16th august, 2008
It was Rakhi, a festival which is celebrated throughout India to uphold the bonding of a brother and a sister.On this day, sisters tie a string of thread on the wrists of their brothers to share this bonding and love.
However, as usual I was on my way to college but due to certain turn of events my classes got cancelled and i decided to go down to my friends house in Tollygunge.
I was waiting at the metro station when suddenly i noticed these kids running up to every passer-by with rakhis in their hands and asking their permission to tie it on their wrists.They were kids of not more than 5-6 years, all dressed in colorful clothes and carrying bunches of those threads of love in their hands.From their appearances, one could easily make out that they definitely did not belong to well to do families, that their education or even for the matter daily food was a questionable entity and yet they were so happy, so cheerful and so filled with life.
They smiled to every passer by and extended their hands to tie the pieces of thread without any discrimination and without any reluctance.Seeing them i wondered, from where then do these negative traits develop among the adults and the matured?
As I kept indulging myself in this short pastime activity, 2 of the kids walked up to me and smiled at me in a way which just overwhelmed me.No thoughts, no decisions and no judgments were made, my actions simply echoed in an involuntary way and I extended both my hands to both of them to tie me a rakhi. i could feel the positivity around me, could sense the belonging I had to the entire human race and to the common "thing" that binds us all.
I asked them what could I give them as I did not have any gifts with me.In return they smiled...just smiled and left and i stood there gaping at my own self. I still do not know why they kept tying rakhi to very passerby without a reason or did it just happen to me?
Sometimes i still think about that day and try to put some adult logic into it but I end up feeling so small infront of those kids.
They taught me something very drastic and in a way which perhaps a heart as pure as their's can do.Today i still think about that smile, a smile which made me realize the beauty of life and its intoxicating flavours.Flavours which otherwise would remain incomplete if not for "the pinch of a great smile".
I was waiting at the metro station when suddenly i noticed these kids running up to every passer-by with rakhis in their hands and asking their permission to tie it on their wrists.They were kids of not more than 5-6 years, all dressed in colorful clothes and carrying bunches of those threads of love in their hands.From their appearances, one could easily make out that they definitely did not belong to well to do families, that their education or even for the matter daily food was a questionable entity and yet they were so happy, so cheerful and so filled with life.
They smiled to every passer by and extended their hands to tie the pieces of thread without any discrimination and without any reluctance.Seeing them i wondered, from where then do these negative traits develop among the adults and the matured?
As I kept indulging myself in this short pastime activity, 2 of the kids walked up to me and smiled at me in a way which just overwhelmed me.No thoughts, no decisions and no judgments were made, my actions simply echoed in an involuntary way and I extended both my hands to both of them to tie me a rakhi. i could feel the positivity around me, could sense the belonging I had to the entire human race and to the common "thing" that binds us all.
I asked them what could I give them as I did not have any gifts with me.In return they smiled...just smiled and left and i stood there gaping at my own self. I still do not know why they kept tying rakhi to very passerby without a reason or did it just happen to me?
Sometimes i still think about that day and try to put some adult logic into it but I end up feeling so small infront of those kids.
They taught me something very drastic and in a way which perhaps a heart as pure as their's can do.Today i still think about that smile, a smile which made me realize the beauty of life and its intoxicating flavours.Flavours which otherwise would remain incomplete if not for "the pinch of a great smile".
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