I vividly
remember the days of my childhood when I and my siblings- Pankaj and Raju used
to share our lunch or dinner from one plate placed at the centre and we would
encircle the food; preventing any flies from entering into the space. I was
always the first one to finish and wait till the other two finished. This was
something that left a mark in my heart and every time I come across homeless
wandering children living at the roadside clamoring for food, it breaks my
heart.
The life I
spent was disciplined and rigid as compared to these homeless children who are
independent and free willed. They are friendlier to the people passing by and
the road which most of the time bullies them and threatens their safety. Their
ragged dresses, unhealthy life, shrunk faces, dirt accumulated bodies reminds
me of my contrasting life which was filled with the weight of my school bags
filled up with 11 subjects including drawing text in class two.
This weight exhausted
me every day, which I bore at the expense of knowledge and education. But the
people in the rugged streets now have to deal with daily hardships for the sake
of their one time meal. This is their daily activity.
Those carefree
days of throwing tantrums pretending to cry, making a grim face before my
father and conquering the market at the time of returning home from any
festivity is unchangeable.
Those memories remind
me of the street people whose children, lean and lanky as their property cannot
afford to serve them with a meal sometimes. Living a life full of memory is no
greater than a life struggling for memory. Perhaps something can be done to
change the fate of these street children and ensure that they live a life that
assures them with all the security of the future and save them from the clutches of
the big bad world.
Raja Das
No comments:
Post a Comment