I Know a Boy

I know a boy who is hungrier then me withered then me and even defeated then me (although he has no idea of it)…and yet am feeling bad about myself and my acts. Why?
These were my initial thoughts after meeting Sonu. Although am describing him as withered and defeated but the irony of this talk is that this 12 year old dude doesn’t feel that way. He is kind of taking it as a part and parcel of life. And then there I am stunned and feeling jealous about each and every assumption that only he can presume not a meat loaf like me. Describing him physically is not that difficult of part of the story, especially to Indians, but the challenging part is to describe him as a person. What god has started with rounded smooth lips are now ended with cracked and uneven structure, one cannot adjudge the fine boundary of “happened-to-be” lips and the adjoining cheeks. While talking with me he was as social as a train’s floor wiping boy could be. His straight stare into my eyes was giving shivers to my spine. While elucidating my talk when I offered him 10 rupees for a pic he accepted the offer immediately and with no shadow of reluctance he grabbed the note. And after the “could-have-become” a model’s photo shoot, the so-called model left the place and believe me he was looking radiant, either due to short span of under the limelight period or due to the ten rupees note clawed into his thin and restless palm, or may be both. May be the latter one is more convenient truth we would like to believe in but may be deep in his mind Sonu had got a story to share with his friends about a weird man who gave him ten rupees for a mere photo (at least for him, its mere).

Its funny when you say life’s difficult, isn’t it?

Now many days had been passed when Sonu met that man and unknowingly but he did made a huge impact on that man’s thinking, unknowingly but he did made this world a better place to live, at least for that man. And now when he is sitting out there on platform no.2 of Saharanpur Railway Station, he is waiting for the next train to arrive and then do what he use to….may be he could met an another weird man and fetch 10 rupees and a new story.