~ Crane-Man on Roads...~

 Life’s beauty lies in meeting different genre of people day in day out – everyone has a unique perspective of living – pregnant with their own thought’s,we humans are matchless to our own self.

Be it any situation, meeting strangers and talking to them gives you a different perspective of life every now and then – in the same style of living each day, just recently I befriended Mukesh-jiwho is a crane driver in Delhi roads –  situations sometimes compel you to follow a dotted-line life path and your sense of perceptibility and commonsense makes it fruitful for you to follow it without any major sayings In the same sense, I met Mukesh-ji in some of the most unusual circumstances that many of us won’t like being in.

My favorite Car broke down just accidentally and I was left with no choice to pull the trigger and seek help- to be towed away by a crane! The phone was sorted out by our master teacher – “Google” baba as many of us loosely call this unique assistant, Mukesh’s number was ranking on the top of the list – don’t know how he did a stupendous Search Engine Optimization technique to be on the top of the galore.

He picked up the phone instantly and was polite in his talks – after understanding the situation I was in, he almost got ready to help me and pacified me with those kind words with a smile “ Sir, it happens most of the times, someone bumps into you with no fault of yours! – this is life 😊!”

I quickly formed a friendship with Mukesh-Ji as he was a charming and effervescence in his talks – he could befriend anybody and can act as a catalyst to usurp your dying mood just due to situations not of your liking. He started talking about the condition of Delhi roads and the surge in traffic – he told me that he has been a ‘Crane Man’ for almost three decades now – as a native of village in Bihar, he first came to the ‘City of Lights’ (as he calls Delhi) to find work and through initial struggle got a temporary employment as a helper – with time he became a Mechanic and finally landed up as a Crane driver. He likes to drive the crane – ask him why and he gushes with smile. He has his two main reasons – one of them is peculiar enough to give a sound ear!

“Bhaiya, Crane is a different kind of vehicle in sea of vehicles in Delhi – Children has a special liking for it – especially when I am towing a broken down or an accidental vehicle – so many times Children say “Bye-bye” to me when they see me standing on a Red light or I overtake them – their inquisitive observing is what I like – there has been cases when I have been asked by parents to make them sit on the Crane for that “Different feeling!”. The second reason is quite obvious though as he tells me “ I want to help people in the society and this is my bit!”, indeed the second point was quite justifiable as he quickly came to assist me without any airy feelings.

As we progressed with his talk, I enquired about his family, to which he replied – all are “Well Settled” – two sons are happily married and having kids – In fact I was sitting with a grandfather as I assumed rightly – “The best part of our family is that we live all together in one building!” – This was indeed a uniqueness that Mukesh-ji had spoken – now a days, this is a rarity in metros – one’s family is scattered all over due to limited space but somehow he was exceptionally lucky!

Finally, I reached my destination and Mukesh-ji did his bit to park my car where it should have been and now it was time to part ways – not before paying him not only in kind but with a big token of “Thanks” that he has been of help at one call – “Arrey , Bhaiya anytime, My work is to help people always till I am alive, do good and God will do good unto you!” – his philosophy was simple but had a higher meaning for me to learn – the man was had indeed learnt and taken keynote lessons from his living…..

~ Gopal , My Little Marketeer...~

 His gleaming smile is what makes customer pull to his small shop near a famous temple that we visited just recently. Smilingly he accepts you as a visitor and politely he starts his conversation – he is a good marketer at this fancy age – When asked about as to what I should call him? He quickly replies “Gopal” and then again showers his smile.

Forget about asking for a bottle of cold drink, I got quickly interested in his personal life and with a volley of questions he never expected out of me. He thought over every answer he gave me, the conversation went well and we both ended up becoming friends!

Gopal is not a privileged child and his penury has led him to work with his little sister and mother – all three of them run a makeshift Tea shop – they have named as “Nirmal Tea Stall” – no guesses here, "Nirmal" is the name of his father who just left his mother in silos and just vanished. He has deep regrets about his happening in his life and he seriously wanted his sister to study , but the situation lead the family to struggle for their daily living.

Now that he happily says that his sister ‘Radhika’ has started go to a ‘Small School’ that is nearby – he also tries to read her books sometimes in free time – though it is just not possible every day.

