Ashifa, the god’s child.

Who says, that a homeless child is only hungry for food and shelter?

So the other day, me and my family went to a temple and I met some kids there, we fed them and asked if they wanted some clothes. Everyone nodded except one of them. I noticed that child for a while, she seemed a little off. Then when they got up and going back, I followed them to talk and just know them better, mostly because I had time to roam around and talking to strangers, knowing them, telling them some of mine works as therapy to me. So I talked to the girl who didn’t nod back there. “Hi, are you okay? (Of course in hindi) what’s your name?” She replies skeptically, “Ashifa, you know everyone who comes here offers what you offered, we definitely want clothes, food and maybe a shelter but what about the love and care we don’t get. Do we not deserve that? What sin we performed that we are lacked of this very privilege?” She sounded very sad and was on edge of crying, listening to this my heart crunched. “Are you alone?” I asked. “No, I have a younger sister who on the contrary knows about what love and warmth is. I tend to give her every left drop of feelings I could. I just wish that what I feel, she never gets to feel that.” I was shocked to my very core listening to her. Such a young age for talking about these issues. She turns and points towards the temple and continues, “everyone states a person’s a god’s child, no one is orphan right? They are wrong, they don’t know about anything, the colder cold we suffer, the hotter summer, soul drenching rain we go through, which parent allow their child to suffer like this?” In this she stopped and sobs. I wipe her mouth with a piece of tissue in my pocket.

I try to comfort her saying, “want to know one thing? Everyone in this world has no one, at least not all the time. At a point of time, everyone loses their companions. But at the end of the day they end up with themselves. With no further argument they suffer, they go through a lot, but they face everything at the war zone themselves and that’s what keeps them moving on. The cold you feel, the hot loo you feel, will give you marks and wounds, those wounds will make you remember the time you overcame. The feeling of loneliness you filled with yourself. You will be the strongest of all because you have already known the pain. Maybe its easy to say and ten times harder to go through but what is the truth without being ugly right? Never give up, you have to hang on and be there for your sister and the life that god gave you.”

She rose her face to me and says, “Thankyou for talking and making me smile.” Her eyes magnified like a bulb filled with electricity. Then she was called by her sister. I asked her if I could click a photograph she says, “Why do you want to click me?” I replied “because you inspire me and maybe your story can move the readers too.” On this she laughs and goes off with her sister.

I hope to meet her soon.

Love,

Sakshi.