The Difference

I left my home early in the morning, as I had to finish off some urgent work before noon. I had had just a cup of hot tea, since I was planning to have breakfast in office. I was greeted by a cloud of smog; there are many who would still argue that its fog, but due to the rising pollution levels in Bangalore, I’m convinced that its smog. Smog or fog, it was chilly outside and wearing just a half sleeve shirt, I felt goose pimples rising on my hands as I started my walk from the house to the bus stand.

There were the usual morning walkers and joggers on the roads. As I started to pick up speed, to get to the bus stop in time to catch my bus, I noticed this kid running across the road crying. He was less than two years old, and was stark naked. He was running across the road to get to his father who was setting up a stove to cook his morning breakfast. His hands, legs and buttocks were dirty due to the fact that he was squatting on the road sometime back. His nose was running and his dusty hands had left marks of dust on his face.

He was the son of the labourer who builds one of the houses in out layout. I was surprised to find that the kid was not crying out of cold, but due to the fact that his mother had scolded him.

I could not stop myself from comparing him with any of the kids of his same age, but born into well to do families. I have seen parents trying to protect their kids from cold and dirt and here was this boy running around in the cold morning, naked and crying.

The next thought that came to my mind was the rosy picture of India being presented to the world. We are one of the fastest growing economies in the country, with a double digit growth in most of the sectors, so on and so forth. And here was this kid.

I asked myself, “What is this kids fault for being born into the house he was born and not into a well to do household”? Was it his fate? I’d never know.

As I walked past him, I called out to him. He looked up at me, still crying. I waved my hands at him and said “Ta Ta”. All of a sudden his sad face lit up, he stopped crying and started waving back enthusiastically. Off all the things parents do to make their kids stop crying, this kid was happy with the fact that a stranger had noticed him and had waved to him.