Author: Burhanuddin Mhowwala, Class VII A
Disclaimer: The first paragraph is a figment of imagination, and the rest is based on facts.
In my school I was a junior lab assistant and one day a careless mistake by me led to a few drops of H₂SO₄ dropping on a wooden table. It instantly turned black and what it left was just charred carbon.
H₂SO₄ means acid. What comes to your mind when you hear acid: most likely corrosive, dangerous and painful burns.
Right then I had a thought which sent a shiver down my spine, what happens when those drops hit the skin? What pain the person must feel when it hits their skin, knowing what it will do to their face. Imagine all your life memories stored in a device and it falls off, what happens? I am asking what must have happened, everything in it gone and now you don’t know if it can be recovered, the acid attack has no comparison but it does exactly the same and erases the identity with little scope of recovery. An act done in seconds leaves an imprint like the Apollo 11 bootprints left on the moon.
The pain, I remember once I burned my hand. The pain lasted for a few days and it was unbearable. It did get healed but left a scar. Now imagine the aftermath for an acid attack survivor, it will remain for many days with treatment going on and on, after the treatment only the physical pain is healed to say the least. Psychological pain and trauma remain for decades after. The burn may heal but scars have remained.
Each day becomes a new challenge and acceptance takes time. It gets difficult to accept for no fault the suffering is put upon them. The memories flood back and numb the brain. All this just because of rejecting someone or asking for a divorce, or over a property or for someone wanting to rob you or jealousy. How heinous crimes take place to satisfy ego or just demons of revenge!
An Acid Attack hero, yes hero and not victim. Her relatives and friends distanced themselves from her after the attack but she said and I quote “He changed my face not my heart. He threw acid on my face, not my dreams.”
Their scars are not the end of a story but a mere punctuation.
The attacks don’t make them less beautiful but make their story harder to ignore.
