I give complete credit of this story to my friend who shared this story with me and i share it with you
As I stepped out of Bus 67 in Roseggerhaus, and walked towards my tram stop, I felt something poking around my feet, and how much ever I was moving to avoid it, it kept coming at me and swinging wild. looking back, it was the white cane of a blind lady. Making her way, feeling for obstacles and immediately my heart just went out at her. She stood to cross the road and felt the Signal post, cocking her ears for the ticking sound of the "Walking Green" symbol. I kept observing her. When the ticking started, she just set off feeling her way and well she was rather away from the zebra lines and the slight bumps on the road caused the white cane to jerk here and there and even then she kept going. I could not bear the sight and I just grabbed her arm and guided her. Not a sound was uttered, and as we reached the end of the road, I let go of her arm. Immediately she started feeling her way around and nearly bumped into the shop's door. finally she stationed herself on the side of the road and kept her white cane in between her legs so as not to cause a nuisance to others. She heard the sound of the tram rumbling and promptly a nice blond lady asked her where she wanted to go, and it was understood this was the tram. She just walked straight to the tram, feeling for the open doors, and this was the same tram I was boardin. Tram 7 to St. Leonhard, and again I grabbed her arm and guided her to the door of the tram and sat her in an empty seat. She was respectful in not being a nuisance to anyone and sunk as far back in the seat as she could and kept the stick out of the way and held it vertically. The tram rumbled on, through the beautiful narrow streets of Graz, and over the River Mur. I could occasionally see the lady take her phone out and press some button and hold it to her ear. Apparently it told her the time! A few moments, I felt she was staring right at me, but on a deeper retrospection, it was blank. For those eyes, only black emptiness was visible.
We reached Hauptplatz, the main square in Graz. Two policewomen barged in holding a howling lady. Immediately I noticed the blind lady's face crinkle with confusion. Her tough luck, the howling lady sat right opposite her and was screaming madly in the tram. She was being confronted by the policewoman, and she was hurling abuses at the policewomen. The policewomen were gentle and calm, but this bitch of a lady was screaming and shouting and what not. Insane! The whole tram was ricocheting her raucous shouting... Slowly I looked at the blind lady.. and she cowering in fear. All she could hear was abuses and wild screaming sounds right next to her. I saw her gripping her cane, and her face becoming remorse with fear and confusion. She was sinking further and further into her seat in utter confusion not knowing what to do and clueless. I saw her twitching her legs and twisting the cane and shortening the cane to a small length and grabbing it hard. Wonder if it was for self defense or whether she was afraid if the bitch would grab the stick away.. She almost looked like on the verge of breaking down, her face turning beet. It was a painful sight, and her mouth was open in a silent scream. As we reached jakominiplatz, the policewomen had radioed for help and two policemen alighted the tram requesting the tram driver to open the doors before the stop. Seeing the men, the howling lady quietened and succumbed to the policemen's request and they took her away out of the tram and onto the streets.
It brought such a huge smile seeing the expression of the blind lady. A sigh, a perfect sigh of relief! Exhaling all the pent up fear, she drew out the cane to its full length, and at this instance, a lady brought in her baby in a pram. A beautiful baby in a red pram and the baby all decked up in the most brightest of colours and gugrling with laughter. Coincidentally, the baby was also right next to the blind lady. A smile broke on the blind lady's face hearing the laughter of the baby, and she reached out her hand a bit. The mother of the baby saw this, and she held the blind lady's hand and brought it to touch the baby's face. Tears welled in those eyes... it was an emotional outburst after all the chaos, to feel the beautiful baby's softness and the gurgle of laughter. "Nächste Haltestelle: Maiffredygasse" (next stop, maiffredygasse) blared out from the Tram's intercom. The blind lady stood up to step out of the tram. The baby's mother helped her to the door. She unleashed her white cane, and went on. the baby kept gurgling and making sounds, and the mother affectionately watched over him. I was just thinking about the events that unfolded over the past 10 minutes. It felt weird. A comparison of how my world, and how the blind lady's world was. I was feeling amazed at the boldness of the blind lady. I could not imagine myself in darkness, and how i would get around. I really do not know how to end the story. But this is all I had to write.
Happened on November 29, 2011, Graz, Austria.
