It was an open court. In a garden!
The pedestal had the judge’s elaborate chair and desk. On either side of the pedestal were the docks – one for the guilty and the other for witnesses. They were decorated with flowers and balloons.
It seemed strange at first – but then, I eased into this new setting.
The Judge looked really sad. He kept demanding for Tea and his helper kept giving him Juice. But the Judge didn’t seem to lose his cool, instead he patiently drank the juice at all times.
I was defending the guilty. His crime was that he had threatened his family members with dire consequences due to an alleged affair between his nephew and some girl. The guilty was a popular middle-aged actor from TV sitcoms. This actor threatened me too – “If you don’t win this case, you’ll pay for it”. Gulp!
The nephew and girl in consideration were sitting in the 'garden court' too. They seemed surprisingly at ease. They were sitting on the floor and sharing a tub of popcorn – without a single worry about the case. They were extremely friendly with me too indulging in a lot of small talk regarding the weather, recent movies, etc.
The court was packed with at least 100-120 people. They all seemed to be patiently waiting for proceedings to start. They didn’t even talk much. Some of them were knitting sweaters.
The girl’s family came by and sat behind me. I wondered why, though. Shouldn’t they be sitting next to their lawyer? I glanced around on the other side of the table and found my rival. She was my colleague from my work place. This was a surprise! How could the same company defend both parties? And why didn’t I know about this earlier? But good – maybe she could help me with a few sections to win this case. Ha!
And then suddenly, the strangest bit of this whole situation hit me…. I wasn’t a lawyer!
Terrible fear gripped me. I felt numb. I couldn’t feel my fingers. My eyes seemed to bulge out. How on earth am I going to fight this case, let alone win it!!! And I reached out for my water bottle. Water would surely help calm my nerves. I drank it all in one big gulp.
The actor came by with his big long glittering entourage and announced he’d be back after having breakfast. He left. I was appalled. How could he disrespect the Law and the Judge? But the others didn’t seem to mind. The judge ordered another cup of tea and got juice, the couple continued eating the popcorn, the relatives started cutting vegetables to save time and the crowd sat through patiently.
I thought I might as well eat something till my client returns. I opened the lunch box my mother had packed for me ever so lovingly. There was a single tomato in it. Huh?! Mom packed a tomato?? Well, what could I do?! I ate it anyway.
My mouth was stuffed with the tomato. The more I ate it, the more difficult it got for me to gulp it down. I couldn’t feel my tongue. I couldn’t breathe. My mouth was swollen. I felt like vomiting but I couldn’t. What was happening? I was gasping for breath. I looked around frantically for help but no one even seemed to notice my emergency.
But I heard someone calling out to me loudly and saying something to me. I kept looking around with the demonic tomato in my mouth. I couldn’t see anyone but the voice got louder every 2 minutes.
Suddenly, I could hear it all too well! Crystal clear!
“Wake up now. It’s already 8am. You are going to be terribly late for work today, sleepyhead!!!”
The pedestal had the judge’s elaborate chair and desk. On either side of the pedestal were the docks – one for the guilty and the other for witnesses. They were decorated with flowers and balloons.
It seemed strange at first – but then, I eased into this new setting.
The Judge looked really sad. He kept demanding for Tea and his helper kept giving him Juice. But the Judge didn’t seem to lose his cool, instead he patiently drank the juice at all times.
I was defending the guilty. His crime was that he had threatened his family members with dire consequences due to an alleged affair between his nephew and some girl. The guilty was a popular middle-aged actor from TV sitcoms. This actor threatened me too – “If you don’t win this case, you’ll pay for it”. Gulp!
The nephew and girl in consideration were sitting in the 'garden court' too. They seemed surprisingly at ease. They were sitting on the floor and sharing a tub of popcorn – without a single worry about the case. They were extremely friendly with me too indulging in a lot of small talk regarding the weather, recent movies, etc.
The court was packed with at least 100-120 people. They all seemed to be patiently waiting for proceedings to start. They didn’t even talk much. Some of them were knitting sweaters.
The girl’s family came by and sat behind me. I wondered why, though. Shouldn’t they be sitting next to their lawyer? I glanced around on the other side of the table and found my rival. She was my colleague from my work place. This was a surprise! How could the same company defend both parties? And why didn’t I know about this earlier? But good – maybe she could help me with a few sections to win this case. Ha!
And then suddenly, the strangest bit of this whole situation hit me…. I wasn’t a lawyer!
Terrible fear gripped me. I felt numb. I couldn’t feel my fingers. My eyes seemed to bulge out. How on earth am I going to fight this case, let alone win it!!! And I reached out for my water bottle. Water would surely help calm my nerves. I drank it all in one big gulp.
The actor came by with his big long glittering entourage and announced he’d be back after having breakfast. He left. I was appalled. How could he disrespect the Law and the Judge? But the others didn’t seem to mind. The judge ordered another cup of tea and got juice, the couple continued eating the popcorn, the relatives started cutting vegetables to save time and the crowd sat through patiently.
I thought I might as well eat something till my client returns. I opened the lunch box my mother had packed for me ever so lovingly. There was a single tomato in it. Huh?! Mom packed a tomato?? Well, what could I do?! I ate it anyway.
My mouth was stuffed with the tomato. The more I ate it, the more difficult it got for me to gulp it down. I couldn’t feel my tongue. I couldn’t breathe. My mouth was swollen. I felt like vomiting but I couldn’t. What was happening? I was gasping for breath. I looked around frantically for help but no one even seemed to notice my emergency.
But I heard someone calling out to me loudly and saying something to me. I kept looking around with the demonic tomato in my mouth. I couldn’t see anyone but the voice got louder every 2 minutes.
Suddenly, I could hear it all too well! Crystal clear!
“Wake up now. It’s already 8am. You are going to be terribly late for work today, sleepyhead!!!”
