Something stimulated my humble mind to do a good deed today. The usual college crowd encompassed the tiny juice stall to imbibe refreshments. Adjacent to the stall, the bakers’ corner peered at us while I along with few other friends chatted over cold coffee and fresh lime. The street seemed to be partly occupied by two huge vans surrounded by few dozen, probably preparing for an endorsement shoot (from what we could see, there were young boys in ‘undies’ walking across the street). There was nothing much that we could truly admire about the shoot set up and therefore we switched topics. On their usual time, the begging toddlers came around to grab a couple of coins for some food. One of them jumped and fell at our feet, danced till we got irritated and handed over a penny to him. But he wouldn’t stop! He evidently wanted more. He danced and jumped till he tripped only to injure himself. There was slight irritation in his tone when he groaned. He sat next to the bakers’ to gulp air through his mouth. His body had finally succumbed to fatigue and exhaustion. One of my friends offered him a glass of lime juice. He drank, took tiny sips; but something about his face told me that wasn’t what he wanted at that moment. He was hungry, to be precise, famished with hunger.
The wound on his leg caught my eye. There was an awful mixture of semi-solid pus and blood oozing down his leg. His face grew frail with pain and he could no longer bear it.
“Is it paining bad?” I asked
“Yes”
“When did this happen?” I asked.
“Five days back” he moaned.
I poured water over his wound and asked him to wipe it with the cloth he was holding. But that wasn’t enough. He was badly bruised at several other areas on his leg, previously acquired on bumping into a bike. I rushed to the medical stores to purchase an antiseptic cream and handed it over to the boy.
“Keep it, don’t throw it away” I said. He nodded.
“You seem to be hungry”
“Since morning”
Without giving it much of a thought I brought a packet of biscuits for him. Some of the other girls seemed to have sympathized with him too, because when I returned, he had a small pack of cake in his hand.
“You turned lucky today” I said, giving him the packet.
“Thank you” he said, in the best possible way that he could.
“Anytime” I said with a smile.
The wound on his leg caught my eye. There was an awful mixture of semi-solid pus and blood oozing down his leg. His face grew frail with pain and he could no longer bear it.
“Is it paining bad?” I asked
“Yes”
“When did this happen?” I asked.
“Five days back” he moaned.
I poured water over his wound and asked him to wipe it with the cloth he was holding. But that wasn’t enough. He was badly bruised at several other areas on his leg, previously acquired on bumping into a bike. I rushed to the medical stores to purchase an antiseptic cream and handed it over to the boy.
“Keep it, don’t throw it away” I said. He nodded.
“You seem to be hungry”
“Since morning”
Without giving it much of a thought I brought a packet of biscuits for him. Some of the other girls seemed to have sympathized with him too, because when I returned, he had a small pack of cake in his hand.
“You turned lucky today” I said, giving him the packet.
“Thank you” he said, in the best possible way that he could.
“Anytime” I said with a smile.
