We beg needs, not greed

There comes a moment when you feel that a country is not really poor the way you see it. It is poor the way we treat the people out there.
I was walking down the street when I suddenly saw two kids roughly dressed in rugs rushing towards me. Their voice in an alien language asked for something. I was stunned for a moment at their way of expressing their appeal. I looked up for some coins in my purse and before I could take out one, I could see hope in their eyes. The hope of some joy, hope of sleeping with some food that day, the hope of some relief and hope of making a satisfactory appeal. Unfortunately, I had a few notes but no coins in my purse. I nodded my head in negation. With their blank expressionless eyes they looked at each other, smiled with a nod and left. Are they so much used to such negations? The younger of the two was in some way trying to ask a reason for being turned down empty hand. But the elder would just kept his hand around his shoulder and pat his back.
My eyes kept gazing at the boys as they went farther. I shouted for one, “Oye suno..”. The younger one was like waiting for this call. He came running to me and straight away offered his palm to me. I kept a ten rupee note on it. More than the reflection of a note, I could see contentment reflecting in his eyes. But it didn’t last for long. His elder brother (as he seemed to me) returned me the note with a nod. His worldly experiences has made him realize their limits or has set a bar on acceptance of offerings too. He realized it was more than they ever get from anyone on the streets. I bent down to my knees, pulled his cheek and put the note in his half torn pocket. Patting their backs, I stealthily kept another note in the pocket of the junior one. I guided them through the road crossing and left for work. I was waiting for my bus at the stand. To my amazement, I saw the junior rushing on the roads and searching for something all around. My bus arrived and I got in. With my elbow on the window’s bar I waved a bye to them. His hands were carrying the note in it. They started running behind the bus and signaled me to stop. I asked the conductor to stop the bus. I stepped down to ask what the matter was. The junior was breathing high. “We don’t need this di, Its extra. We don’t. haaaaah”, said he in his panting voice. I stood speechless, blank and lost. I could hear no horns, no calls and no shouts. The bus left leaving me behind and so did the boys.
Don’t we really need to grow up? Beyond the limits of need and greed lies a line of contentment that we never realized. Be the lesson from these boys or life, It is never too late to learn. In the midst of this materialistic world where we live, our values are far below than those displayed by these boys. One is not poor by money, but by greed. Accept this fact and be open to the lessons that life tries to teach you every day in some form or the other.
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Thank you.