As the conversation progressed, Gopal asked me if I would have anything along with Tea – probably his selling skills were at his best – I could not say a plain no so ordered a pack of biscuits which I though would gain his confidence – he smiled again and gave me a pack of two biscuits – cutely shrewd little businessman – but I honoured his protocol – time had made him what he had become.

Gopal had perfected the art of tea making, be it sugarless tea or with sugar, all sorts of requests are catered with great aplomb – now that his sister ‘Shruti’ also sometimes joins in washing the utensils, both brother and sister are the marketing face of the tea stall.

Though their mother is the spinal cord of the family business, she is a woman of few words and is majorly engrossed in cash matters – after the last sip of tea was over, an unusual question was thrown at me – “Bhaiya, chai kaisi lagi?” ( Sir, how was the tea?) – my little friend has thrown a bomb at me sort of , though quite unknowingly , that he was in-process of being the super salesman of his stall – I quickly reverted and gave him an answer which he readily accepted with a gleam – but not before asking him as to what made him ask this question to me ? or for that matter he asks every customer the same question that he asked me.

The answer was quick in affirmation – “Yes, bhaiya, I feel, that I have done good work when the customer tells me that they liked my Tea!” – now in complex corporate terminology, this is called customer feedback and this certainly leads to ‘Job Satisfaction!” – Gopal was using all the corporate strategies which he had learnt and was learning through a practical class called “Life” – As I said Adieu, he smiled again but again unknowingly threw his last dice of marketing – “Bhaiya, please come again I will treat you with one Cup of Tea for free next time!” – now that was a final penchant for me to record this – now I wait for the next meeting to follow suit…

~ Game of Life...!~

So, what does your indulgence in sports teaches your – the prime benefit is that you get agile both bodily and in thoughts!

Considering many of us struggle between body and mind – the lethargy creeps in every time you mind tell you to exercise or get consumed in a sporty indulgence – on the contrast is your body, which is just not prepared to put in through the struggle and have a sweet pain, not knowing that it is this sweet pain which shall keep you fit and fine and get moving in later years of your life.

My sporty time has been through many outdoor activities, primarily football and cricket but now that many of our kids and we ourselves are the culprit of playing these games online – the result being we are not agile in body and mind.  Lately, I have stopped hearing to my body’s voice and hit the ground with old pals for a regular game of volleyball – the game has taught me intricate life lessons….

Firstly, you have to not listen to many shouts of your opponents with a single handed aim of giving your mind wanders – you have to focus on the sheer trajectory of the ball and where it would land – in other words, your aim in life and the different situations it is throwing on you! – paying heed to their voices will waiver your stance of a clean pickup – handling the situation.

Secondly, know for sure that your friends are requisite in your journey of life as they would be the ones giving you beautiful passes to hit back at the strokes of life – they are the ones who will form a formidable team which will make you win the game of life! 

You cannot ignore the presence of leader who is always at the top of his voice, formulating the strategy of playing amongst your team – in family terms he is your father – who selflessly puts the team / family in the forefront so that the team wins – We may have different opinions in formulating a winning strategy but for sure, the aim and objective is to hit the winning stroke, which will give the team the honour of being the winners!

Volleyball also taught me an earnest life lesson, that in spite of your best positioning and tricks and preparedness, you will not able to handle the volley of ball coming towards yourself, i.e. howsoever prepared and capable you think you are , you will surely be not able to handle the situation in your stride and will falter at some point of time, the best alternative is to have the policy of “Let GO” and quickly form a strategy for the next volley – You surely have a choice to make and that is to substitute yourself with another of your team member, but that would surely lay a guilt feeling of what you didn’t do which you could have done with ease and may be in the next throw of opponent….Life is like this, it will keep on throwing volley of opportunities and struggles periodically, you need to be prepared and have the eye for every detail, but at the same time, you need not worry about any wrong ‘Pickup” which may loose you a point – there is surely another one coming up – be prepared to devise a new strategy to hit back …

Life Lessons are hidden in simple observations of our daily life, we will surely falter and cannot succeed at every penchant of ours , wait and have a look, the next volley is about to fall in your court with an equal opportunity to strike back with all preparedness…. That’s the volley of life…. Keep playing…

~ Our Cute Neighbors…~

The two kiddos are new to my vicinity, their innocence is captivating, as they always say , children are an epitome of Godly presence – for their simplicity and noble thoughts is what makes them class apart in every sense. These two kids have become the talk of the town for one good reason and that is that both of them are twins – one is a girl and other is boy, they both loiter around in and around an under construction building that their parents are working on the whole day.

