Two shades of childhood !

To watch a kid is always a pleasure. They have this super power that can turn your gloomy day into a bright and shiny one, at least for a few moments. This is what I believed till a day when while shopping in the markets of Kamla nagar, I witnessed an incident. Two kids, both in their single digit age. Both of these kids did not seem very happy at that moment. One had "Mommy is not buying me stickers" issues while other had "No one here is buying my stickers" issues. There in the busy streets of the market was the most unpleasant sight anyone would ever want to see. Two shades of childhood. The solace of a protected childhood and the anguish of an abandoned childhood. The yellow and the grey.

They seemed to be completely two different worlds, one that was fulfilled by demands while other that was hollow with pleadings. One that was a boulevard of blossoms while another a dragway of withered dreams. One which never had enough while other that never could attain the enough.

It is very common to find such children in every nook and corner of our country. Little hands working hard to earn themselves a meal. And this is definitely not the pleasant sight I was talking about earlier. We resent it. We dissent it. We do nothing about it. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like for them to watch other kids of their own age having a better life. Correction: A luxurious life. A happy carefree childhood which they could not get. Their childhood lies in the dark and dingy corners where under every basket of sorrow they hide their weeping dreams. Such a condition of an early age undermines any possibility of a happy future.

Still lost in my own thoughts I was disheartened to see what happened next. The dream of a childhood walked towards the childhood of dreams. Both shades came face to face and after a simple give and take process there was a smile of satisfaction on both sides, the meanings of which were obviously diverging.

“Now I can brag about this batman sticker before my friends today"

“Now I won’t get beaten up today, at least I’ve earned ten rupees”

~~ उस चौराहे पे दो चेहरे थे बचपन के

एक जिसकी मुस्कान खिलखिलाना जानती हैं

एक जिसकी आँखें जवाब मांगती हैं ~~

picture credits :
https://www.facebook.com/varun.photoholic

https://www.facebook.com/puneet.vivid