The Boy on the Street

Sometimes small incidents can teach you a lot in life. I had gone to a shopping arcade in Gurgaon some days back. Since I didn’t get any parking space in the open parking lot, I parked my car at some distance from the market in a by-lane. After shopping, when I was going towards my car, a small boy started following me. Though his clothes were torn and dirty, his hair were nicely combed and he had a pleasant look on his face. He had some packs of pencils in his hands which he was trying to sell to me. As it was extremely hot and I had a lot of stuff to carry, I tried to shrug him away the moment he came near me. But he was very persistent. He kept following me till my car and kept repeating the same sentence again and again. “Le lo aunty, mujhe bhook lagi hai” (Please buy the pencils so that I can eat with the money you give as I am hungry). “Aapni beti ke liye le lo” (Take it for your daughter). The scorching heat had made me very impatient and irritable and I scolded him the next time he tried to strike a deal with me.

The poor boy must have sensed my irritability because he didn’t utter a single word after that. But he didn’t even stop there. He kept following me silently till my car. He waited patiently till I loaded my stuff in the car, drank some water and made myself comfortable. He knocked again when I turned on the ignition and said, “ab to le le, bahut bhook lagi hai”. (Please buy the pencils now, I’m very hungry).

I was least interested in the pack of pencils he was offering but I didn’t want to argue with him anymore. So, I took out a 10 rupee note and gave him. He took the money and forwarded the pack of pencils to me. I told him to keep both the money and the pencils because I didn’t need the pencils. “Nahin nahin, yeh to lena hi padega. Mein bina diye paise kaise le loon.” (He said that he would not accept the money if I didn’t accept the pencils). I tried to tell him that it was ok for him to take the money and go but he was adamant to accept money only if he could sell his product.

Then he said something which surprised me and made me feel very ashamed. “Agar aise hi paise lene hote to mein bheek hi mang leta, Aunty”. (He said that if he wanted money like this, he could have begged for it on the streets like a beggar).

I was dumbstruck by his attitude. Those 10 rupees were very important for him. He had invested so much time and energy in trying to convince me to buy the pencils so that he could get those 10 rupees. And probably he was telling the truth that he was hungry. I could see his bones jutting out and peeping helplessly through his torn clothes. But in spite of being offered money, he refused to accept it till he could sell his product. I never expected so much self respect from a small poor boy of his age and background. He probably didn’t even realize that he was trying to maintain his dignity of labour by not taking money from me in charity. But the attitude and confidence he had in himself was something I had not seen in many well educated and affluent people of our society.

I took the pack of pencils from him and gave him the money. I asked him if he went to school. He told me that he and a few other boys went to a charitable institute, every evening, to study. A lady voluntarily came to teach them. I asked him if I gave him the pencils as a gift, will he sell them again for another 10 rupees. He said if he wanted to do that, he would have taken the money in the first place. I told him to keep the pack of pencils and distribute it amongst his friends in the evening as a gift from me. The boy smiled and took the pack from me. He took out the four pencils and put 1 in his pocket. “Meri pencil bhi toot gayi hai. Ek main rakh leta hoon, baki teen apne doston ko de donga”. (I’ll keep 1 as mine is broken and give the other 3 to my friends).

I smiled and rolled up my window. As I was leaving, I saw the boy waving from my rear view mirror. This is a very small incident but whenever I think about it, it makes me humbler and more grounded.

As Mahatma Gandhi has rightfully said “They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them”, this anonymous boy on the street was a true example of this phrase. His poverty had not given him an excuse to become a beggar or lose his self respect. Lack of resources had not diluted his spirit to study. I wish we all could learn a lesson from such boys on the streets and try to make a difference in our lives.