Democracy heals itself

"Democracy is the physician that heals itself, and 2014 must become a year of healing." I was reading the speech the president on my mobile phone while waiting for a bus at the bus stop.

Before I could dwell into the actual meaning of what the old man had said, somebody pulled my hand. I looked down; she was a small little girl in a torn piece of cloth, shivering in Delhi's cold. In her hand she carried hundreds of Indian flags. "2 rupaiya ka ek hai bhaiya ek le lo". I tried to ignore her but she insisted. I searched my pocket and found a two rupee coin. I gave it to her and said that I didn't want the flag. She insisted that she would take the money only if I bought the tri colour. I uninterestingly snatched the flag from her hand. She gave a smile and departed. But as she went away I noted that there was something wrong in the way she was walking. I looked down at her legs to find that her right toe was bleeding. 

The words of Mr.Mukherjee echoed in my ears-"Democracy is the physician that heals itself". Is this how this democracy heals itself? This small girl doesn’t have any resource to get herself a treatment. Her bleeding leg is not the concern of anybody. It will never get treated. Either it will get healed on its own or it will never get healed at all. Is this what the president of the largest democracy meant? While thinking about all these big issues and pondering upon all these senseless ideas, I swear that not for a single moment did I think of getting her legs treated.And why should have I thought about it, I had to board the bus, I had to get back to my college, my friends were waiting for me, I had to join the grand party thrown on the occasion of 'Republic Day'.

While I tried to focus on the speech again, a sweet voice interrupted me," Excuse me, where did you buy this flag from?" I looked up, a pretty girl in her early twenties stood in front of me. "A small girl was selling it", I said. She looked confused and puzzled."I saw her going that side," I added. "Will you please help me find her?" My bus had arrived, but I, who did not have the time to think about the wound of that little girl, could not resist the request of the beautiful lady. "OK", I answered.

For the next half an hour, I ransacked the whole market in search of a little girl for the sake of a beautiful girl. My phone was constantly ringing, my friends were waiting. The party was about to begin and all I was hoping was that I don’t find the little girl soon. (Not to mention, I was enjoying the company of an unknown pretty lady).

But all my wishes do not come true. We soon found that girl in a corner, requesting others to buy the flag in the same way she had asked me. Her toe was still bleeding and everyone seemed to ignore it in the same way I had ignored it. But the girl beside me jumped in happiness as if she had won a jackpot. She got hold of the little girl and started scolding her," Aapko kahan tha na maine kahin nahi jane ko, Samajh me nahi aati aapko koi baat?" She then snatched all the flags from her hand and told me to hold them. I obeyed her like an obedient child. She then opened her bag, took out some cotton, bandage and antiseptic and started applying them on her injured toe. Never before in my life, had I seen anyone caring for someone who according to me was actually 'no one'.

I still don’t know what Mr. Mukherjee actually meant, but what he meant was completely different from what I had perceived. And this is because I never had understood that a democracy is much more than thinking about one's own self. This beautiful girl had actually shaken my inner conscience. "Hello, what are you thinking, return the flags to her. Let’s go now and thanks a lot," the girls voice broke my hallucination. I stood their for a couple of seconds, completely lost. Then I turned to the little girl and asked,"Ye poore ka kitna logi?" "Bhaiya poore ka 110 rupaiye hote hain lekin aap ek sath loge to mai 100 me de dungi,"she replied with a smile. I searched my pocket. A last 100 rupee note was left. I gave it to the poor girl.

"What will you do with so many flags?" the beautiful girl asked me.

"A small gift for you from my side. Wish you a happy Republic day. Thank you for teaching me the real meaning of democracy....,”was my reply.