Rain rain...go away

It was raining hard and heavy. But that did not deter me from choosing my Green cashmere coat and putting on my green pencil heel peep-toes with the beige chiffon dress. It was going to be a very special day and no weather could change that.

As I walked along the pavement to the Metro station, I cursed the rain in my undertones. Rains always brought with them additional traffic delays and jams, water logging and of course, the mud which could spoil my shoes!

As I snapped at the thought of getting late for my appointment with my manager, who was obviously going to announce my promotion and my new job responsibilities, my pace quickened. “Ouch…watch your step lady”, I almost fell when a man collided almost head-on. The impact pushed me away from the pavement and my foot turned around. I sensed a sprain and heard a crack. The sprain was ok, but what crack was that? I looked at my shoe and the heel was split into two. Wow..what a start to a very special day.

I had two options now – either to run home barefooted or to go around and find a cobbler to attach this dissected piece! Home was too far away, so I started to look for a cobbler. Don’t even begin to ask me if how I walked because I cannot explain it…oh the tripping…duhh!

I felt something grab my coat with muddy palms, nightmarish as it may sound, I turned to retort. My special green cashmere coat, for which I had been saving for years! “What the hell…” and I almost snapped when a little child’s eyes caught me. Abruptly, I was taken aback a bit. “What do you think you are doing spoiling my clothes with your dirty hands. As I clenched my orange umbrella with my hand, I felt the rain soaking him to the core, his clothes were tattered and torn, he was barefooted, and maybe I saw the tears mingling with the rain water, I am not so sure.

I bent down to his level and he said in a shaky voice “Someone pushed me and I was about to fall. I am sorry Miss”. My heart exploded with deepest regret. Here I am, worrying about my coat and the heel, and just look at this guy. What world am I residing in where reality has been diluted and selfish materialism rules? I took his tiny muddy palm and went to the nearby chai stall. It had an umbrella. We sat down on the small slab there. “Chai piyega?” I asked him. He nodded with approval. He drank his hot chai with almost a hurried eagerness. “Where is your home?” “I was with my mother, she is a beggar near the metro station. I was going to get some water for her.”

I asked him what else he wanted to eat and he ordered hot pakodas and bread. “Can I take some for my ma?” “Sure, why not” As he ate, I looked at him, and I looked towards the metro station – there were many people rushing like me and there were many beggars left at their fate, and the likes of me never even looked! “I think you should wear some shoes” I went and brought him some warm shoes from a nearby pavement. Delighted with his new belongings, he just looked at me and smiled.

As he turned around to go, I waited with a sigh, put my hand on his shoulder and said “wait”. I slithered away my coat and put it on him. “Its very cold out there”. He took his hand and with the mud stains on the coat now being washed with the rain, I could see the sadness wash away from his face. He turned around and ran away.