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What Goes Around                                    are just kidding and having harmless fun.”

                                                                                       Red  with  anger,  Arun  yelled,  “You  should  be  ashamed  of  yourself  for
                                                                                       misbehaving with decent ladies.”
              It was eleven at night. Arun, along with his friends, was having fun in a
                                                                                       “Decent ladies do not venture out at this time of night,” the goons snorted.
              fashionable  area  of  Bangalore.  Suddenly  they  heard  a  girl's  scream. They
              turned and saw that some goons were misbehaving with a girl. Arun's friends   “They are my sisters”, roared Arun.
              said that they should help her. Arun laughed and said, “Leave it. A decent girl   “Why are you lying man? Are they sisters or mashookas (lady loves)?” Saying
              should not be in this place at this time of night. She must be a loose woman.”   this one of the goons got hold of Arun's sister's hand and started pulling her.

              “But she is in trouble. We can be judgmental later,” one of the friends insisted.   His accomplices were enjoying the scene whole-heartedly. Arun was looking
              They heard the scream getting louder and the sound of scuffle.           around…he was quite helpless. There were many spectators but no Good
                                                                                       Samaritan.  Arun  and  his  younger  brother  shouted  and  pleaded  for  help.
              “O…ho…, so you want to be a hero!” Arun taunted in a jeering tone.
                                                                                       Nobody dared to deal with the goons. The goons dragged one girl into their
              The boys looked at one another uncomfortably. They wanted to help, but   car and drove off. Humiliated and hurt, Arun dropped others at home. He
              Arun didn't want to spoil the good time he was having. Subconsciously, he   went to the police station and filed an FIR. The whole family was angry and
              wanted to avoid any fight and get his formal clothes being damaged. So he   depressed but there was nothing they could do but painfully wait for the police
              persuades his friends to leave the marketplace, saying, “Look, those ruffians   to take action. Arun's mind was filled with guilt and remorse. His sister was
              may have knives or any other weapon. No need to get embroiled in fights or   suffering for his lack of empathy for others. Again and again he was thinking
              any trouble.”                                                            about the girl he didn't help. “When we don't help anyone in need, nobody

              Reluctantly,  his  friends  agreed  and  they  left.  Next  day  an  incident  of   will help us in our bad times, my sister is being punished for my sins,” was the
              molestation and rape of a girl by goons was published in the newspaper. Arun   nagging thought in his mind. Whatever happened afterwards is immaterial.
              saw that, shrugged his shoulders and turned the page indifferently.      Even if the girl comes back, her life would be traumatic. Bad times can befall
                                                                                       anyone. Today it's you, tomorrow it could be I. What goes around comes
              Almost  a  year  passed.  Arun's  friend,  initially,  after  seeing  the  news  of
                                                                                       around. Never shirk your duty.
              molestation, had felt guilty but now a lot of water had flowed under the
              bridge.  They  forgot  all  about  that  unpleasant  event.  It  was  summer  in
              Bangalore. Arun had some guests from Uttar Pradesh – some close relatives.
              After dinner, all family members planned to go out for ice cream. They all had
              a good fun and enjoyed the outing. It was late and elders wanted to go home.
              The youngsters wanted to continue the party. So the elderly people left for                    ~ Sudha Dixit ~
              home. Youngsters stayed there for a little more time. Suddenly, some antisocial
              elements came and started misbehaving with the girls. Arun lost his temper
              and shouted, “You rascals!”

              The miscreants laughed and said, “Arre, why are you getting worked up? We


 40 | Dr. K.C. Sethi & Sunita Sethi                                                                                                         Never Cease to Amaze | 41
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