It is irritating when a group of young male adults sitting near you start talking in a foreign language. They do not only talk but giggle, joked and make funny faces; in a fashion that you can guess they were dishonouring another person from their gestures and tone of voice. The question is who were they teasing?
Since you couldn’t understand a word they colourfully expressed and being the only person within their target area, you feel threatened. At that point of time you wish that English wasn’t the only language you spoke in an Asian country.
I know it is unfair for me to judge the three boys and conclude that they were gossiping about me in an unknown tongue. I should perhaps blame in on the fact that I didn’t learn their language well at school.
But then they were looking at me with such disturbing eyes and the smirk on their faces told everything about their speech. Maybe they didn’t like my “Superman” logo t-shirt.
Furthermore when someone is talking about you, the little voice in your heart buzzes your senses. You just know it. Has it not happened to you before?
What else could I do but to play dumb?
I continued reading for the rest of the journey. However I was deviously watching their reflections from the window. I couldn’t see very much but they didn’t stop their pranks for one second. The chubby boy kept pushing his skinny friend’s head or performing other childish acts. The nerdy-looking boy was trying hard to keep-up with his friends’ domineering actions. One could tell that he was slower.
Although I found them annoying at the beginning, after observing their silly mimics and foolish chatters, they were only having fun.
We arrived at the station. I stepped out of the train as fast as I could. There was a short set of steps leading from the platform to the turnstile where we lodge our tickets.
As I took the last step I heard their laughter and turned to look. That was when I realized the nerdy-looking boy was a polio victim. His legs were incredibly thin and his feet curved in. From the back, his pair of legs seemed like twisted wires. He had troubles walking. Each step he took, his entire hip swayed either to the left or right. To keep balanced, both his hands have to be extended out to the side.
He was standing at the top of the steps and there was no way he could descend without falling over. The chubby friend spontaneously gave him a helping hand and with ease, the two friends walked pass me.
I smiled. It was a beautiful night and a magical moment.
