Are we there yet? My little eight year
old mind moaned ruing the earliness of the hour. I cuddled my snuggly Hello
Kitty blanket, lovingly called my booboo (my first word apparently), still soft
despite the frayed edges. It’s still 7:17am.
Eyes closed, I rested my head against my car’s cold window on my journey to
school, blissfully shunning the dusty pot holed roads and Delhi’s grey landscape.
The chaos of merchants jostling with colorfully ornamented rickshaws, was
mercifully drowned by the humming of my luxury car.
“Miss! Miss! Only 2 rupees.”
I sluggishly rubbed my eyes to see
a scruffy little boy straight out of a Dickens novel, persistently knocking on
my window. The three feet imp had a cheeky grin, and his overgrown mop fell
lazily over his big brown eyes, that glinted with the wisdom of a boy beyond
his tender years. His enthusiasm outshone his bedraggled state, as he eagerly waved
a newspaper with a sales pitch that would have made any business graduate
proud.
“No school today?” I quizzed him, handing
over the loose change in my pocket.
“Nah,” he replied, tightly grasping
the coins in his blistered hands that hinted at the life he had lead. “The streets
are my school. I get by on my wits, only wish I could read the papers I sell.”
As the red light turned green I watched
his fading figure waving emphatically at me. Here I was about to enter the
gates of my privileged school, where I moaned about the mundane in my pampered
existence. And here was this little entrepreneur, risking his life as he veered
through the reckless traffic, through the pounding monsoons, bitter cold and
relentless heat. And yet, instead of sympathy he garnered an instant likeability.
Raju became my friend and I looked
forward to our daily anecdote exchanges. Worlds apart it was our similarities that drew us together; our unbridled
passion for life, our shared love for the movie star ShahRukh, and our dreams.
Years passed and one day Raju never
showed up, though I looked out for him daily. I never did find out what
happened to him. Raju taught me to see my daily commute with new eyes, and each
journey as my first. I noticed beauty and details in the mundane and learned to
dance and laugh in the rain.
On the cusp of adulthood with the
optimism of youth, I believe Raju and I will fulfill our dreams. We will both
make it in this mixed up crazy world. Life is like a potholed journey; I have
begun to smooth them out by mentoring the Rajus of the world. There are no
dress rehearsals, this is opening night and I am going to give it my all,
knowing it is my journey and not the destination that counts.
Am I there yet? Not yet, but I am
on my way. My journey has just begun…I hope to see you there.
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