The pure innocence of their existence makes them friendly to various gentry passing through the aisle of our street, calling them by various names. The genre ‘Beta’, ‘Beti’ is a common voice that we hear the whole day as they play with gods natural toys – sand oil and pebbles which is part of the construction material – they make their own zig-zag designs and also fight over it as two kids would have. 

Their mother is protective of both of them, considering their age and chirpy nature – now that both have them have learnt to walk – their crawling days are over, the motherly love sometimes gets over them and the reprimand over any kiddo-nonsense that they do is punished, though the severity is not much, considering their age.

They are learning not speak but know their names by hard – they actually have a synonymous names which have been carefully crafted to be spelled in one go – ‘Radha’ and ’Kishen’, the father smiles when asked about the duo’s names – for him it was easy to spell as he has the gut feeling of these souls as true blessings. “Radha is elder to Kishen by 2 mins” he speaks , “ She is naughty and also has a angry attitude towards things, just like his mother.” – knowingly fully well that his wife is not alongside, the husband takes the leverage to spell these words in gossip.

The family has had a nomadic life although, but they originally hail from Rajasthan. Manoj – as the father likes to call himself came to Delhi almost 10 years ago to find work and settlement but was not able to get what he had aimed for, as he tells me, he is a 10^th pass but did not study beyond for the reasons best known to him.
This folly has now has been well understood and he certainly wants his kids to study as much as he is able to provide them the resources for education – as he sees ‘Big Babus’ with big cars in the city, all of them are educated and have made their mark through ‘ Padai-Likhai’ (education), he observes.

It is lunch time now and they have their staple diet of Chappatis and a vegetable which gets cooked in a makeshift kitchen that his wife has established in a 10X10 shanty – they sleep and cook in the same tent and that would be their ‘Sweet Home’ till the builder project is over in almost 1.5 years time, till then I will be a mute witness and a friend to these cute little souls who I happen to meet in my lifetime, who knows after they are gone, we would ever meet again…the wanderers as they are, I wish they have a stable home where I can see them more often… I strongly intuit that   someone is surely listening….

~ Volley Life... ~

A lonely champion that he is , Madhav is seen quite often in the park and jelling up with children and oldies alike – he just wants to pass his time during the day – sometimes he turns into a sportsman and at other times he behaves like a docile kid sitting on the fence and watching the biggies playing cricket or volleyball in the court. He likes sports, that is for sure – a trait that he has gained from his sporty father, who he tells us with a moment of proudness that – his father was a ‘Great football Player’ of government school, of which he is studying now. His father’s teacher knows Manav well -as he has left a good trait of his fair conduct.

As our game of court volleyball was about to commence, he quickly comes and presents his candidature for the game – he is too young to clear the net , but he is adamant and has high hopes- thanks to his sportsman father, his sayings has had a profound effect on his demeanor. Manav is confident as he reconfirms his pitch to play on the volleyball court, many of us have sincere doubts on his abilities to play and a frank submission from us , that he wont be able to make it to any side is cast aside by his sportsman spirit. 

The game begins, and the opponents wants to target the ball towards Manav – a key loose candidate in the team – but he knows he is the target , he prepares himself quite well for the onslaught – the first time the ball goes to him – he stumbles and a neat point is given to the opponent – they are right in their judgement but not anymore as Manav takes the challenge and prepares himself quite well for the second chance – knowing fully well that he would again be targeted with the ball. 

The fears of his team members come true , though they have a back-up man standing alongside Manav for his help – the strategy crumbles as this time the ball is beyond the backup man’s fore – Manav seeing this as an opportunity rushes swiftly to just lift the ball somehow, and this time, he succeeds and passes on the ball to his fellow team member with a hard knock – the ball soon is transferred to the opponents court…. After many to and fro, Manav’s side wins a key point – everyone rejoices and appreciates Manav’s quick thinking on the court – he feels great and a sense of satisfaction. 

