The Child on the Street..!

As the signal turns red, I slowly squeeze my car just to break before the zebra line.

Suddenly this child appears from nowhere and does something which does not appeal to my senses...he just takes off his half torn, mud smitten shirt off his body and starts wiping the glass of the car standing next to me.

 I look across to the person in that car..he is equally shocked. He immediately raises the driver side glass that is down till now. The boy cleans the front view glass and comes to the driver side...the driver becomes tense...he knows that the boy will now ask him for money...he opens the side glass a little and shouts at the boy.."aye...mat karo...mat karo...". The boy anyways puts his hand in front of the driver...but the driver just shrugs him off.

The boy, to my dismay, now  moves to my car..he wipes the screen on the left side...and is about to start wiping the front screen, when the signal turns green. The other vehicles which were watching the scene for all this time suddenly start honking , the boys runs sideways. Poor child..does not get an opportunity to come to my side to ask for his compensation. Not that I care much..in fact I feel relieved that I was saved of the predicament whether I should give the boy some money or just shrug him off like the other car driver did.

As I push the accelerator I have a look in the side view mirror on my right...I see the boy still standing on the footpath... at the same spot...waiting for the next red signal. Just before I take a turn across the square to the right, I feel I see something in his eyes. I wonder if it is the anger against all of us who just do not care or is it mere frustration that he has go through all this  because he was born to poor parents.

While I mechanically drive back home,  the boy and his eyes keep coming back to me. Though this is not the first time I have seen children begging at cross-roads, this incident has disturbed me a little..it actually has made me feel guilty. Actually there is nothing wrong that I have done..the boy could not even reach my side or I would have given him some money.

Or would I? On second thoughts...I feel I would have probably not even pulled my glass down....the boy would have just thumped my window glass twice and seeing I was not interested would have just shrugged off...yes..shrugged 'me' off and gone ahead to the next car.

Yes...I now know what those eyes were saying to me when I sped off. They seemed to say me 'hey you..I know you care not for me...I know you dont give a damn for the situation I am in...but then...understand this...I dont give a damn to you and your air conditioned car either..I dont give a damn to anyone of you'.

Its the first time I feel that someone has taken my shirt off.....publicly.

I look in the side view mirror...and I feel the boy is still standing on that footpath... with a mischevous smile in his eyes.



The gift..!

Friendship is called a gods gift..... I beg to differ.

I feel friendship is your own gift to yourself.

How come...you may ask.

Consider this fact. When you are friend with someone,   is it by force?  True...you cant choose your parents, you cant choose our siblings, your relatives, your bosses, your peers, but...you can always 'choose' your friends. You can have friends for lives made in seconds or made over a lifetime...but they are by  your own choice.

So..my dear friends..is friendship not a gift to ourselves that we offer by choosing a friend, a real good friend?

I have been fortunate in my life. I was not born rich..(and I know for sure I will not die one too)..but... I was laways enriched with good friends at every stage of my life. All of my friends have been responsible,  have contributed in some way or other in creating the person I am. Its the same with all of us. The persona in us is in many ways has a direct co-relation with the kind of friends we had on the way. If you have had happy, jovial friends..your childhood would have been the best. On the other hand if you had a crying baby as a friend...well....now you know.

The best part of friendship is that if you are a good person..you attract good friends. Good people want to be with you..want to talk to you, spend time with you. But many a lives are spoilt too because of bad friends.

In my childhood I had a good number of friends. Some of my school friends whom I befriended are still one of my best friends. I remember one group of mine in my native city Miraj. We used to meet everyday at an 'adda' in a central place in our town and chat for hours altogether. As was the trend our discussions would hover around films. But the best part was the 'one liners' that we used with each other which brought a wittiness in us. A profound knowledge of Hindi films and  music which I made then, is a by-product of this friendship.

Growing through the College years..I made few more friends...some intellectuals..some lesser mortals. We studied Engineering together..but we also contributed to each others positive energy. I recall we running an Engineering Association..a small group of budding Engineers who used to meet every Sunday in a school to develop our Engilsh conversational skills. A career in Sales Marketing for me was possible with this  solid foundation of 3 years, spent with my friends, refining these skills.

A few of my friends were a part of each of the small and big events of my life..be it going to IIT Kanpur through my  college for a paper presentation,  my first job, my first 2 wheeler, my first woodland shoe purchase, my first walkman,my first outing at pizzahut,  my first camera, my  engagement, my marraige, and the list goes on.  Even when I came to Pune for a job the first place I shared was with one of my friend. (he somehow accomodated me..) Every time I raised my eyes to find them and they were there, smiling, reassuring me with their eyes...'hey buddy dont worry..we are there..'

Why is social networking so popular? Dont we get so happy to re-establish our contact with a long forgotten friend? Thats the magic of friendship.

 And again..its a gift to you..by you..the best you could ever give.

So would you like if I gift your friendship to myself ....forever?