Feeling the Bite of Reality
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Feeling the Bite of Reality... Me and my friend were on to our usual drive out to chill around on that pretty cold evening. Really we felt very exhausted that Friday as both of us were busy with our usual endeavors added with a bit more works on previous weekdays. Thought of hanging around on one of our usual roaming spot. Me reached trichy just that day’s sunny hot after noon from my college in karaikudi. We both started from my friend’s house on his bike.
I had the drive with my friend in the back chatting through mobile with his girl friend. Sorry a friend who is a girl. After 10 minutes we reached the spot that is nothing but an old bridge built across the river cauvery shortly called as CB. Parked the bike near the platform and started to walk.He was really excited as he had his date that day morning with his friend . He was sharing with me his lovely time and his chatting with that girl. He shared almost every thing with me I suppose and as usual we had lots of fun. And
I realized how true is Einstein’s perspective!!! As he said once in a interview regarding theory of relativity,” Even a minute before a hot stove would be like years. But sitting before a girl even a day would be like a minute and that is relativity”!! wow!! What a genius he is to predict my friend’s (almost all young men I suppose) feeling even before my friend was born. I admire this absent minded professor for all his deeds and comedies. I feel some for things are enough to pass your time with great fun. A pleasant evening, pretty cool breeze, a nice long walk way with some cuties, and a sharing chat with the friend by your side!!!...and CB really had all the for to hit the top spot of my fun time that day.
We both almost crossed the other side as he stopped the chat and started to show me his pictures that he had taken thro his mobile. The pictures seemed pretty cool. We were now walking on the middle of the walk way platform. We had a halt there and leaned ourselves on that old wall built on the bridge’s sides. Both had some silence and felt the noisy horns blowing from the crossing cars and buses which created a rhythm on that old bridge, even good enough for making our bodies to feel that. Suddenly we both turned to our left where a shouting came from,” sundal…. Sundal….” . It is nothing but a little boy was nearing on us with big stainless steel bucket in his hand full of sundal packets wrapped in paper. He was black, small and short, as the bucket in his hand was tall enough to reach his hip. He was wearing a half slack shirt and a three fourth trousers with lots of stitching and had no slippers. In short he reminded me of a typical poor south Indian boy from the slums. He came near us and said, “ Annay sundal vangika? inaiku notu vanganum! Illaena nalaiki miss adipanga ”with a pretty low tone.(which means, brother please buy a snack pack because I need to buy a note for my class else my teacher will screw me tomorrow..) .
At that moment I was moved in heart n had no words.my thoughts was jus wavering around many stuffs. They were, why the heck god created these sort of discrimination between men and that a poor little child who seems to be a main bread winner of his his damn big family.what the hell the boy’s begetters’ were doing leaving this boy with this damn business sparing him not even a good early education.
I had my thinking more centering on god’s damn discrimination even for a little child who has not even seen some 8 years of world.I do not know why god left even little children in adversity whom he loved the most!!!
All these were revolving around my mind for a moment. n Now I just brushed aside ma thoughts and had a look at tat boy, still searching for some words to open up ma mouth.
My friend too was yet to utter any word n looked at me. I gathered all the reasons and meanings of his face at that instant as all best friends would do. He turned to the boy and asked him,
“ what is your name..?what a re you studying?”
“muthalagan //6th std in government boys high sec school…” with his voice raising a bit as his face, added with a hungry tone.
“hmm… oh.. okay.. why are you into this? what about your parents?…” asked my friend.
“my father fell down from the false pillar on which he was working two months ago and got his leg broken and he was admitted in government hospital and mother too was sick but she was onto her work in some houses.So I need to sell all these snacks out here to earn our daily bread ” the boy shared with pain, pausing at times in the middle wit typical cute little boy’s words in tamil.
Me and my friend had a look again each other, thro which v conveyed our meanings. A short pause before my friend asked his next question to him “do u have any siblings??”h mm.Yes I have a one elder brother studying 10th and a elder sister who stopped her studies. She was very weak in her studies and so my uncle stopped her from going to school” he replied again with a childish slum Tamil slang.
“oh then how well do you study??” my friend asked..
“hmm very well. I got 5th rank in half yearly…” he said with pride.
“Oh that is great “he replied n turned to me and asked “machi … enna pannlam??”(which means…”hey buddy what can we do??!!” ). He did not wait for my reply and said to tat boy”hey I tell you a mobile number you note it down and call me this nov15th ok”..
As he said he turned to right and got a pen from a loiterer and wrote his mobile num on a small thrown away snack wrapper and gave it to the boy saying
“ you have to call me on November 15th ok?? Don’t forget!
and study well.so then what you want to become.?”
“ I want to b a doctor” the boy replied, as he folded tat paper and kept on his pocket, with a smile.
Then my friend explained him the difficulties of a poor little slum boy to become a doctor with no strong medical back grounds. He asked him to throw away this idea wanted to dream of becoming a engineer.
(I do not know why every little Indian child dreams to become a doctor during their primary schoolind and I bet 8 out of ten child will reply to become a doctor when asked about their aim).
He explained the difficulties of a medical student and tat too a poor faces in today’s scenario to tat boy and also got his residence address. The boy was curious to know about what he is going to do to him on nov15th. My friend replied just to call him on November 15 then see what happens. The little boy signed off shouting again sunda sundal.
My friend then turned to me and said.
“ it is worth nothing to give him some money now out of pity. we need to try something else on a bigger scale.”
We had a short pause and continued to walk. As we are about to reach the bike I said“ machi it is really painful to see these two extremes in lif.I really do not why the heck god has allowed such hardships in a tiny little heart .one side guys were having fun n enjoying their life lavishing money like anything and here this poor chap hasn’t even got some money to spare for his class notebook.its really annoying to feel the bite of reality.Reality sucks to the core!!! Temporary solutions are not going to meet the needs of these lakhs of poor under preveiledged children of our country right now. we young men have to think about this n come out witj a solution”, I finished in tamil as we sat on the bike and went off with a refreshing spark in our minds showing off the shine of Patriotism.