Soon the game ends and Manav is again appreciated, he smiles and asks if we play every day – the answer is yes and this cheers him up – his exams are over and he has all the time in the world to play. As his father is a vegetable vendor, having a stall on the park periphery, he can afford the game every day , though in between his mother shouts to have a glimpse of her son! 

As always, Manav now comes daily to be a part of the match – he is learning the trick of the trade quite fast – many of us see him as a friend and reminisce our past when we were of his age.. the adrenaline rush which Manav has put in is commendable… the best part being that he brings the ball off the fence which many of us desist doing…considering the humungous ‘Tummy’s’ that many of us have grown with age… May be this is the gap Manav fills the best ..and sometimes taunts us on our bodily folly….finally, the game again resumes….

~ Narayan, My Morning Guest...~

He Comes every alternate morning with an empty bucket which is the only piece of object he carries – Dressed in a peculiar way with his pants tucked in his socks, it is his style, Narain is what I call him and this is his actual name too – he is an early riser far earlier than what many of us as sleepy heads get up at. His days start quite early by 5:00 a.m sharp, he tells me with a gentle smile. As car washing is his part time job to support his meagre income of being a full-time commercial driver for a local grocery vendor. Surely, he is different in the sense that he has been giving his services ever since he was in school, as far as I know, in grade 6^th or 7^th, now that he has finished grade 12^th and is doing his graduate studies through correspondence.

Just the other day he gave me a shock of my life – that he is married and has a girl child of 4 years of age. As he broke the ‘little secret’ he has been keeping in his heart, his ear to ear smile was a firm confirmation that he was a happy lot.

“We are three now, Bhaiya! – I am planning to send her to school this year as I want her to be studying and do something good to her life!” – Surely a father’s inhibition and anxiety to a girl child – everyone has, and Narain was no different when he uttered these words.

Narayan himself strongly believe in the idiom of study as that is the only ‘best bet’ he can give to his daughter to ward-off uncertainties of life. He didn’t had a smooth childhood and had to struggle, as he is doing right now – as terming himself as a good student, his predicament didn’t allow him to go for regular course of study and he had to supplement his father’s income by doing menial and other adhoc jobs that he could lay his hands on, though he is still pursuing his graduate studies as he always wanted to.

Narayan has been a close pal as he always showers me with a Good Morning smile which accentuates his chirpy face – after he is finished with car wash in the morning he dons the hat of a driver and travels to all parts of Delhi transporting wholesale grocery to supermarts.

As he tells me, his day starts quite early and he leaves bed by 5:00 a.m – be it winter or summer – a time when many of us are in lap of a dreamy sleep – how many of us would have got up to do this sundry job day after day, getting up at the wee hours of every morning – that too for a meagre sum, but Narayan has taken in his stride what life has offered him – smilingly he has accepted his fate and is thus doing his best what he can do in such circumstances – his life is a sure shot motivation for many of us , be whatever happiness, keep walking life will shower its best design someday – if you stop the game ends there, as once I was told by my good friend “if you don’t write – there is 100% chance that nothing will happen, but if you write there is 0.1% chance that people would read it!” – the story thus started…..

Probably Narayan has the same logic, he is doing his bit smilingly and with a noble thought that one day would be his…. Till then… keep smiling dude, your “Smiling Good Morning” message is what starts my day with positivity…. Carry on… 

~ Lucky You...~

Just the other day whilst speaking to a gentleman I came across made my belief stamp on what our ancestors and parents have always said. After exchanging morning greetings, during a general chit-chat about our families, kids a point was made about by my morning friend – He has two sons but unfortunately the elder one is paraplegic and is just a kid from his mind, though he is well passed his adolescence, this happened, as he tells me, due to a bout of meningitis fever that stuck the little soul when he was just three years old. The ordeal started for the parents and it is still going, now that after extensive and costly treatment, things have been stabilized if not improved.

Suddenly a thought comes to your mind – you could also be given a similar situation in life whereby you are juggling with a paraplegic son  or a daughter with muscular dystrophy – a medical condition for which there is no prescribed or known treatment and more dangerously it is progressive in nature.

