The Cold...
Lucknow: The boy watched the young man get into the taxi. The man looked somewhere around 25-26, looked like he was from a rich family and yet and yet, that man had come forward to ask. The boy wondered why?
I was making an unplanned visit to my hometown, somehow managing two days off in the middle of the week ( hey that's difficult for a person working in a private company!). Its a proper chilly November night of Lucknow- one that always leaves you wondering: 'should have worn one more sweater! So now my train reaches at around 3am, leaving me to wait for a pre-booked taxi that somehow wandered off with another passenger.
So the scenario is like this: I am waiting on the deserted, foggy road, my teeth chattering and no sign of the godforsaken taxi. So my dear old mind starts looking for something to distract myself from the cold. It is then when I chance upon this boy, sitting on the curb, counting some money.
Now this boy(somewhere around 14-15, maybe smaller) is sitting counting his riches. He is wearing just a thin t-shirt and a half torn lower and a filthy piece of hanky tied around his neck. Now remember, 25 year me is freezing out there and this little boy is sitting, oblivious to the cold weather.
So I reach out to him and somehow, shaking with cold while I do so, ask, "bhai thand nahi lag rhi tumhe?" The young boy, annoyed on being disturbed, innocently says,"bhaiya tension na lo,itne paise nahi mere pass Ki thand lage."
Stunned, flummoxed, astounded are some words that would have done justice to my state of mind at that moment. They however didn't. I stood there, colour filling my cheeks-wondering what to wonder! Here is me- all reebok clima cool and all, still feeling cold, and here is this young boy-not feeling cold because he cant afford to! I felt helpless, knowing that anything I do will not help this boy- no amount of money that I will give/no gyan that I can extend to him- will take him out of this 'mess'. Only that boy could and somehow I think he would. My taxi arrived- I left, not shooting a look back- afraid that my conscious will not allow me to sleep if I look at that boy again.
The boy stood up- looked at the man boarding the taxi. He had seen a number of people like this man- sometimes giving out hundreds of rupees, taking pity. They never understood one thing- he didn't need the money, people like him never do. They just need a helping hand.
I was making an unplanned visit to my hometown, somehow managing two days off in the middle of the week ( hey that's difficult for a person working in a private company!). Its a proper chilly November night of Lucknow- one that always leaves you wondering: 'should have worn one more sweater! So now my train reaches at around 3am, leaving me to wait for a pre-booked taxi that somehow wandered off with another passenger.
So the scenario is like this: I am waiting on the deserted, foggy road, my teeth chattering and no sign of the godforsaken taxi. So my dear old mind starts looking for something to distract myself from the cold. It is then when I chance upon this boy, sitting on the curb, counting some money.
Now this boy(somewhere around 14-15, maybe smaller) is sitting counting his riches. He is wearing just a thin t-shirt and a half torn lower and a filthy piece of hanky tied around his neck. Now remember, 25 year me is freezing out there and this little boy is sitting, oblivious to the cold weather.
So I reach out to him and somehow, shaking with cold while I do so, ask, "bhai thand nahi lag rhi tumhe?" The young boy, annoyed on being disturbed, innocently says,"bhaiya tension na lo,itne paise nahi mere pass Ki thand lage."
Stunned, flummoxed, astounded are some words that would have done justice to my state of mind at that moment. They however didn't. I stood there, colour filling my cheeks-wondering what to wonder! Here is me- all reebok clima cool and all, still feeling cold, and here is this young boy-not feeling cold because he cant afford to! I felt helpless, knowing that anything I do will not help this boy- no amount of money that I will give/no gyan that I can extend to him- will take him out of this 'mess'. Only that boy could and somehow I think he would. My taxi arrived- I left, not shooting a look back- afraid that my conscious will not allow me to sleep if I look at that boy again.
The boy stood up- looked at the man boarding the taxi. He had seen a number of people like this man- sometimes giving out hundreds of rupees, taking pity. They never understood one thing- he didn't need the money, people like him never do. They just need a helping hand.
Let's pledge to be that helping hand!
Nice one....
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