Urchins

Ive always been curious about urchins and few incidents in recent days seem to made me rethink about the way I react to situations and made me wonder if how I would have reacted if I was even in such a situation. All happened in local trains.

I had a pretty lousy week. Things wre not going well in office as well as on the personal front. I was travelling alone and lost in my thoughts thinking where exactly things had gone wrong. Suddenly an urchin of about 7 years asked me for money. He had swept the train and was expected something in return. I did not have any change at all and told me so. He insisted on the money. I again told him that I honestly did not have any change. He gave me a look as if he knew I was lying and went away. As my station was nearing, I went and stood on the footbridge. The urchin was standing opposite to me and giving me poignant looks. For some reason I was feeling guilty even though I had not done anything wrong. The station was coming closer and then the boy looks at me and says that I was standing on the wrong side and the train will pull in on the opposite platform. I wondered if I was in the same place, would I have dine the same thing and be sympethetic towards someone who persumably did not care about me?

I had just finished my packet of wafers and stood near the door in the train. A street child of around 9 got in with extremely shabby and dirty clothes and sat next to me on the footboard. As usual I was observing him. He found a discarded packet of cheap wafers on the floor with the last two chips in it and ate them. After that he just sat there with a thoughtful expresion on his face as if wondering about his life just as I was about mine. I was thinking about the packet of wafers that Id just finished and wouldve given it to him if he had begged me for it. But he was obviously too proud beg. He then looked up at me with the expression that said that I was so lucky to be wearing decent clean clothes, working with a well paying job and listening to music on my cell. He then got off at Bombay Central making me wonder what it was that was going on in his mind, whether he was wondering where his next meal was going to come from or about the beating that he was going to get from his drunken father ...

Two very dirty urchins getting in at Dadar and looking back and smiling at me...

Me asking them where they were going

"Movie" they answered

"Where?"

"Bandra"

"Which?"

"Any new movie"

"How much are the tickets for?"

"Rs. 10."

They getting off at Bandra with gleeful expressions on their faces thinking about the movie.

I had got in at Churchgate and an urchin sweeps the train. He asks me for money. The only change I have is a Rs. 5 coin and I was reluctant to hand it over to him. So I tell him that I dont have change. He persists. I again tell him that I dont have change. His friend was standing near the door grinning at me and asks me to please give his friend some money. He has very pretty mischevious eyes. Im smitten by them and hand over the coin to his friend. He is extremely happy that his friend had recived the money and was gleeful. He said a very cheeky "Thank you", gave me a wave and disappeared in the crowd.