All through your life always was and is in thick and thin of unexpected happenings, the turbulence can happen anytime – just consider to be lucky to have bypassed this – may be as you believe somewhat in any ancient wisdom – here I am not going to a particular religion – your current life is loosely based on acts of benevolence or aggression you have done in your previous Avtaars.

Manish, as my friends name is , calls is providence as he terms this as a one off incidence which had to happen and thus happened, though he has little qualms as why this happened , he takes it as God’s command to service this soul given to him with set of abnormalities. He caress him to be a God’s child and a responsibility – his emotional comments took me by stride and I went into severe though provoking stance – this could happen to anyone – just anyone as I thought – Manish was rather unlucky – and at the same time lucky that the has been given such a humungous responsibility to obey nature’s command.

I get reminded of book I read by one of prolific Indian administrator who had a similar happening in his family – his son was born paraplegic and whilst the agony of ‘Why Me God?” was ingrained in his thoughts, time was a godly healer and he accepted what was given to him – now that his son was more than 42 years of age, he had his own fears of what would happen to him when he and his wife is long gone – quite unlike Manish, who has a younger son who is quite responsible and takes care of his elder brother and rightly understands family’s predicament of dealing with such a situation.

Lucky you – for all of whom are sailing though – just closing your eyes and thinking about this aspect of life gives us a different dimension of thought – still, it is such a matter of great thinking – just like Russian roulette, we missed the bullet this time but who knows what happens on the next trigger… till then… be thankful for what you have and also what didn’t happen to you…whilst for other it did….

~ Mai..Thank You..~

Is this  what old age she thought of in life when she was young and in her prime? I have no idea as i sometimes think when I bypass her whilst I jog in the park. She makes a frequent appearance nowadays but just does not speak and sits silently on the side of pavement raising her hand – a gesture kind enough to give her whatever you ought to – considering her ripe age and the fact she does odd jobs to sustain a living – when she does not earn her daily wage by collecting left over plastic bags and other miscellanies in the park and selling it to the local scrap dealer – the task is arduous for her as considering the phase of life she is in. 

In reality, she is clearing the mess of the 'educated' masses and is a miniscule contributor to the society!I don’t know her name, she comes quite a few times in the park, sometimes early morning and at times in the evening – she is nameless as nobody is interested in having a chitchat with her – people strolling the aisles of park call her ‘Mai” or “Mataji” out of reverence. Some give her their daily leftovers and some currency change, whatever is given she accepts with a smile and thanks by folding her hands showcasing gratitude towards life…

Mai is just like many grannies in our ménages who are just ignored for the simple reason that they have run out of time or that they have outlived their prime – a key essential here is the humungous experience they have enrich themselves of life – which many of us ignore. Mai is surely one such soul – though she didn’t do well in life as she sits on her haunches and is at mercy of passersby, people ignore her – but observing her white hair one can extol her on the basis of life’s richness she has lived – she might not be rich with money but surely has a sense of dignified living – as she carries a bag of collected plastic waste from the park – a shame which we bestow on public places and are not remorseful of it.

The old lady does what we don’t do as a habit of basic etiquette, though she makes a small income out of it or for that matter this is what she is best capable of doing it at this phase of her life. She never sits on any of the empty cement benches for the shame it might cause to people who think of living a high society life or for that matter many such ‘Sassy’ Citizens might get offended – considering her to be an untouchable and from a lower strata of society – education has had no meaningful presence in their living of course!

A soul or a life that she is – reminds me of old age many wont would like to have – lonely and without any support or pelf, the odds are against her- may be one day I shall talk to her about her past and write the kind of life she has lived – as the next round I jog towards, I see her getting up and walking away in silence of time – not speaking to anyone , she carefully picks her baggage – her find for the day , not knowing what good she has done to all of us in the park and towards our environment – the silent worker at this age has my heartiest Kudos – for what I did what I could… as I certainly believe in this idiom of life….” Do it silently… I did mine and she does her…. The philosophy of life appears similar….

