Her curtly hairs flowing in the air, a face showing the dust accumulated for days showing her homelessness. Innocence was visible in her eyes, innocence of that age, age of childhood. She must be between 10-12 yrs of age. Evening was flourishing and so the business at that juice wala’s shop. Many customers are coming there and enjoying the juice mixed with ice creams and killing the heat of summer with the never ending gossips with their friends, companions.
She was also roaming here and there, looking for her potential customers or donors who can give her 1 or 2 rupees or whatever they are pleased to give, taking advantage of the evening and summer of the day. She was a road side child beggar. Her eyes mixed with the innocence of childhood and maturity of being at the side of receiving harsh words, words which are not easy to tolerate, but she was hearing and feeling them all with a neutral, unattached mindset. What other option she has than to swallow them in her little being and to go ahead to find another one in the hope of getting something valuable other than harsh words. Somebody would have donated her that green top and yellow skirt recently only.
Language is something which is made to communicate with other selves but what if you are at the other end of the country and specially in a country like India where language changes with every 100 kms. She came near to me and spread her small hands in hope of getting some paisa. I was waiting there for my Mangoshek with Ice Cream which I ordered sometime back. Not knowing the telugu, I just conveyed my words to her through my eyes full with anger and my finger showing her to go away and expect money from somebody else but not me. I don’t have extra money to give to you beggars and with my conviction of not giving money to these beggars specially the child ones. No word uttered and from the silence she got the message, without showing any disappointment she just moved out to look for somebody else. What a pity life, living on the mercy of the others but what is the fault of her other than having such a fate to get birth in a family of beggar or maybe she is a real life character playing role of the children of slumdog millionre. As a hindu I can say she would have done something terrible wrong in her past life so she is getting the punishment, the all powerful law of karma fulfilling the duty.
She would be having desires to eat ice creams with chocolates as any other girl of her age will have. Still even after facing such harsh realities of life, a part of childhood alive in her. Dreaming to have a home one day, a day which may never come in her life, she has a small piece of paper round in shape. That was her lone toy. A Roti which she was trying to make in her kitchen, kitchen of her dreams, right now lies in the stairs of the shop. May be in that hope she is collecting money to get out of that life for which she is not responsible. Some urdu lines which I read long back started coming back in my mind –
“Zindagi se badi saja hi nahi, aur kya jurm ye pata hi nahi”
She was not in a age to think about the jurm which she would have committed. “Bhaiya aapka mangoshek”, I went inside and took my mangoshek with ice cream. What a pleasant feeling to eat that ice cream after bearing whole day of heat. She would also be feeling the same. Somebody shown a mercy on her and bought an ice cream for her. Eating it, playing in her kitchen of dream and moving her eyes around to search for more such mercies. What other option she has. I also felt good to see her eating that ice cream. I should not have shown such anger on her. What she can do if her parents themselves rather than sending her to a school, send her outside to earn money, earn money in such a business, left her on the mercy of others. To whom should I show my conviction, angry eyes? Rather than to show here, I should have shown to her parents, or shouldn’t I rescue her or shouldn’t I at least inform government authorities to place her to some orphanage house. Is it not against prohibition of child labor act passed some years back to save such children from labor and provide them a better future, future filled with hopes? When many say and write that this country will have highest numbers of youth in some years. Will her and many others like her not included in those youths also.
Some hours back only I was cursing my company for giving me no hikes and giving no opportunities to grow further and to have more comforts in life. What choices she will have in future, a future full with darkness. Somebody will come, will take her advantage, will rape her and she will also give birth to more such children to depend of the mercy of others, to bear harsh words , to see eyes full with anger than love, to see finger to go away from them than to come near. How much fortunate I am and how much unfortunate she is. And what she can do to come out of it. May be she can do nothing but we can and we should.
I didn’t know her name but I can feel the pain inside her. Pain of hard life, harsh words. I saw her again doing the same, she saw the same eyes again, eyes full with anger. I asked juice wala “bhaiya kitna hua”, 20 rupya. May be the cost of that mangoshek would not be that much but I will have to pay. I took out my purse and give him 20 ruppes note. Suddenly I saw a 2 Rupees coin inside it. I went outside and gave it to that girl. A sudden smile, a pleasant one, even after so much of hardness of life, smile of innocence, came out on her face. That was my gift, one of the most pleasant one even for me, but what other option she has than to start the same, to see eyes full with the anger again, to hear harsh words again. What a pity life.
Shouldn’t we give up a small portion of our comfortable life, take out some little time from our ever busy schedules and to do something for them also. After all who needs us more, these rich people, for whom we work so hard and frustrate that we are not getting enough and will never get enough, to satisfy their endless greed and endless desire to grow or the poor such girls who has nobody to pay attention on them, neither government nor society, to help them a bit to come out of such pity conditions imposed on them by life. Shouldn’t we, fortunate enough to get many comforts of life, use our god given talent a bit to help these god created beings? Shouldn’t we?? Is it not the highest religion in itself??
