The Boy with the Blue eyes
The young man wiped his brow with his handkerchief for what seemed like the 100th time.
His palms were sweaty.
The T-Shirt which proclaimed loud and clear of “Being Human” was already drenched in sweat.
It seemed like the longest day of the year to him. He had hardly slept the night before in anticipation of the next day.
And on the next day had woken up at 3 AM just after an hour of shutting his eyes.
His head was throbbing with a headache the likes of which he had never experienced before.
He kept on checking his mobile phone every couple of minutes for any new call or message, which would put him out of this misery.
The cacophony around him was enough to drive anyone over the edge
He was not alone.
He was surrounded by hundreds of others just like him, all jostling for the same goal.
Suddenly someone tugged at his jeans. He thought it was a pick-pocket and got ready to grab someone’s hand and punch him in the face.
After all he already had his wallet stolen 3 times on similar days.
But when he looked down, he was gazing into the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. The eyes were like the expanses of the great blue ocean with specks of green in them.
These beautiful eyes which were staring up at him and were sad.
The young man was again out of habit about to shrug off the boy.
The boy was just like the innumerable ones he saw and ignored every day. He would have been maybe 6 years old.
The same dirty torn clothes, the bare feet, the muddy face.
But at the same time there was something very different about him. The boy had a small puppy lovingly cradled in his arms.
The boy was clinging onto the puppy and also to an open half empty packet of bread.
The puppy was squirming to get out of the loving and careful hug of the boy.
The young sweaty man was intrigued. He had been asked for money many a times for reasons such as: “…haven’t eaten for 3 days”, “…mom needs medicine”, “….school fees” etc etc.
But not once he had been asked for money for buying milk.
The little boy with the blue eyes filled with all the innocence in the world replied: “भाई , टोमी छोटा है , सूखा ब्रेद नहीं खा पाता. उसको ढूध में डाल के देना पड़ेगा. वो कल से कुछ नहीं खाया”
(Translated : “Sir, Tommy (the dog) is too little. He is not able to eat the dry bread. I need to mix some milk in it. He hasn’t eaten since yesterday”)
The young man was left speechless. He thought he was doing the right thing “Being Human” by motivating the little boy with blue eyes not to beg.
And here was this little boy, not worried about himself, but for his friend, little Tommy, who can’t chew the dry bread.
The young man took the little boy with blue eyes and his tommy. Got out of the crowd, and took them to a small road side shop.
Bought a packet of milk for the boy and his tommy. The young man and the little boy mixed the bread and the milk for tommy.
The sadness from those deep blue eyes was gone, which was replaced with a sense of joy, jubilation and satisfaction as he saw his tommy eat up the now soft bread and drink the platter of milk.
The little boy walked away happily, with tommy running behind him, as the young man again took out his handkerchief.
Not to wipe his brow this time, but his wet eyes.
THIS IS COSMIC BLASTING OFF !!!!!!!!
His palms were sweaty.
The T-Shirt which proclaimed loud and clear of “Being Human” was already drenched in sweat.
It seemed like the longest day of the year to him. He had hardly slept the night before in anticipation of the next day.
And on the next day had woken up at 3 AM just after an hour of shutting his eyes.
His head was throbbing with a headache the likes of which he had never experienced before.
He kept on checking his mobile phone every couple of minutes for any new call or message, which would put him out of this misery.
The cacophony around him was enough to drive anyone over the edge
He was not alone.
He was surrounded by hundreds of others just like him, all jostling for the same goal.
Suddenly someone tugged at his jeans. He thought it was a pick-pocket and got ready to grab someone’s hand and punch him in the face.
After all he already had his wallet stolen 3 times on similar days.
But when he looked down, he was gazing into the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. The eyes were like the expanses of the great blue ocean with specks of green in them.
These beautiful eyes which were staring up at him and were sad.
The young man was again out of habit about to shrug off the boy.
The boy was just like the innumerable ones he saw and ignored every day. He would have been maybe 6 years old.
The same dirty torn clothes, the bare feet, the muddy face.
But at the same time there was something very different about him. The boy had a small puppy lovingly cradled in his arms.
The boy was clinging onto the puppy and also to an open half empty packet of bread.
The puppy was squirming to get out of the loving and careful hug of the boy.
The little boy spoke: “भाई दस रुपैये दो ना भाई. ढूध खरीदना है.” (Translated: Brother/Sir, Can you please give me 10 rupees, I need to buy some milk)
The young sweaty man was intrigued. He had been asked for money many a times for reasons such as: “…haven’t eaten for 3 days”, “…mom needs medicine”, “….school fees” etc etc.
But not once he had been asked for money for buying milk.
The young man asked the boy: “ब्रेड है ना तेरे पास , वो खा ना . भीक क्यूँ मांग रहा है ?”. (Translated: “You already have the bread. Eat that. Why are you begging”)
The little boy with the blue eyes filled with all the innocence in the world replied: “भाई , टोमी छोटा है , सूखा ब्रेद नहीं खा पाता. उसको ढूध में डाल के देना पड़ेगा. वो कल से कुछ नहीं खाया”
(Translated : “Sir, Tommy (the dog) is too little. He is not able to eat the dry bread. I need to mix some milk in it. He hasn’t eaten since yesterday”)
The young man was left speechless. He thought he was doing the right thing “Being Human” by motivating the little boy with blue eyes not to beg.
And here was this little boy, not worried about himself, but for his friend, little Tommy, who can’t chew the dry bread.
The young man took the little boy with blue eyes and his tommy. Got out of the crowd, and took them to a small road side shop.
Bought a packet of milk for the boy and his tommy. The young man and the little boy mixed the bread and the milk for tommy.
The sadness from those deep blue eyes was gone, which was replaced with a sense of joy, jubilation and satisfaction as he saw his tommy eat up the now soft bread and drink the platter of milk.
The little boy walked away happily, with tommy running behind him, as the young man again took out his handkerchief.
Not to wipe his brow this time, but his wet eyes.
THIS IS COSMIC BLASTING OFF !!!!!!!!
Sweet, heart warming :) keep writing..
ReplyDelete@Shasha.. Thanks Buddy..
ReplyDeletewah la..!! tommyyy :( :)
ReplyDeleteReally nice Shrijeet....keep writing:)
ReplyDelete@Endey ... Why sad/happy about tommy ?
ReplyDelete@Sathish: Thanks
I never like reading stories but this was just great. Will share it :)
ReplyDelete@Abhishek, Thanks, I never write stories either. Glad that you liked it
ReplyDelete:-) Lovely narration.....Keep the goodies coming....
ReplyDeletetouching!! :)
ReplyDeleteHeart Touching :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Rahul .. Will Sure try
ReplyDeleteThanks Ananya and Mayur
ReplyDeleteLovely....! Is this a lived experience?
ReplyDeleteI hate that T-shirt declaring "Being Human" as if all others are animals!!!
ReplyDeleteNice post BTW
Thanks Abu,
ReplyDeleteAgree about the T-Shirts
(Although I dont own a single one)