The Flute Boy
It was a few weeks back that I saw the "flute boy". He could not have been older than ten years and although he was short, thin and tired, he had a shine in his eyes. A shine that was his only connection to his childhood.
I could not take my eyes of him. He was carrying a huge heavy bamboo stick around which were tied innumerable stacks of flutes and other little things for children. He walked towards the shop looking worn out. He put his load down and with a sudden careless shine in his eyes, started playing the flute. The tune of, "tujhe dekha toh" from DDLJ was very familiar but adult all of a sudden, yet he played it with such ease!
I was purposely trying to delay what I was there to buy, rapt as I was in listening to the little boy's flute. Another boy walked into the shop with his mother. But he was of course very different; he came from an affluent family. He hopefully had a wonderful childhood ahead of him. He bought loads of chocolates and on the way out insisted on buying a flute. The mother, extremely annoyed and irritated, couldn't care less. Not even looking towards the street child, she bought her son the coveted flute. The flute boy didn't exist for her for he was just part of the scum of the street that she would most willingly want to get rid off. It was almost like he wasn't human for her, but was rather a thing, just like the odd wrapper thrown on the street. He would be swept away unnoticed too.
My heart felt as though it had been taken out, beaten up, and pushed back inside, wounded. Bleeding inside, I felt so helpless. For a second, I wished to go back into my protective shell, my home, and never again be part of such pain that ripped through my entire being. But, thankfully, those feelings lasted only for a second.
It was ironic that in order to give other children a smiling childhood, this poor boy had to sacrifice his. As he picked up his wares and walked off, I stood there stupefied, wondering how long would it be before that light in his eyes fades away and the load that he carries on his slender shoulders becomes too heavy for him.
It was a few weeks back that I saw the "flute boy". He could not have been older than ten years and although he was short, thin and tired, he had a shine in his eyes. A shine that was his only connection to his childhood.
I could not take my eyes of him. He was carrying a huge heavy bamboo stick around which were tied innumerable stacks of flutes and other little things for children. He walked towards the shop looking worn out. He put his load down and with a sudden careless shine in his eyes, started playing the flute. The tune of, "tujhe dekha toh" from DDLJ was very familiar but adult all of a sudden, yet he played it with such ease!
I was purposely trying to delay what I was there to buy, rapt as I was in listening to the little boy's flute. Another boy walked into the shop with his mother. But he was of course very different; he came from an affluent family. He hopefully had a wonderful childhood ahead of him. He bought loads of chocolates and on the way out insisted on buying a flute. The mother, extremely annoyed and irritated, couldn't care less. Not even looking towards the street child, she bought her son the coveted flute. The flute boy didn't exist for her for he was just part of the scum of the street that she would most willingly want to get rid off. It was almost like he wasn't human for her, but was rather a thing, just like the odd wrapper thrown on the street. He would be swept away unnoticed too.
My heart felt as though it had been taken out, beaten up, and pushed back inside, wounded. Bleeding inside, I felt so helpless. For a second, I wished to go back into my protective shell, my home, and never again be part of such pain that ripped through my entire being. But, thankfully, those feelings lasted only for a second.
It was ironic that in order to give other children a smiling childhood, this poor boy had to sacrifice his. As he picked up his wares and walked off, I stood there stupefied, wondering how long would it be before that light in his eyes fades away and the load that he carries on his slender shoulders becomes too heavy for him.
posted by Rustling_Leaves at 2:30 am
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