The boy who stole the Lemons.

"The boy who stole the Lemons" ... The unpredictable rains are back with a bang ... it has been pouring all night at times showing off its 1000 Watt shine (lightening) and in between grumbles (thunder) trying to scare all from sleeping cuddled in warm blankets on and off ... in the wee hours it decides to take some rest and pours on gracefully bringing about a cosy comfortable coolness in air ... 

** It's still dark out there with very low visibility as I slide away my window pane to look out so that I can enjoy some fresh early morning rain and breeze ... there is always something magical about splashing about in rains and my mischievous mind decides to catch on some fresh rain water ... something I loved doing through childhood, Aaahhhaa i guess the child within us always lives ... 

** Looking around to make sure no one is watching, I lean over my window, stretching out my hands, palms cupped to catch in some of the pure showers of heavenly water ... I splash some on my face and sip on a little too, the pure rainwater directly from the skies beats all bisleri or aqua water bottles ... 

** I begin humming "rim jhim ghire savan, sulag sulag jaye mann, bhige aaj issa mausam mey" lol, it's my favorite one during monsoon for over 4 decades to date ... suddenly to my dismay the rains decide to take a complete U turn and roar back haphazardly, bang on in full force completely drenching me and everything nearby ... 

** Sigh, reality drawn, I decide to slide the window pane back in place, before it drenches the upholstery of my rocking chair placed nearby ... as my hands reach out to close, I freeze coming into eye contact with a small boy all of 4 yrs standing by the line of cars in parking area ... we look at each other for a minute and my mind goes about wondering what??? 

** As the boy slowly tries to hide the plastic bag in his hands, I realize they are filled with a few lemons while in his hand was a lemon stringed together with chilies ... these are actually, a lemon with 7 green chilies strung together and tied in front of vehicles to ward of evil, a practice followed by vehicle owners all round India ... 

** My heart was filled with agony as we both looked away in shame, the poor boy at being caught in act, while me being ashamed that there was still so much of poverty in and around us ... the boy just turned away and ran off in fear clutching the bag of lemons tightly, while I just closed my window disturbed and deep in thought ... 

** For hours through the day, that innocent face kept bouncing back with just one question ringing in my mind ... who was at fault?? the boy? his situation? the crisis we are facing? are we all not at fault?? ... we have been an Independent country for over 7 decades, yet, we have not turned ourselves into a completely developed nation ...

** It's high time to bring about changes ... a country where children are still deprived of food and education will never prosper coz, today's children are tomorrows nation builders, the future of the country is in their hands and it is our moral duty to strengthen them ... the only way out is to see to it that, no child ever goes to sleep hungry and each child out there gets equal and impartial oppertunity to full- proper Education.

//OM Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya// 

** Disclaimer : I have written this article on something I witnessed decades back and that which stuck in my mind bringing about memories every monsoon of the incident occurred ... the picture is from Google and credit goes to them ... I have no intention of hurting anybody sentiment and if done so it was not intentional, so do forgive if done so ... May the kind God forgive me if there are faults and bestow his choicest blessings on each one of us always ...