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The Child In Me
As I drove home from work, on a day so mundane…Had worked hard in office like all the others in the lane...I could fathom nothing else, but to hastily get home…I turned the music on loud, to drown the constant drone…Of the never-ending strife I felt in me…Was this what I had dreamed that I would be!!!With the window rolled down and a smoke in hand,The aircon was on, the sun setting gloomily over the land…I was woken to reality as I pulled up at the CST street light.The swarm of cars before me, a couple of them engaged in a ridiculous fight…It was then that I noticed, this group of 3 kids who came running along,One of them carried a small bell, ringing it and shouting ding-dong…The one behind him seemed the younger of the two,Repeating everything that the elder said, presuming it to be true…The third was a girl, shying away behind them...And yet in her subtle ways…managed to look stealthily through…So he came up next to me, “Ek kharid lo na” – he said with a grinIt was his innocence that struck me,Even he wouldn’t have bought what he was selling…“Ek kharid lo na”, he said again – leaning into the car this time…“Cigarette se bachke”, I said as I moved it further out of his line…The younger one saw it come towards him, as he reached out for the cigarette’s butt,It was the elder one who rebuked him – “buri hai tere liye…chal hatt”There was laughter so pure that followed, so innocent in its cause,As both the kids started laughing, in their life it was but just a pause…As he leaned in again, feeling the cold air from the vents blow against his face…There was this smile he bore, as if he had found his solace…The music played on loud, never before he could have heard that song,He hummed along for a while, as he finally sang the words he was sure couldn’t be wrong…“Main uske bina bepata hun…bepata, bepata, bepata hun…”The other 2 weren’t far behind as they all joined in…singing away with no restraint… I couldn’t help but join in myself, for it was a moment of pure happiness – no expectation, no constraint…The signal turned green, as I put my car in gear…I had found the one thing I had missed all day…right here…I pulled away as I said goodbye, with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face…I had just felt what we so rarely feel…simple pure ecstasy…nothing less than God’s grace…It was just a heartfelt moment, just a moment of innocent bliss…I could have travelled the world for it, but all it took was this?3 little kids at a street light, teaching the world how to live…And we so caught up in our own strife, always ready to take – so hesitant to give…5 minutes of aircon can make a day for some…While we still forego our present, all for the time to come…So, I have packed my bags, and I have checked the time…2 more years I have, to be a part of this rhyme…To feel the tears roll down on my face again as I sport an innocent smile…To be the child in me again…whether it takes a few steps or a long mile…"Khudaaya tu bata, kahan uska pata, pata kar,Main uske bina bepata hun,bepata, bepata, bepata hun"Cheers,Shetanshu
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