Oh to be alive

My heart hurt I couldn't breathe, as my eyes skimmed through the report with unease. Quietly without informing a soul, he set out on the road... Sixteen hundred kilometers to his village, all he had was a bicycle & two thousand rupees. Some passersby found him unconscious under a tree. His knapsack intact with two sets of clothes, his adhaar card & a blanket. I choked back tears & gasped, all I managed was a silent plea. Police rushed him to hospital but he left unsung, a hero who just wanted to meet his family. All this in a span of twelve hours as he braved the summer heat. All of forty was he, his wife & two sons will wait endlessly... yet some still sit back in the cool comfort of their homes and declare every now & then, it's tough for them to stay put & breathe, this indeed is 'life's' irony...

In full bloom was I cast away, on a bed of dry rustling leaves I lay. Voices I heard, were loud & clear, though what they said I didn't hear. I wanted to live & do my bit, but suddenly the world felt queer. Something had changed, it didn't feel right, everyone was too occupied... I looked up from where I was, I appreciated the poignant pause. I closed my eyes & thought a while, it was their loss not mine. So I slipped into a deep slumber hoping to wake up unencumbered...