:)
Anand Jayadevan
As I stepped out of Bus 67 in Roseggerhaus, and walked towards my tram stop, I felt something poking around my feet, and how much ever I was moving to avoid it, it kept coming at me and swinging wild. looking back, it was the white cane of a blind lady. Making her way, feeling for obstacles and immediately my heart just went out at her. She stood to cross the road and felt the Signal post, cocking her ears for the ticking sound of the "Walking Green" symbol. I kept observing her. When the ticking started, she just set off feeling her way and well she was rather away from the zebra lines and the slight bumps on the road caused the white cane to jerk here and there and even then she kept going. I could not bear the sight and I just grabbed her arm and guided her. Not a sound was uttered, and as we reached the end of the road, I let go of her arm. Immediately she started feeling her way around and nearly bumped into the shop's door. finally she stationed herself on the side of the road and kept her white cane in between her legs so as not to cause a nuisance to others. She heard the sound of the tram rumbling and promptly a nice blond lady asked her where she wanted to go, and it was understood this was the tram. She just walked straight to the tram, feeling for the open doors, and this was the same tram I was boardin. Tram 7 to St. Leonhard, and again I grabbed her arm and guided her to the door of the tram and sat her in an empty seat. She was respectful in not being a nuisance to anyone and sunk as far back in the seat as she could and kept the stick out of the way and held it vertically. The tram rumbled on, through the beautiful narrow streets of Graz, and over the River Mur. I could occasionally see the lady take her phone out and press some button and hold it to her ear. Apparently it told her the time! A few moments, I felt she was staring right at me, but on a deeper retrospection, it was blank. For those eyes, only black emptiness was visible.
We reached Hauptplatz, the main square in Graz. Two policewomen barged in holding a howling lady. Immediately I noticed the blind lady's face crinkle with confusion. Her tough luck, the howling lady sat right opposite her and was screaming madly in the tram. She was being confronted by the policewoman, and she was hurling abuses at the policewomen. The policewomen were gentle and calm, but this bitch of a lady was screaming and shouting and what not. Insane! The whole tram was ricocheting her raucous shouting... Slowly I looked at the blind lady.. and she cowering in fear. All she could hear was abuses and wild screaming sounds right next to her. I saw her gripping her cane, and her face becoming remorse with fear and confusion. She was sinking further and further into her seat in utter confusion not knowing what to do and clueless. I saw her twitching her legs and twisting the cane and shortening the cane to a small length and grabbing it hard. Wonder if it was for self defense or whether she was afraid if the bitch would grab the stick away.. She almost looked like on the verge of breaking down, her face turning beet. It was a painful sight, and her mouth was open in a silent scream. As we reached jakominiplatz, the policewomen had radioed for help and two policemen alighted the tram requesting the tram driver to open the doors before the stop. Seeing the men, the howling lady quietened and succumbed to the policemen's request and they took her away out of the tram and onto the streets.
It brought such a huge smile seeing the expression of the blind lady. A sigh, a perfect sigh of relief! Exhaling all the pent up fear, she drew out the cane to its full length, and at this instance, a lady brought in her baby in a pram. A beautiful baby in a red pram and the baby all decked up in the most brightest of colours and gugrling with laughter. Coincidentally, the baby was also right next to the blind lady. A smile broke on the blind lady's face hearing the laughter of the baby, and she reached out her hand a bit. The mother of the baby saw this, and she held the blind lady's hand and brought it to touch the baby's face. Tears welled in those eyes... it was an emotional outburst after all the chaos, to feel the beautiful baby's softness and the gurgle of laughter. "Nächste Haltestelle: Maiffredygasse" (next stop, maiffredygasse) blared out from the Tram's intercom. The blind lady stood up to step out of the tram. The baby's mother helped her to the door. She unleashed her white cane, and went on. the baby kept gurgling and making sounds, and the mother affectionately watched over him. I was just thinking about the events that unfolded over the past 10 minutes. It felt weird. A comparison of how my world, and how the blind lady's world was. I was feeling amazed at the boldness of the blind lady. I could not imagine myself in darkness, and how i would get around. I really do not know how to end the story. But this is all I had to write.
Happened on November 29, 2011, Graz, Austria.
:)
Anand Jayadevan
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