TASTING THE ICE CREAM WITHOUT EVEN EATING IT !

I am usually unpredictable in treating beggars in the streets, especially the young guns who choose to pick the bowl in their hands as an easy way to fill their stomachs rather than earning a hard day’s wage. Because I firmly believe that this country has still got enough to let its people work and earn a loaf instead of begging a crust. And Each time they come to beg to me, I ask the same question to all of them as why don’t they work rather than begging ,and almost always, most of them bow down their heads in shame and would slowly walk away without even saying a word which itself says it all. But as I said I am unpredictable, exactly the opposite happens to me when I see a child or an elderly begging. Then again comes a thought, is this the same country which has enough to feed its younger ones and not the needy and helpless. To be honest I get confused with my own questions and answers. Is it the country or the people themselves responsible for this? And to be very honest again, I never bother to find out why or give it a solution.

A similar thing happened to me a few days back when a girl child came begging to me while I was waiting for my friend to pick me up. She was hardly 8-10 years old. Short in height, she was lean and wore a colorful gown. The cruelty of winter had left her skin dry and unnourished. Her eyes were swollen and I could clearly make out those dry tears marked on her cheeks which she forgot to wipe. While I looked amazed, she was unmoved and continuously waved her hand to get some change. For a moment nothing came to my mind, and then in a sudden impulse jerk I asked her if she was hungry, and she nodded with a frown in her face. I told her I would not give her any money but buy her something to eat. Again she nodded but now with a smile. I looked around to find any road side vendor to buy her something but nothing was there. As I looked her again, her eyes were looking at something. I saw she was staring at the ice cream seller on the other side of the road. I quickly asked her if she wants to have one. This time I was expecting an answer but again she just nodded (expression unnoticed). As I quickly walked across the road and turned back to look where she was, I found myself laughing when I saw her standing next to the ice cream box before I reached there. Still being a student, I asked the icecream wala to give her an orange candy with precisely mentioning the 5 rupee one. The icecreamwala was smiling but being very black in color and with big white teethes shown wide, the smile looked more of laughter. He didn’t have the 5 rupee candy. He had the next best denomination: 10 rupee one. I paused, thought for a second and then asked him to give any. He pulled out a bar (was chocolate I guess) and handed it over to the girl. As I was giving him the money, I looked at her and she was already smiling, I smiled back, it seemed as if I had no other choice.

By now my friend arrived and I turned back to meet him completely forgetting about the girl. As I was talking to him, I just looked at her after a few minutes and she was still smiling and already looking at me, licking and enjoying the ice cream. And then when I was just about to leave, someone pulled my sweater from the side, it was her. A thought came into my mind: Now what!. but Before I could say something, she said :                           “THANK YOU BHAIYA”, “AAJ MAINE ICE CREAM PEHLI BAAR KHAYI HAI”.

I was stunned and thoughtless for a moment. First, I was not expecting a thank you and that too in English (probably she picked up this word from the locals or might have gone to school sometime before).

Second I was surprised that she never tasted an ice cream in her entire life but the fact that really shook me was the realization that how things are different for different people. For me or you an ice cream was always an insignificant buy and it was only then that I knew how many times I bought it without even knowing its worth.

But now I had realized its worth, because now I was TASTING THE ICE CREAM WITHOUT EVEN EATING IT !

Until further notice, stay happy and stay blessed !!!
JGD...

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