She bought a small house for Johnny in a near by village.Johnny got married and now blessed with a baby boy.
That day I was passing through that site,where Johnny used to sit and beg.Saw a handsome man postured with his wife and a carrying a lovely kid in his arms,He was Johnny.”Johnny,”I intonated.He smiley looked towards me and just say” Tariq,that day talking worked”…..
Now what is the conclusion of this whole story?
This is not a fictional story,these are all living characters,but I would say sometimes a little negligence in life,devastated the whole# lifestyle.Secondly,believe in best,what ever the circumstances are always believe in the best,bad days never lasts for ever,and lastly I would say,pardon yourself,don’t chastised your self,with this act of yours Will burried you alive.
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