Introduction to the Author:

Jobin Thomas is an aspirant writer and teacher of English language and literature at college levels. He did his Post Graduation from Pondicherry Central University and B.Ed from EFLU. Currently working as an Assistant professor in St.Mary’s College, Wayanad district in Kerala; Jobin writes short stories which probe into human nature despite brevity and poems which are offbeat and unorthodox, challenging the contemporary choice of themes.

Being Blind

Sitting in the front seats of the buses in my route was always a problem. We were always obliged to give our seat for old and the weak. And the weak sure included pregnant women. For some reason, in my route there would be lot of pregnant women – always. It was almost like they were everywhere. A hundred times I had given my place for pregnant women, and seemed like it would never end. Every other day that happened.

‘This madness has to end’ I thought. Anyway I couldn’t go into the houses of those pregnant women and shoot the men who often made them pregnant. That left me to act in the bus selfishly. That one technique I brought up soon became a hit in my own brains. Any signs of a woman with bit larger belly walked into bus, I just pretended to be asleep. All was done. So that continued for a lot of days.

One particular day, I was sitting (not asleep since nobody wanting a seat was around) and an acquaintance, Lipin, came in. Lipin was physically challenged at his legs. He was only as good as a person with one leg. He sat to my side. I was to the window side. We exchanged greetings and he happily talked about the world where both of us lived. In front of his enthusiasm, I felt like I had got nothing waist down and he was someone with so many legs.

It was at that time out of nowhere a pregnant lady appeared. The bus didn’t even stop anywhere, I felt like she just materialised from air. I went into my fake sleep in no time. Lipin kept talking for a while. Suddenly I heard him offering seat to that lady. There were sympathetic arguments over who is weaker between a pregnant woman and a one legged person. I wondered why any of the other bastards were not offering a seat to them; maybe they would be sleeping too. At last Lipin established that a pregnant woman deserved the seat since she was carrying two souls.

In my fake sleep, I could see everything happening in bus. Lipin was standing there on his one good leg and his selfless smile. I sat there beside the woman like a man totally blind at eyes and heart.