A Friend in Need Is Friend Indeed - Essay Example

John and Akbar had been working together in NGO for past one year or so. They had been employed in the mountainous area of Pakistan where earth quakestruck in 2005. The area had picturesque surrounding laden with green top mountains, streams flowing through them and a curling track moving up the mountains, as if a big snake has surrounded the mountain in a big hug. One cannot escape the aura of the beauty which only "Nature" has the ability to produce. The difference what John could see between the "Nature's" work back at home in Switzerland and here was the ability to be as destructive as it was constructive. The earthquake had shaken the entire area. Broken houses and schools, gaping cracks in the land, blocked tracks with land slide and the stench of human flesh when you pass through an area, where there "used to be" a settlement, were the sights which had for the time being overpowered the beauty of the Nature. During John's initial deployment, while driving through the area seeing dead bodies of men, women and children, half visible and half buried in the debris of the accommodation, which they once thought to protect them from the hazards of weather, were a common site. John could not realize the beauty of the area due to these gory sights for almost six months. Then he was provided with an assistant Akbar. He was a local lad. 30 years of age, 5 ft 7, thin built, fair complexion and a sea of wretchedness in his eyes. Eyes do really say a lot. It was as if there had also been an earth quake in the eyes of Akbar which demolished all the foundations on which the palace of hope of better life is built. John noticed that his eyes only sparkle when they suddenly starts getting wet, sometimes talking with him and at times just sitting beside him looking around when they were driving through the area. John was sure that Akbar was the one whose life had been permanently and irreversibly shaken by the earth quake almost a year back. John was not sure how many times he wanted to ask about the back ground of Akbar. There were many questions keep coming to his mind. Did Akbar lose his loved ones in the earthquake How he thinks about the life now How he is managing his shock Does he require help Was there any way John can help him Was there any way he can bring back the sparkle in his eyes which was a common thing in any one's eyes who longs for life There seem to be thousands of more questions coming in the mind of John. All these questions keep on resonating in his mind, urging him to inquire, pressing him, teasing him and always making him feel as if his mind is occupied. Initially they come one by one, one question leading to another then another then another but soon their speed increase and they follow with such speed that John loose their comprehension and then they all merge into one big question "Should John ask Akbar about his past" Always there used to be two answers, one part of John saying "Yes" because Akbar was his partner and knowing his past was his moral obligation. The other part saying "No" as it will remind Akbar about his grief, increasing the dampness and quietness in his eyes and character. Which part to hear And which part was right Was not yet decided by John. On 20 April 2007, John along with Akbar was moving in the area on a jeep. It had just stopped raining. Both were sitting quietly. John was driving and enjoying the local beauty, it seemed that entire area had taken a bath and was looking fresh and pompous. While moving on the track, on one side were the mountain and the other 20 feet down below a stream flowing. The noise of stream could be heard as soon as the rain stopped as if it was requesting the clouds to give more of its basic ingredient. Every now and then the rain starts pouring down heavily (as if fulfilling the request of stream) and making sound on the roof of the jeep to an extent that John and Akbar could not talk, if at all they tried. But Akbar was not at all interested in talking as always. Giving short and crisp answers to any inquiry made by John. As they were about to reach the village where they were destined to, they came across a truck loaded with women and children. John kept on trying to pass them but was unable to do that as the track had become slushy and was too narrow. Moreover, truck was so overloaded John did not want to panic its driver and endanger the lives of women and children on the truck. Therefore he decided that he will only follow the truck even if he had to do it till they reach their destination. After almost half an hour of following when they entered the premises of the village, suddenly John felt that his vehicle started to move towards the side of the stream, which was flowing at the dept of 20 feet, and he was not in control of it. They felt that small rocks from the mountain on their left had started coming down and striking their jeep. John with all his might turned the wheel towards the mountain. Getting banged in the mountain definitely had a better chance to survive than falling in the ravine on the other side where the jeep was heading. The jeep swayed, screeched and banged into the mountain. First time Akbar shouted, "Its earth quake, hurry! Get out of the vehicle." John shocked by the situation as much as the agility of Akbar in the situation moved out of the vehicle. He saw Akbar running towards the village. John thought why he had got hell scared After all, it was just a minor quake and was over by the time they were out of the vehicle. Suddenly John realized that Akbar was not "hell scared" but was more cognizant of the situation than him. The truck which was ahead of their jeep had met the similar fate as that of their jeep, fumes were coming out of its engine, few children and women fell out of the truck and driver was unconscious. Akbar reached there like a flash, took out the driver and laid him at safe distance and starting helping the children and women to move away from the truck. John joined him and started to help him in his work. John realized that Akbar had taken over the authority, ordering John shouting at people passing them instructions. As soon as last individual was away from the truck John took sigh of relief. He looked around and saw Akbar missing. Suddenly he heard him shouting his name. He looked in the direction and saw Akbar struggling to remove the debris of a small wooden house about hundred meters above the slope of the hill. John was astonished to see that how he managed to reach there so soon and from where Akbar is driving his energy from. John had not seen him acting with such astounding zeal and energy in their one year association. John started to move towards the house. By the time he reached there Akbar had almost removed the entire debris of the house and was struggling to lift a heavy log. John realized that there was a man under the log who was holding the log with his back so that it should not fall on his six month old son. How long he could've done that is any one's guess. John and Akbar helped to lift the log and take the man and child out. When they finished the task John was filled with sense of achievement and relief which he had never experienced in his life. He looked for Akbar and saw him sitting on a big boulder. Quiet as ever. John walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder in appreciation of his presence of mind, agility and devotion. He turned towards him and with his watery eyes gave him the saddest smile ever seen by John and said "there was no Akbar and John in my village one year back" John felt hairs of his neck standing and eyes getting as watery as Akbar, or were they wet even more than Akbar's Read More