It was a summer afternoon. A Saturday. I planned to go out for a movie with a friend. We got tickets for the afternoon show. Like typical weekend fever, all the other shows were housefull. We were discussing how we are so used to be in air-conditioned places during afternoons. We also cracked a joke that weekends are always hotter than the weekdays. Obviously for the reason that we were exposed to heat only on weekends.
So. We took an auto-rikshaw to head to the ‘air-conditioned’ multiplex. We stopped at a signal. I can never forget what I saw at the signal that day. A woman beggar was at work with her around 2 year-old son. That young kid’s back was completely burnt and was exposed to the summer afternoon heat! The kid was not crying. It was patiently holding his mother’s hand. It woke me from my slumber. After the signal got green, we again headed towards our luxurious destination leaving the child to his share of pains.
It happens quite often with most of us. We come across people in exactly opposite situations. For some reason, we cannot exchange places nor can we help. All we can do is sympathize.. Empathy is still a mile away.. I guess that’s the irony of life!!
So. We took an auto-rikshaw to head to the ‘air-conditioned’ multiplex. We stopped at a signal. I can never forget what I saw at the signal that day. A woman beggar was at work with her around 2 year-old son. That young kid’s back was completely burnt and was exposed to the summer afternoon heat! The kid was not crying. It was patiently holding his mother’s hand. It woke me from my slumber. After the signal got green, we again headed towards our luxurious destination leaving the child to his share of pains.
It happens quite often with most of us. We come across people in exactly opposite situations. For some reason, we cannot exchange places nor can we help. All we can do is sympathize.. Empathy is still a mile away.. I guess that’s the irony of life!!
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