And make a wish,
It would be realized."
Said the kid who was
Selling it in the traffic.
Selling dreams for ten rupees
Seems like a fraud.
But who are you to judge
The compulsions of
His hunger?
But when you see the
Same kid daily twice while
You commute.
A familiarity grows.
Your feelings soften.
You consciously keep
A ten-rupee note in the
Shirt pocket one day to
Readily give it away.
But you don’t see him
The next day.
And for many days after that.
And weeks.
And eventually, when that
Note goes away into your
Next cigarette.
The smoke you vented-
For a brief while, you were
Concerned about
How the kid must be
Breathing the same air.