☛ Creative Flight is going to celebrate Indian Literature in its first special issue (January, 2025), vol. 6, no. 1. The last date of article submission is 31/12/2024.

THE GIRL ON THE STREET

 


THE GIRL ON THE STREET

-         Neelam Saxena (India)

I saw her

Peeping into the window of my car

Begging…

 

My mind found it utterly disgusting

It questioned

Why do people beg?

It wondered

Why people like her would not work?

It queried

What makes the parents of little kids

Send them for begging

In the streets?

 

In the midst of my probing

I looked at her again-

Almond shaped eyes

Dazzling like diamond

With a lot of purity, simplicity and gullibility

Mingled with colours of enthusiasm in them…

My heart went out to her

And I had just opened the chain of my elite purse

When the driver turned the keys of the car

And it moved forward

The traffic signal had turned green…

 

I shouted at the driver

To stop the car

But

The screeching sounds of the horns

Of cars behind

Made me push ahead…

 

Her vibrant and vivid face

Always stays in the corner of my heart

And I often ponder

What was her folly

That she was not born into a family

Which could pamper her

With expensive toys

Indulge her

With chocolates and ice-creams

And send her

Into an exclusive school

For her education?

 

Is there no space

For such innocent and naïve souls?

****