I was riding home from office today when a spectacular sunset made me stop right in my tracks. Technically I could not stop, since I was in the middle of heavy traffic, but my heart skipped a beat and behind the scarf covering my face, my mouth opened into a huge O.
More than the sunset, it was the novelty of being out there in the summer breeze and soaking in the fast receding daylight, after so many months. The sheer freshness in the air made me want to jump and skip my way home. So contagious was it, that I ran up the stairs to my home, dumped my bags and went for a walk. The first step I took reminded me of how much I had been missing this…..the sheer luxury of just walking out, without a destination to reach, without a time to keep and a thought in mind.
My brisk steps surprised me, since I wasn’t actually in a raring hurry….but the adrenaline made me go on. And as I walked on…..the little joys of life met me round each corner. Thank God, the road was full of bends 😉
I walked on with thoughts of dinner slowly creeping into my mind. Grocery lists began to float and my feet made their way to a store. Lost in thought, I bumped into a little child playing with a balloon. The child was someone who called the footpath his home, who roamed the streets without any footwear and who begged for his meals, day in and day out. He was balancing a MacDonald’s balloon in his hand and his face bore a huge grin.
The irony of how the balloon must have reached him, caught me off-guard. A child, perhaps the same age, having thrown a tantrum, must have acquired the balloon. Quickly bored, the balloon must have passed hands….and here was the ultimate benefactor, dancing along the footpath with it. His deep black eyes were filled with mirth and his hands were quick to share his prize. For the next few minutes, a 23-year old happily played along with a 6-year old. Both of us were from such different backgrounds, but the happiness shared over a single balloon was just the same.
According to the society, we belong to different lands. The Great Divide. The Rich and The Poor. But in the light cast by that spectacular sunset, both of us belonged to the Land of Not So Much.
Because ultimately, it takes Not So Much to please us…… 😉