Realities

  His legs were floundering and with trembling hands he was managing it hard to sell cotton ear buds amidst the heavy traffic at red lights. An old man with withered clothes, fully wrinkled face & swollen eyes was hardly moving from one vehicle to another asking people to purchase the packet of ear buds. But people were perhaps more concerned about waiting for green signal & booing away their vehicles than paying any attention to old man’s pathos. The poor fellow drifted himself aside while people were hamming their lorries to an unknown destination. Sitting on sidewalks, he thought that perhaps the permanent wax in their ears couldn’t be removed with the packet of ear buds in his hands. The indomitable spirit of that broken smile was heard saying that generation  of today prefer to have Ear pods than Ear buds.  

 Yesterday while going back home from work, I heard a loud music. Murmuring Hindi hits of late 90’s compelled me to move in the direction of sound. What I saw just shook me hard. A little girl of hardly five, on such an amazing height, balancing her feet on a rope, handling a pole with frisky hands & eyes glued on taking tiny steps.  Oops ....was a shriek I uttered as my eyes were watching her ‘feat & feet’ both. They say the world is changing. But I stooped to bow & ask ‘Where?’ This tiny tot of five performing in front of university market as if mocking the system of education, as if asking for the happiness of her part. Her parents were giving her a stern look & her feet were moving as directed. Every passerby was giving her a glimpse, but not a ray of hope she was asking for. People around were pitying & cursing her parents, but not asking for the reason ‘Why?’That’s the reason of anonymous agonies & pathos which remain unheard.  While balancing & taking