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And years later, there you are, standing in the crowd,

when the cry of a woman being beaten pierces through the air,

and does something to your heart, dragging you back

to the very first day you witnessed the violence of this world.

Glancing at yourself in the mirrors of passing shops,

you wonder - Who have I grown up to be?

Who is this person staring back at me?

And then suddenly, you are on the road again.

A bus is charging toward you, its horn slicing the air,

and for a moment, something in you whispers,

Stay. Let it end here. Let it crush you,

and finish this misery once and for all.

But then—you remember you're already late for work.

What you earn today will only be enough to keep you alive for another day.

So you push your legs to move.

Outside the office, a child selling pens stops you.

"Didi, take just one."

But when you check your pocket, there isn’t even a single penny to give.

Life has a way of limiting you, controlling your actions

in ways you can’t even blame it for.

You can’t buy a single pen for a hungry child,

when you’re struggling to hold your own life together.

And a voice inside you screams—

What are you doing? Who are you?

You don’t deserve to live. You should have come under that bus.

And then— a softer memory surfaces.

Your mother, getting you ready for school,

telling you gently, "No matter how hard it gets,

never forget to be kind— to yourself, and to others.

Because kindness is the least anyone deserves."

That night, you return home.

You wander the terrace restlessly and find a kitten—

its tiny body beaten, bloodied.

It takes you back, to the day your father beat you

for failing to live up to his expectations.

You remember how this very kitten once roamed freely,

chasing sunlight, playing with her mother.

And then one day, she grew up and left— just like we all do.

But when she came back, her home was gone.

And the world had done this to her.

So you sit there, staring at the trembling creature,

weeping for her wounds, weeping for your own.

This is your life— a constant struggle

between the want to live and the need to die,

where every day you drag yourself forward

beneath the unbearable heaviness of simply existing.