There's more to it

August 9th, 2016.                                                                                                       1713 hrs

There's no greater loss a parent can face than the loss of their child, especially at the prime of his youth. Alok, who was pursuing his PhD was under a lot of pressure due to the harassment he faced at the hands of his instructor. But such sudden, tragic loss of life isn't just a divertissement or a meagre topic for debate or a simple matter of inquiry. It's a story; a diegesis that deserves to be told.

But something isn't right. It just isn't. When anyone talks about story in this country, people think about "masala".It's one of our baser instincts. This masala is what kills it. When something of this magnitude happens, everyone starts talking. People are (supposedly) infuriated. News channels covering it show the nation how things unfold. Twitter seems to be brimming with hashtags along with a race to assert conspiracies in less than 140 characters. There's hustle on social media to draw attention and likes. Death is trending. There is noise; intrusive and obnoxious. No one's listening, though. This noise gradually drowns down the sound of grief and the sobs and sniffles of a mother.

The crux of the above talk? People love to talk and they are in constant need of a topic. Most people aren't really connected emotionally to the tragedy. Alok doesn't hang out with his friends anymore. He doesn't turn up in either the mess or the canteen for any meal. He isn't any longer online on FB or WA. His laptop waits to be used. His mobile phone keeps the notifications carefully just in case it's owner returns to check them. His clothes just lie there in the almirah waiting to be worn. Someone, however still waits for her son to call.

But as I said people want to talk. I saw a lot of faces today in the protest. A good number of them were smiling. Smiling isn't bad. Having fun in such times at such a place is. Why do they forget that he too was a son, a brother, a friend? Moving on isn't bad but not being moved is. People forget that there's more to it than just discussions, debates and protests. No parent should see his or her son become a plaything to satisfy people's need for amusement. 

Not everyone's bad. But a whole lot of people are either insanely misguided or gigantic morons. No regret in calling them so. There's this woman with a foolish thought 'all this is just a nightmare and maybe I'll wake up' being the only thing holding her together. Then there are people who laugh and have fun at the protests. I never expected the world to be fair, neither did I expect people to be sane.  Does anyone really watch us from above?

I'm not quite sure.

We are all selfish.