PERFECT STRANGER

Resurrected from the shadows of another day

There was a great industrialist here today. Talking of cars and technology. For more than two hours he held everyone spellbound. He wasn’t talking about what is yet to come but what had already been achieved. I have a special reason to be fired with enthusiasm on this topic.

When he had concluded his talk, I walked up the dark passage where my house stands – slow, cautious and deliberate. I am ok with walking in the dark as I have a mental map of the area. I am familiar with this place.

The more I move towards my home, the sound of wailing sirens, honking horns, screeching tyres and stop-start traffic steadily reduces.

I love cars. But I cannot drive anymore. The sound of screeching tyres and sirens bring back alarming memories.

I now hear the black birds singing. The church bells are ringing in the distance, deep and mellow. The sun is invisible but the air is warm. A bird flaps its wings and cooes. And I know that everything is good with the world.

I unlock the door and enter my home. The expressions from the industrialist’s lecture are coming back to me. Today I have done something I’ve never done before. But joining this raffle feels like following what’s written in the stars for me.

It’s a Godsend. The sweepstake is too good to pass. Not for the glitz and glamour. Just to keep my dreary life awake. To break the darkness and gloom that has been my constant companion on my life’s journey.

And in the cocoon of my timid emptiness, I tell myself that some wealth and prosperity would shrink the dreadfulness of my life.

Ever since the accident, it is as though I walk my life looking backwards, with my back to the Sun. leaving behind dark shadows around me. The accident seems to have turned me into a monster of indifference, a man without friends.

But still I’m human. I hold up my morale astonishingly well. I don’t see myself as having done anything disgraceful or dishonourable. It was merely an accident.

Away in the corporate office of the industrialist, the minutes and then seconds continued to tick by. Everyone watched in silence, rapt, fascinated.

And in a few minutes, my phone rings. I am the winner of the raffle. I have won the prize – the car. The car with unbelievable features. The kind of technology that has never before been available for production line cars.

The day finally arrives. I hold in my trembling hand the key to the new car. I can’t wait to take it for a spin. I get into the driver’s seat. And I fire up the engine. The feel of the new car is indescribable. The engine is purring under the hood and waiting for action. I reach for the gear shift. But I can’t see anything.

I had lost my eyesight in the car crash years ago, and I had never been able to drive since then.

That’s why I am donating my car to a local charity that helps people with disabilities. They will now be able to transport those in need to medical appointments, job interviews, and other essential places.

And in the end, I gained something far more valuable than a car – the satisfaction of knowing that I am making a difference in people’s lives.

Sometimes the things we think we want the most, aren’t what we need at all.

The church bells toll in the distance, deep and mellow. And the blackbirds cry aloud that the world cannot understand what blindness means. Yet I know everything is good with the world.