She, a girl of five,
In tattered clothes,
And shattered hopes,
And shattered hopes,
Tugged at her mother’s torn sari nervously.
Diwali; it was their big day..
For begging along Marine Drive.
Rich people who came here
To burst crackers, huge bombs and rockets
That burst and filled the sky
With myriad colours
Were always in good mood
To let the beggars have
A miniscule part of the money
That went up in flames and sounds.
Each bomb, rocket, cracker, flower-pot
Cost several times Montek’s Thirty Two Rupees,
That separated them from becoming rich.
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| Pic Courtesy: reuters |
They had already collected
Seventy three rupees and fifty paise
And three empty whisky bottles
And two un-burst bombs
And two empty boxes of sweets
Empty for the rich but..
With remnants of sweets still sticking on edges
Enough for the girl and mother
Enough for the girl and mother
To have a Happy Diwali feast.
Tonight was the night when
They could collect enough
For the next few days
Even after paying half to the beat-cop on duty.
In the din of crackers
And daze of sparklers
The little child and mother
Couldn’t help thanking
Lord Ram for having returned to Ayodhaya
Several centuries ago
And given them reason
To rejoice;
And sleep, after days
With stomachs nearly full
“Shubh Deepawali, maa” the child whispered.
“Shubh Deepawali, Lakshmi”, the mother responded,
“Let’s await Christmas, to have more….fun ”.
It’s really heart touching and I feel some tears in my eyes.
HAPPY DIWALI TO YOU AND ALL THE WONDERFUL KIDS .
Thanks for such a wonderful post.