I had slugged through the night, moving in and out of consciousness and had somehow managed to finish my chapter on Auditing (except of course the few things you detest to your core and don't touch no matter how desperate the exam attempt) by, what I like to think must have been the first light of dawn. And the joy and satisfaction of a week long endeavor having finally reached its conclusion made me rush out of the 24X7 library to stretch my legs and get some fresh air.
Outside, the air had a faint smell of dust after the morning customary-make-people-believe-we clean-up sweeping prevalent in the streets of Delhi, and the early morning light had an almost magical aura to it. I was pacing to and fro when I saw a girl and a woman walking in my direction. The girl had a limp, and a crutch to go with it. That's the first thing I noticed and I felt sorry, but then as my eyes moved up to look at this poor creature that seemed to have one leg longer than the other, I noticed she was smiling, with her mother. A very happy carefree smile. She had a limp, yes. But the crutch she was leaning on was probably a stick to ward of all the sick psychos here who leer at women like I leer at food. The crutch seemed that unnecessary in light of the positivity she was radiating whilst still meters away from me! I looked away. I wasn't one of those people to stare and remind her she had a deformity. Besides, she didn't look like she needed the sympathy. They walked past me and stopped infront of the library. She let go of her mother's hand that was just lightly held and walked into the gates of the library. Her mother paused for a few seconds and then turned around to leave. The smile on her mother's face had vanished. It now showed the real worry that probably plagued her waking moments. But it only showed for a split second. It'd gone even before it had time to fully register in my head. With a strong face, she walked back. I had to follow that girl back in. Maybe soak in a little more of the addictive positivity? I walk back in, and notice her crutch is gone, probably the guy at the entrance desk kept it somewhere. She looks for a chair, one hand grabbing on to the table for support. An empty chair stands just beside her. Obviously she'll take it, would save her the trouble to limp without the crutch. She looks down at the chair but decides against it, just like all the people with proper legs staring at her had. It's too close to the entrance door. She turns to the left and starts walking in search of another empty chair. People stare at her, some pity her, but it doesn't matter to her. Traces of the smile still linger on her face. I want to help, but I don't know how. She didn't seem to need the help. Would it not be insulting to go help such a perfectly able person? But I should, right? Confused, I rush inside to my table and sit down boring my eyes into the books, barely reading anymore. The whole situation a little too overwhelming for me.
Often I have tried to describe the exact feelings the girl invoked at the time, of the effect it left on me, but never did the words come out right. It will suffice to say this, in a city of 11 million people, all it took for this girl was a smile to make me wish her friendship. Or maybe it wasn't the smile, it was the amount of life she was full of. So infectious was her aura that I had an eye at the door every dawn since then. But like in stories, I never saw her again.
Outside, the air had a faint smell of dust after the morning customary-make-people-believe-we clean-up sweeping prevalent in the streets of Delhi, and the early morning light had an almost magical aura to it. I was pacing to and fro when I saw a girl and a woman walking in my direction. The girl had a limp, and a crutch to go with it. That's the first thing I noticed and I felt sorry, but then as my eyes moved up to look at this poor creature that seemed to have one leg longer than the other, I noticed she was smiling, with her mother. A very happy carefree smile. She had a limp, yes. But the crutch she was leaning on was probably a stick to ward of all the sick psychos here who leer at women like I leer at food. The crutch seemed that unnecessary in light of the positivity she was radiating whilst still meters away from me! I looked away. I wasn't one of those people to stare and remind her she had a deformity. Besides, she didn't look like she needed the sympathy. They walked past me and stopped infront of the library. She let go of her mother's hand that was just lightly held and walked into the gates of the library. Her mother paused for a few seconds and then turned around to leave. The smile on her mother's face had vanished. It now showed the real worry that probably plagued her waking moments. But it only showed for a split second. It'd gone even before it had time to fully register in my head. With a strong face, she walked back. I had to follow that girl back in. Maybe soak in a little more of the addictive positivity? I walk back in, and notice her crutch is gone, probably the guy at the entrance desk kept it somewhere. She looks for a chair, one hand grabbing on to the table for support. An empty chair stands just beside her. Obviously she'll take it, would save her the trouble to limp without the crutch. She looks down at the chair but decides against it, just like all the people with proper legs staring at her had. It's too close to the entrance door. She turns to the left and starts walking in search of another empty chair. People stare at her, some pity her, but it doesn't matter to her. Traces of the smile still linger on her face. I want to help, but I don't know how. She didn't seem to need the help. Would it not be insulting to go help such a perfectly able person? But I should, right? Confused, I rush inside to my table and sit down boring my eyes into the books, barely reading anymore. The whole situation a little too overwhelming for me.
Often I have tried to describe the exact feelings the girl invoked at the time, of the effect it left on me, but never did the words come out right. It will suffice to say this, in a city of 11 million people, all it took for this girl was a smile to make me wish her friendship. Or maybe it wasn't the smile, it was the amount of life she was full of. So infectious was her aura that I had an eye at the door every dawn since then. But like in stories, I never saw her again.
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