Running on the broken footpath with his small feet, wearing a very dirty unbottoned shirt and mud stained shorts (which colour one can't make out), the little boy had the only attraction in the sparkle of his eyes & the broad smile on his small lips. I didn't bother to ascertain what made him run or why was he smiling ? I just saw the innocence of childhood in that malnourished poor boy who god only knows what did he has to be so happy. I remained standing aside in the traffic jam, the boy was approaching.
I kept looking at the strange glow on his face.
As he came nearer the wrinkles on his forehead were visible, his legs were thin and he didn't has footwear, I felt pity for his condition but again his smiling face and non stopping run enthused me.
You must have seen children of the rich in malls and sedans, indeed they are cute, they get the best of nourishment & care, still they have a frown on their faces most of the times, have wondered why ? Childhood has no boundaries, childhood wants liberty. An all pink coloured suit wearing child doesn't even know the name of the colour he's wearing... He's shackled when trolled in perambulators (Don't get offended but you are making your baby lazy). What a child learns by experimenting, you can't make him learn keeping him strapped up in trollers and clicking his photos for uploading. Recently I saw a couple trying to console their baby to take her photo, she was crying... You know why ?.. They had kept her on the arms of a mannequin and were expecting the baby to smile, I wondered the baby was more afraid than happy while her poor father was patting her back gently and her mom was focusing the wretched camera.
Let the child be child, they have there own world, wanna see, become a toddler for a while and leave your toddler on it's own then you'll see how happy he is.
When he passed me I heard his giggle, he was a little higher that my knee and a lady standing at the gate of an inching crowded bus grabbed his arm and pulled the prince of the road inside, with prayers I started walking in the direction of the bus and was smiling myself, after walking a long while, I realized that I may never see that child again when that bus passed by me.
Such is the magic of childhood, one affectionate sight is a charity.
God bless the magical smaller ones.
