A Second Chance

2007…
There he was, a smart young fellow of 27, earning a decent five figure salary in a FMCG company. He was a happy guy, wife, two kids (twins). A typical normal middle class family with hopes and dreams of making it big. A small happy family.

Then it all came down as the hard raindrops in a thundershower. The glass of reality shattered their existence. It was but over. But what happened?

He lost his job. He was fired on the spot. Why?
One reason: He had been to prison. He pleaded with all his managers. He had realized the sins that he had committed and he had been punished for the same. He said that he had turned over a new leaf since then. No one believed him. Why??? He was lost. He didn’t know what to do.

He left the company and slowly walked home. What was happening to him? He was very depressed and distressed. Hadn’t he been punished enough for his sins? Hadn’t five years been enough? Five years for what?

2000… His Story
I had fallen into bad company. Well actually to me it wasn’t all that bad a company though everyone around me told so. We were having fun and enjoying life. Gradually we began to realize that the fun part was getting really expensive. We were running out of money…and fast. We couldn't ask our parents too much more. I was still twenty with a billion dreams and aspirations in my head. J insisted that to get to our dreams we shouldn’t give up on our lifestyles. So what do we do? M suggested that we rob the newly opened bank and diamond store ZZZ.

Well. To be frank, we found it to be really funny. A big Joke but, as we thought more about it, we realized that this was the only way. Hard work took ages to provide fruits of success.
So we decided to rob the store. We chuckled to ourselves the concept of having a diamond store and a bank at the same location. More loot for us at one shot, we thought.

The plan was laid out for a day where there would be visibly less crowd, sometime mid month. We were 8 guys. The plan was laid out like this:
2 to rob the diamonds' section, 3 to rob the bank, one of whom was to hold the manager hostage, one lookout if anything went wrong and two guys in separate vehicles for the getaway.

And there we went….

It was a lazy Thursday afternoon. We arrived on schedule. Before you knew it, we had the whole situation in our hands. Everyone co-operated beautifully. Everything was going on great. We got the loot of diamonds and cash. Millions worth. Whoa! we were rich.

We were so happy that we made one crucial mistake. We forgot our hostage. Fifteen minutes was all we got of enjoying ourselves like one of the TV shows when suddenly the screen went blank.
Our tyres burst at a spike strip and before we could gain control, twenty police vehicles surrounded us. We were hauled up and taken away. In an instant, everything was gone. From Dawn to dusk, as they say, it was all over.

I spent five years behind bars. My original sentence of seven was reduced to five due to good behavior and I was released on Independence Day. The prison sentence had done its work. I didn’t want to go back. I decided to reform myself. Enough was enough. In the next few months, I got myself a decent job, got married as well. Atleast I hoped that a family would ensure that I didn’t stray again, no matter what.

The following year we were blessed with twins. Everything seemed to go so well. And then this happened.

2007…

Well isn’t the prison system designed to reform… Well then why don’t people accept it? If someone has been to prison, does that mean he is a criminal for life? Our hero continued his walk home. He didn’t know what else to do. Why didn’t anyone believe that he had reformed? He had a family for god’s sake!!! And the worse part is that there was nothing wrong in his job. He had done everything efficiently enough, even better than most people. A promotion was replaced by a dismissal. For what?

Thoughts of suicide entered his mind. But no!!! What would happen to his family? He decided that he would not give up. It wont be easy but he decided to keep trying. He got home and told the news to his wife. She was very supportive and encouraged him to go on trying. And so he kept on trying….

-------------------------------------Author’s Footnote-----------------------------------

The prison system everywhere is designed for reform. Then why is society so intent on not accepting a reformed ex-convict. Justice must be done. These people must be given a chance. Would you… yes you…not give your kids or loved ones another chance when they did something wrong? Then why not these people. A chance is what most of them ask for and a chance is what I think they need, nay, deserve in order to excel. Let us give them that much atleast.