Live like there’s no tomorrow

           It's 6 in the morning. He looked around with innocent eyes.

          

          “Where should I start from?” he must have thought.

Source : Google images

         Only a loose pair of shorts adorned his waist, even then he walked upright with a small broom in his hands. He couldn't have been more than 7 years though his life may have seen well above what a normal 7-year-old would witness in a life time. He had a small build but the twinkle in his eyes shone brightly even from a distance.

          

           After looking on both his sides, he chose the side away from me. A couple of steps ahead and he bent over to start his chore – more like his job.

         

           Sweeping in to-and-fro movements he stopped after a couple of times only to head over to my end and begin sweeping again.

          

          Once he chose to stop sweeping anymore, he walked up to the opposite end and stretched out his hand, this time to a fellow passenger – asking for money.

          

            He earned a few coins from the handful of train travelers and walked up to my end again.

          

          My dad handed him a 2-rupee coin which he graciously accepted before continuing his routine with the co-passengers.

            

           “Give him some more, dad.” I told my father. When dad gave him a 5-rupees in total, my mom called out to the little boy one last time and said – “Good job on the sweeping. The whole place is so spick and span.”

          

            Off he went towards the exit door of the train. He counted  the coins at hand and stepped off the train when the next station arrived.

          

The little boy had gone but he triggered an ocean of questions within me.

          

“Did he get enough money?”

          

“What food would the money buy him?”

          

“Why isn’t he in a school right now?”

          

“Where is his family? Rather does he have a family at all?”

          

“Do all of them ask for money in local trains regularly?”

          

            Seated in a train compartment with a 9-month old baby on my lap, wondering how life seems fair to some and turns into a struggle for others even for everyday survival, I thought about this week’s BlogAdda WOW prompt – “What if today is my last day on this planet? What would I do today if I knew I have no tomorrow left?”

          

The answer was right in front of me. Donate a part of my savings to sponsor an under-privileged child who needs financial support to live, to eat, to survive and most importantly, to learn.

          

                I may not be able to resolve this social issue on my own but if everyone donated to charity (irrespective of how big or small amount), our contribution would be so much higher and bigger.

Even though free education is provided all over the country today, a massive section of the society still choose to send their grown-up kids to ask for money in local trains and on streets, to acquire income for their survival.

After today’s experience, expensive gifts and getaways to foreign destinations don’t entice me as before knowing that I can help bring about change in a child’s life makes me feel proud and gleam with happiness on my last day of survival.

As I jot down these obscure thoughts, I realize it’s time to leave with a goodbye but also knowing the fact that someone, from somewhere will be happy for a better tomorrow.

Yours' truly,

**This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.**