i have a five minute conversation everyday, on my way to work. with a person, who has lived just about five years on this planet.
everyday morning, i come out of the metro station and this kid gives me company till i reach my office building. he just came-up to me one day and smiled at me and asked me where i was going. subsequently, he has told me that his name is something that sounds suspiciously like "rahul". he is dressed in threadbare clothes and nothing to wear on the foot. he doesnt know his age, so i have assumed that he is five. he can barely speak coherently, still has the lisp of a kid, yet to learn to speak clearly. he goes to a nearby school, when i ask him why he isnt at school at this time of the day, he shrugs his shoulders and says, "i will go after i talk to you". something tells me he doesnt go to a school. the first day i offered him a gum, he said, "i dont take toffees from strangers". he finally accepted my mint after a few days.
the other day, it was raining very hard and i saw him, mud splattered all over himself, running towards me, grinning..like he couldnt be happier. i asked him to take a bath and then come and talk to me. he seemed to take offense in it, sulked and walked quietly beside me, until i gave-up and opened the conversation. simple talk like 'i ate milk and biscuit today', 'i have four friends here and all of us run around the park and play hide-and-seek'. one day i got a peek at the knowledgeable side of him when he said, "my friends try to cross the road when signal is not green. tell me, is it right ? will they not get hit by a car ?".
every time i ask him about his school, he sounds evasive. he could easily pass-off as a child beggar. and lets face it, people find it harder to shoo away a thin, hungry-looking child and so they throw some change. yet, when i tried to give him a pack of biscuits, he refused. when i gave him one, he took it and started munching it right away. the other day he asked me what i ate for breakfast. i was about to say cereals, but i said i ate biscuits (realizing that explaining cereals to him would be quiet hard). how many ? i held up two of my fingers. he (rightly) counted two. and then he started counting one, two, three....and fumbled after nine.
i sometimes feel like buying him a pair of footwear or giving an old sandal or something. but i am not sure if that will go down too well with his people. i would like to get some old clothes for him, but do i really have the right to gift him something ? i would like to take him to school, make sure that he is going to school. but how do i do that without overstepping my boundaries.
i have often thought of going up and talking to his mother, atleast trying to find out if he goes to a school. i am apprehensive about her reaction to this intrusion from me. who am i to question her ? more than that, i think am afraid that i will scare him off, that she might prevent him from talking to me, that this fragile link i have with him will break.
untill then, i always look forward to my five-minute, nine am conversation with my five-year old friend.
everyday morning, i come out of the metro station and this kid gives me company till i reach my office building. he just came-up to me one day and smiled at me and asked me where i was going. subsequently, he has told me that his name is something that sounds suspiciously like "rahul". he is dressed in threadbare clothes and nothing to wear on the foot. he doesnt know his age, so i have assumed that he is five. he can barely speak coherently, still has the lisp of a kid, yet to learn to speak clearly. he goes to a nearby school, when i ask him why he isnt at school at this time of the day, he shrugs his shoulders and says, "i will go after i talk to you". something tells me he doesnt go to a school. the first day i offered him a gum, he said, "i dont take toffees from strangers". he finally accepted my mint after a few days.
the other day, it was raining very hard and i saw him, mud splattered all over himself, running towards me, grinning..like he couldnt be happier. i asked him to take a bath and then come and talk to me. he seemed to take offense in it, sulked and walked quietly beside me, until i gave-up and opened the conversation. simple talk like 'i ate milk and biscuit today', 'i have four friends here and all of us run around the park and play hide-and-seek'. one day i got a peek at the knowledgeable side of him when he said, "my friends try to cross the road when signal is not green. tell me, is it right ? will they not get hit by a car ?".
every time i ask him about his school, he sounds evasive. he could easily pass-off as a child beggar. and lets face it, people find it harder to shoo away a thin, hungry-looking child and so they throw some change. yet, when i tried to give him a pack of biscuits, he refused. when i gave him one, he took it and started munching it right away. the other day he asked me what i ate for breakfast. i was about to say cereals, but i said i ate biscuits (realizing that explaining cereals to him would be quiet hard). how many ? i held up two of my fingers. he (rightly) counted two. and then he started counting one, two, three....and fumbled after nine.
i sometimes feel like buying him a pair of footwear or giving an old sandal or something. but i am not sure if that will go down too well with his people. i would like to get some old clothes for him, but do i really have the right to gift him something ? i would like to take him to school, make sure that he is going to school. but how do i do that without overstepping my boundaries.
i have often thought of going up and talking to his mother, atleast trying to find out if he goes to a school. i am apprehensive about her reaction to this intrusion from me. who am i to question her ? more than that, i think am afraid that i will scare him off, that she might prevent him from talking to me, that this fragile link i have with him will break.
untill then, i always look forward to my five-minute, nine am conversation with my five-year old friend.
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