~ A Garden Family...~

She is a working mother, though she does not work in a corporate office, her sole aim is to add some bits of moolah in the family coffers, though uneducated, she works like a true professional, tending to plants and brooming and cleaning the leaves which fall off the winds – she is our park attendant ‘Rukhmani Devi’.

People know her for quite some time now as the entire family lives in a small makeshift home being provided by the district administration – the whole day is consumed to take care of trees and brooming large swathes of park, she is always consumed in her work though she finds time for her little one to caress him in between. 

A motherly love always bestows upon her when she sees her little son (she lovingly calls him ‘Mani’) running out of patience and starts to cry profusely – she tries to cuddle him and gives him ‘toys’ which consists of tree barks and big leaves which have fallen off trees and shrubs – the child surely has a differential childhood, though for many such mothers who are in the grip of abject poverty, raising kids like ‘Mani’ is an everyday struggle.

The family breakfast, lunch and dinner is synonymous with a lentil or a vegetable along with bread ( roti as we call it in India) – keeping it simple or should I say, that is what they can afford out of their dire circumstances – milk sometimes is affordable for the kid, especially when it is one of those days when the ‘contractor’ pays the couple for their work.

Both parents of Mani are daily wagers and live out of contractual jobs – living in most tiring circumstances and a meagre income, which is wavering – life for them is surely a tough – though unusual help comes from people who stroll the park and have got to know about the family and its antecedents.

Rukhmani’s husband Kishorilal is a thin build man and is the main Gardner of the park, he has been caressing the plants and implanting them for almost a decade as we know him. Hailing from western UP, he came here with his uncle as he tells me and liked ‘Delhi’s’ population and culture – since then he has found this to be his profession. Nowadays it is spring – the season of flowers, both Kishorilal and his wife Rukhmani is busy with flowers – it is due to their effort that the park has become cynosure of all eyes.

Today, I spotted Mani roaming with his mother as he has become naughty enough whilst he plays with street dogs roaming in the park – they have synonymously become good friends and I observe that the canines (some of them puppies) have befriended their new toddler friend, though the mother is suspicious of her son’s new companions but she has little options as she could not find any worthwhile time pass for Mani – either he plays with mud, making nested homes or else is playing with garden puppies.

Passersby put a tap on Mani’s head as a gesture of blessing, and surely some of the oldy uncles walking on the aisle do a general chit-chat with Rukhmani, asking about Mani – they have truthful intentions of helping him and want him to be an educated man rather than a daily wage Gardner as his father, though there is quite some time for him to graduate his life to a regular school.

As the wind blow at its speediest, Mani is happy strolling with his mother, overlooking his father working in the garden – his slipper-less feet stands testimony to a life of poverty the family lives in, though he calmly forgets the pain or injury he is prone to whilst he walks barefoot in the park – all for his motherly love what he gets every day, his of course is a happy go lucky family whose consistent hard work for a meagre income has surely given a rich dividend in the form of a flower-ridden heaven where we all go everyday to get rid of our daily razzmatazz of life and its living…

~Three Musketeers ~

All the three are aimless wanderers with no way specific to go, ask them where they are heading to, in all probability you will get a two word answer “Don’t know!” – as obvious, they have not much pressure to perform, nor do they have grand dreams to accomplish, but for sure they want to be a happy lot and enjoying each passing day as it comes.

May be life have different designs for all of three school dropouts, as I spot them earnestly searching something amid the shrubs, they may have found something interesting to put their attention on. Hearing my sudden voice, they became attentive only to find that it was a friendly tone and the purpose of it was to give them something of daily use to them. Their face cheer up with a gentle smile though they still have a perceptible doubt, which stands obvious. As I try to converse with them about their life and daily living, they reluctantly share their name and whereabouts and where they actually come from.

I don’t know if the information they give me, first of all they share their name as “Mahesh”,”Ravi” and “Sanatan”. That they were school friends astonished me as their appearance didn’t look like they had ever seen a classroom. I for sure knew they were lying and on pondering the eldest one speaks up gently “ Bhaiya, we have left school as we didn’t like education and the discipline of school!” – to dire consequences that they may now face in life, I tried to convince them to revisit their judgement but a laugh closed the scope of further discussion on the topic.

