Its just a stupid creek afterall !

"Wow its gonna rain", said the girl sitting beside me. I tried to have a look outside while our professor was still trying to make a point; and guess what, it finally rained. Atleast it drizzled for sometime and we guys already had a plan, "Lets Bunk" said the one behind me."Nah, it won't last long" was the immediate reply by his partner, "Apna mumbai ka climate pata hain nah" he said and everyone stopped planning for now.
Bell rang and emotions flowed again. "Lets go trekking" said someone and everyone shouted back "Are you crazy? Its already 4 in the noon". With no intentions whatsoever i said slowly "How about going to Airoli Bridge?" I had no idea what we were gonna do there but it was atleast a better suggestion than those stupid malls and hookah parlours.
All guys looked at me and some might have thought that i was in shock after that disasterous lecture.
"Yeda ho gaya hain kya?" someone replied and then continued "Haan rey, not a bad idea!" Now everyone thought we both were in shock. With not much time to decide, we left classroom and once outside the campus, the question was thrown back again "Where to go man? " All the enthusiam killed again. "Lets go there yaar where sid suggested". That fool din't even know what the place was about.
Soon we found ourselves walking towards Airoli Bridge blessed by some little showers and a lot of traffic. "Waah what a scene man" out came a compliment which although was aimed at the place, was sought as a relief by me, as i was the one to bring them here. Once on the spot, we clicked pictures.......with all the stupid poses we could mange and ofcourse those silly body-building poses.
The scene was spectacular, Lush green marshes on both sides with a creek flowing in between, and we on the top of a bridge with no one around but only speeding cars. Clouds thundering up above and little droplets falling on our spykar jeans and nokia mobiles. "What if it rains heavily?" asked one of my friends with that usual emotionless face.We were in the middle of a long bridge with books, mobile phones and college bags and the nearest shelter was far enough to make us completely wet in case it rains heavily."Chup baith saley loss " was my answer.
We were in our own world, enjoying hell of a time and some singing those irritating bolly-songs. Guys stop before i jump off this bridge......i muttered. 'Pee-pee' came a noise from behind and a Qualis stopped next to our newly discovered katta. Out came a guy wearing a white kurta and without wasting a moment, throwed a big plastic bag over the edge into the creek. The car sped away and the singing stopped.......Silence........almost 20 secs past by.....still no jokes, no comments........Then someone came out with the line, we all must have heard a billion times " Kya Ch....tyagiri tha woh?" Atleast guys love such kind of lines.Another 20 secs .....no reply......The same guy continued, "Atleast he could have thrown that stuff without throwing the plastic bag with it".........still no comments.....Our fun seeking, adventurous bunking had suddenly turned into a round table conference. "But what was in that bag?" asked the guy who is expected to ask such stupid questions. Our group is versatile you know. "Puja ka saman" i answered.
Again silence prevailed. We all knew this senseless tradition of throwing the remains of a 'Holy Ceremony' into the flowing waters.And no one wanted to question their own traditons. "But why they throw it into the river?" asked the ignorant one again...."Its not a river you fool, its a creek" replied the smart guy with a sense of pride on his face as if he had answered the actual question. Everyone laughed. We laughed not because the river was a creek but because we wanted to get back into our 'we don't care' mood. The singing started again.......some singing...some thinking.....i wanted to do neither of them. But only if men could control their minds.........thoughts flowed in my mind....why people do this? Don't these people who travel in posh cars and who come from supposedly educated families think even for a moment before throwing that stuff into the water body? Atleast they can throw it without the plastic bag? Leave it man 'apne ko kya karna hain'?
The drizzles turned into rain and the songs changed from old hindi to new hindi pop......"Kambakth ishq" (the new one ofcourse)......I stood up and with three other guys, we started singing loudly.......some even joined in with some steps......boys will be boys.....Then came a thunder....We shouted loudly....another one.....the screaming continued. The cars moving besides us slowed down to watch our 'rain-dance'. What a time we had. Moments forever.
Then came a Black BMW. We couldn't help staring at the beauty. But this time the singing continued. The power window went down and a lady said to one of my friends "Can you please throw this?" The singing stopped. My friend looked at me. My eyes had the answer." Mam i will throw it and give you the plastic bag back" replied my friend with an unmatched pride in his voice. He knew he was doing good. Good for his country, his people..........atleast this creek. The lady smiled back and in a loving tone said "Ok beta"....'ok' was fine but 'beta' was heartbreaking.
My friend took the bag and sincerely throwed the stuff in that huge 'big bazzar's' bag into the creek. At the moment it was done, and he was about to turn back to return that plastic bag, the power window went up. Water droplets fell on those windshields.......the car sped off. The girl sitting behind, who must have been a school going child, kept looking at us till the car went far away. In her eyes i saw a feeling of guilt....a feeling which cannot be expressed. I am not a writer afterall.
With that plastic bag still in his angry hands, my friend shouted "Fuck off you bitch" and throwed it on the road. We all felt cheated. Insulted. Then came a series of bad words......boys will be boys....and one guy said, "Such people must be hanged till death".........now thats exaggeration.........but i would have said the same if not he did. I told my friend to forget it and we prepared to leave that place. Rains continued and the thundering had stopped by now. Emotions came out again "Why can't we make laws to prevent throwing plastic into Rivers?" said the guy who had not commented for long till now. I almost thought he never cared. I was glad to be wrong. The angry guy replied "Chhod yaar......Is desh ka kuch nahi ho sakhta!"........no comments now....i though for a while that he was making it personal...but he was right in many ways. If people travelling in Bmws throw their stuff into water then how can we even think of addressing the poor, the illeterate about conservation of nature? My thoughts ran helter-skhelter......i wanted to run away from those....i wanted to get back into our 'we don't care' attitude. Then without a second thought i said in a stern voice "Leave it guys, Its just a stupid creek afterall"

- siddhesh