Empathy

When I see someone being scolded, Reprimanded or rebuked for any reason or none, For any guilt proved, unproved or even disproved, I as an onlooker silently empathize with the person And scold myself for not rising to the occasion And save him from the ignominy. An imaginary picture appears in my vision, That of his mother in a distant corner of the world Busy with her usual daily chores. I imagine an unseen Bell tolls in her heart while her child faces the ordeal. She moves about restlessly in apprehension of a danger. Instantly I empathize with her too, as I imagine her pain That would torment her seeing her child's predicaments. Dhaka 14 March 2019