On further prodding, they tell me that they are good friends and that they live in the same vicinity, a slum nearby and that their parents are ragpickers and are not at home as they leave early and come late. This gives them the opportunity to act like loafers throughout the day as they love loitering around without any purpose. Asked if who gives them food to eat during the day, they smile again and blushingly tell me that they sometime ‘Beg’ on red lights nearby.

I asked if they could be admitted to a school whereby, they would get free books and breakfast along with afternoon meal, will they be comfortable? Their eyes sparkled with an distinct smile , they were ready to take that leap, something was surely brewing in my mind as I gave them this proposal.

As we have interchanged some information, I could ask them few more questions but before that I observe that  one of them is quite shy and would hardly speak, but he is utmost attentive of my intentions, I liked him the most, as I spot him to be subtle and observant, I doubt he would open up with many strangers as he did to me.

As I try to convince them about what lies ahead in life for them, skipping school would pay them no heed in life and that they would be living life in poverty and just like their parents, they listen attentively and understand the repercussions- as it seems to me but have no direct answers to my talk. I know they need guidance and a proper direction and that their parents are not adept in doing so as their main aim is to earn daily bread and butter for their kids and themselves.

I ask them if I could be their friend and that are they regular to park, they did say yes though I doubted their hasty answer, as they were reluctant to speak more, our quick conversation was getting to its culmination, as we bid ‘bye-bye’ and with a commitment to meet again the next day, I kept on thinking about future of these street urchins. The vicious circle of poverty has enveloped their life completely and they or their parents are not in a position to come out of it.

I surely had a plan for them to achieve basic elementary education as I rang up someone close who runs an NGO for such kids – as I was quite hopeful for a positive answer which did come, the next day was the day I was waiting for the three to appear. As expected, they didn’t as they didn’t wanted to be bounded by life’s discipline or daily regularity – may be they wanted to wander as free birds and have got used to the daily living which circumstances have bestowed on them, but still for me the search continues…

~ In Guard of Honour...~

 He stands at an upright position to prove his loyalty towards his employer, whether assisting in parking of customer cars which come for shopping or when it comes to counting of sold items whence the customer is exiting the gate, Khem Chettri is at its best – his short height and marooned looks sets him apart from other mall guards.

His smile and comfort looks is what made me feel to chat with me whilst I came out of the mall ,but I had kept him in my mind beforehand as he was the one who came out running to assist me in parking my car. As I observed him, he was doing his duty diligently and without any much tantrums, a rarity now a days. His conversant aura was the next best thing which broke the silent between us….

As I initiated to ask about his name and from where he was …

“Sir, I am from Assam and spoke up in length from a small place called “Duliajaan”, as I had a friend who was from nearby place, “Jorhat”, the conversation got to its gravity as his eyes lit up in sparkle and he beamed his ear to ear smile as if someone from his village was speaking to him in this concrete jungle of land and buildings. As the conversation matured, khemji became more friendly and started to talk frankly about the place and its natural arena, I accepted his thoughts in tandem as I knew for sure that what he was talking of was pure nature.

When he stopped, I asked “Where do you live Chettriji?”, to which he reverted “Sir, I sleep in the mall and have a small room attached, I use the bathrooms for washing and other sundries. I have been staying in the mall for last eight years! the Malik (owner of the mall) is a nice man.”

I asked him about his family whereabouts, to which he vehemently espoused his feelings and thus spoke “Sir, I have a son and he is doing engineering and my daughter is in 12^th grade, both of them as good students.” I appreciated his stance and congratulated him for doing so much for his family, he nodded with a grin and felt happy at my words of appreciation, though quite internally I could sense that he was proud father to his kids.

Suddenly, Chettriji had a task in hand and there were customer bags to be scrutinized whilst they made way to exit the mall – a task he did quite conscientiously and with sharp focus , as any misses could lead to loss to his ‘Malik’ – he was a truly honest employee, no doubt.

At last he finishes his adhoc task and makes efforts to accommodate another car which is trying to adjust in the compact parking. Finally saying a temporary adieu, I make my way towards the final exit, keeping in mind the conversation that I had made with my newfound friend, life’s best instances is actually found in beautiful conversations …. Today it proved true for me….