Balloon

 

Balloon

                                 By Shabishanth Mohan

This beautiful yet mysterious world comprises of so many different human beings. Some are really intelligent, some are very good in sports, some are really good speakers and it goes on. But all these ‘‘some’’ expects love and affection from their fellow human beings no matter what is their race, religion, caste, political idea and most importantly their physical inability is. The same was expected by Vaayuputhran. Vaayu was born and brought up in deaf and dumb school, Ratmalana. But He didn’t know about his parents. For him the hostel warden is his everything. He was the brightest amongst the kids but yet he had the curiosity to meet his real parents. When he was at grade 2, the school decided to take the students to Dehiwela Zoo. The day has come and the children were so excited. They went to the Zoo and the kids enjoyed it very much. While returning to the bus Vaayu saw some balloons on the other side of the road and since he loves balloons he wanted to go and get it. After taking the roll call in the bus to check whether everyone is on board, Vaayu got down from the bus which no one noticed. He too without informing anyone ran to the other side of the road. Since they took the roll call and checked everyone, they enroute the bus to Ratmalana. Vaayu picked up the balloon; came to the other side and there was no bus. He didn’t panic but still he didn’t know what to do. That’s when a con man saw him walking by. The con man grabbed him; took him to a tea shop and bought him some food. The con man saw the balloon in his hand and asked him whether he likes balloon and Vaayu innocently said yes by his gesture. Then the con man took him to Galle face and handed over to a person and got some money and left.

Vaayu’s chapter 2 began at Galle face. The person, to whom Vaayu was handed over, looked after Vaayu really well. After few days that person changed Vaayu’s clothes and gave some balloons to his hands and hanged a board in his neck which said ‘‘I am deaf and dumb. Please buy a balloon and help me. One Balloon Rs.20 ’’ The person sent Vaayu to roam around Galle face. At first Vaayu didn’t understand what’s happening to him and he also refused to give balloons to the buyers. But after sometime he realised what’s going on and sold the balloon as he was instructed. At the end of each day Vaayu gave the money to this person and he took care of Vaayu as his child. Vaayu never bothered about his school or his friends or even his hostel warden, because he got a beautiful family at Galle face. The woman who’s selling potato chips took care of him whenever he’s hungry; the vendor who’s selling chilled water and soft drinks took care of him whenever he’s thirsty; the famous ‘naana kade’ staffs; ‘isso wada’ sellers; toy sellers etc., almost everyone at Galle face took good care of Vaayu and treated him like their child. Whenever there’s a huge crowd or something big happening in Galle face, all these people have a good dinner and celebrate it like nothing and whenever there’s a lesser crowd or no crowd at all, these people literally provide their small savings to get some food to all. Vaayu at one point thought that this is what he wanted all of his life. There’s no bed, no education, no timetables but there’s so much love and affection towards one another just like how a ‘family’ used to be. There’s a famous saying ‘Nothing is permanent in this world’ and Vaayu is not an exception to this saying. Vaayu and other vendors and sellers started realising that the crowd in Galle face has begun to decline. The other vendors asked Vaayu to stay at Galle face itself and went to find a better place to settle and sell their items. That’s when the pandemic broke into Sri Lanka and an island wide curfew was imposed.

Vaayu’s final chapter has begun. Vaayu was waiting for the people who went out, but he couldn’t see anyone or rather any vehicle travelling towards Galle face. He was afraid to move out his shelter. So there’s him, and the beach all alone. He needed love and affection at the start but now all he need is food. He drank water from the taps. But all he need is something to eat. He saw people coming to feed the dogs in Galle face. So he went to them and asked for food, but they didn’t have enough food at hand. So they provided the food which they brought to feed the dogs. Hunger overcomes everything that you believe in life as precious. Vaayu ate the food which was brought for dogs. He waited for them to come again and give him any sort of food, but that’s when the government strictly regulated and imposed curfew all around the island. ‘‘One sector of people’’, if they doesn’t have food will become more violent and fight against the anarchy and ‘‘others’’ just stare at the beach and think why all of this is happening to them. In this case Vaayu is no one but ‘‘others’’. He has no clue what’s happening to him and he was just waiting for a miracle to happen. Days without food; the blazing sun; the heat; no soul to take care of him, Vaayu wished for a miracle instead he went through the worst days in his life. But Vaayu still believed that something will happen to relieve him from this pain and frustration. And as he wished the day has arrived. Vaayu always wanted to go near that bridge in Galle face and see the sunrise. He doesn’t have any energy in his body; after all he’s just an 11 year old kid. He struggled to walk towards the bridge but somehow made it. It was 6.31 a.m., the world woke up to that beautiful sunrise and a beautiful soul relieved from all of his pain and became the brightest star. A balloon changed his destiny!

But we can be the balloons that bring joy and happiness to these people who’re suffering to survive. Life is a like a balloon; you must put something into it to get the best possible results. So therefore, let’s bring the best possible results to those who need the most and let’s change their destiny!