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| An artist drawing a sketch of a woman fast asleep on railway platform |
It all happened in barely a minute! The arrival of Baroda express was announced and I was huddling towards my compartment at Vadodara railway station. I noticed a crowd gathered at one place creating quite a commotion on the platform and it was difficult to walk past it with the luggage. While trying to find my way through the crowd, I witnessed something interesting. An artist was drawing a sketch of a visibly old and sick woman, fast asleep on the platform. People were admiring his work while the helpless woman remained asleep, blissfully ignorant about the stir around her.
"That's an interesting story unfolding there" I wondered. My focus in those few seconds was to capture the moment and discover its story. I somehow managed to click two shots amidst the bulging crowd. People were keenly watching how each line drawn by the artist was getting closer to realistic depiction of the subject right before their eyes. Soon my train arrived and the artist packed his bag. Hurriedly, he picked up some coins thrown at him (not a single coin was seen near the woman) and left. The crowd dispersed and I boarded the train thinking about how I could have taken better shots if I had little more time at hand.
Once the train started and I was settled, a strange, twinging guilt engulfed me. I played those few seconds on the platform over and over in my mind and felt ashamed, miserable and shocked. What had I done? How could I just observe the scene like a silent spectator? I was deeply pained with the sight of that woman asleep on the platform but my attention was more on the sketch of the artist and simple people with great curiosity, gathered around him. What had I done for the woman despite knowing her plight? If I could take photographs, I could as well have given some money, food or arranged to get a doctor for her. How could I just stay aloof barely even acknowledging her existence!
For the artist, his purpose was solved. He had followed his inspiration from precarious condition of that woman, a different facet of life and sketched beautifully. When he left after I took his photographs, the crowd dispersed too as there was nothing left to see. The old woman was alone with her cruel fate of isolation on the railway platform.
Witnessing people around us in distress is a very painful experience. Sometimes we pretend not to notice. Sometimes, we are shocked, angry, upset with the helplessness we feel in such situations. How far is it right to stay objective and not intervene? In India, one comes across many situations like this every day and it is not always possible to reach out and help each one in need. Sometimes, a situation demands that one stays detached which again is a huge challenge. After seeing such helpless people everywhere, there comes a point when one stops being stunned and we become passive bystanders and prefer not to intervene. Was I just a bystander? Within those few seconds when I stopped at the platform, took photographs and observed the sketch of the artist, didn't I become a stakeholder of the story? These uncomfortable questions have shaken me from within.
I feel ashamed to admit that while a helpless woman was lying on the platform, all I did was click photographs! It was not intentional but I know it is not pardonable either. Maybe, after a while, this incident would be eventually forgotten and fall apart from my memory. But I know, on that day at Vadodara railway station, a little part of me died a subtle death. Sad!
For the artist, his purpose was solved. He had followed his inspiration from precarious condition of that woman, a different facet of life and sketched beautifully. When he left after I took his photographs, the crowd dispersed too as there was nothing left to see. The old woman was alone with her cruel fate of isolation on the railway platform.
Witnessing people around us in distress is a very painful experience. Sometimes we pretend not to notice. Sometimes, we are shocked, angry, upset with the helplessness we feel in such situations. How far is it right to stay objective and not intervene? In India, one comes across many situations like this every day and it is not always possible to reach out and help each one in need. Sometimes, a situation demands that one stays detached which again is a huge challenge. After seeing such helpless people everywhere, there comes a point when one stops being stunned and we become passive bystanders and prefer not to intervene. Was I just a bystander? Within those few seconds when I stopped at the platform, took photographs and observed the sketch of the artist, didn't I become a stakeholder of the story? These uncomfortable questions have shaken me from within.
I feel ashamed to admit that while a helpless woman was lying on the platform, all I did was click photographs! It was not intentional but I know it is not pardonable either. Maybe, after a while, this incident would be eventually forgotten and fall apart from my memory. But I know, on that day at Vadodara railway station, a little part of me died a subtle death. Sad!
