Sunday, August 26, 2012

Empty Thoughts (Flash fiction)



Chotu stuck out his tongue in amazement as he saw the trays of delicious mouthwatering food bring brought in. He smiled as he heard the laughter around him. Everybody seemed to be having so much fun. He could hear the clinking of glasses mixed with the incessant chatter around. This seemed like a happy place to be in.

The burger looked so delicious with a cherry on the top. And the noodles, they seemed like satin ribbons ready to melt in your mouth. The large strawberry sundae laden with chocolates and nuts reminded him of his sister Pinky. Her favourite colour was pink. ‘She would have surely loved this…and Ma would have enjoyed here like anything.’ he thought ‘….will get them here someday. They would be so happy.’

His grumbling stomach brought him back to reality. He had not earned a single rupee till now today and if he did not earn anything the entire day they would have nothing to eat tonight.  He put his empty thoughts to rest and ran towards the entrance of the restaurant. He started approaching the passersby. 'Mai….bahut bhook lagi hai..kuch khaya nahi hai….. bhagwan ke naam pe kuch de do…

=*=*=*=*=*=

26 comments:

  1. Good One Me...Beggary is an evil God knows when we will manage to eradicate...Sad!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jaish, apart from beggary the worst thing is a child doing this when he should actually be playing somewhere!

      Delete
    2. When we start feeling that this is also our responsibility, only then probably we will be able to eradicate.

      Delete
  2. You have struck a chord . a nice, short story with a lovely message, and ending. This is one of the major social issue (child labour/beggary) which always made me think a lot and motivate me to do something.

    Now whenever I read your short stories, I try to go along with the flow and keep doubting on the story line that there is something else in the story which is yet to come and to surprise I have found it different every time. But this time I made a nice guess(in the second paragraph) which turned out to be true.

    Keep it up :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Child labour and beggary is something that I think are the worst evils for a society.

      OMG... so you seem to have got a hang of my flash fiction writing style.. glad you could guess it this time :)

      Thanks!

      Delete
  3. Very nice me. Not only you have highlighted beggary but the plight of children into it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jas....glad you liked it!

      Delete
  4. It's very sad but you expressed it well...

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am totally against begging and hate it .. BUT then when we see how little kids are used and those who cant afford have no other choice but to beg..
    maybe those who have more can make sure to give a bit so a few dont go hungry and those who waste food need to see what these poor souls have ot go through


    Thought provoking

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree Bikram, however much we all hate there is very little that we have been able to do about it till now.

      We all need to collectively make a conscious effort to eradicate such evils from our society.

      Thanks :)

      Delete
  6. You put me into tears ( do not put up any apology line please.) But i had tears when I read it. I sat calmly for few seconds. You know Whenever I go to manipal, I see many kids running around the one's who just came out of the atm's. Apparently its said that there is some big business happening behind these begging.

    Coming to the point, when I see the kids running towards me to beg, I do not give them money or something, only because of what I mentioned above, instead, I dig on my handbag, and see if I some eateries, I hand it over to them. If I do not have, I just go to a small shop, get small packet of breads. This was taught by my aunt. She gave this tip and it helps. Kids are happy and so are their tummy and I am not helping any person who uses a child to beg around in the streets.

    Your scribbling has a strong message. Keep it up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I will not apologise for bringing tears to your eyes... rather I would take a bow for having managed to touch your heart :)

      Your aunt has taught you such a beautiful thing Sridevi which we all need to learn and make it a practice. I have also witnessed we take pity on these kids and give them money only to see their parents have taken that from them and used for smoking / drinking or other such waste.

      You are right in saying we should give them food to avoid any misuse of the money given to them as alms!

      Thanks so much :o)

      Delete
  7. oh privy, i give thanks to God for every meal i have, thanking Him that i could eat whatever i want, anytime i want to. unlike the poor people who cannot even bring food to the table, not knowing when they would eat next.

    this was beautifully written. <3 :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you are right Irene, we all need to be thankful to God for everything that we have rather than crib for somethings that we don't have. There are so many unfortunate people out there who don't even have anything with them.

      Thanks so much:)

      Delete
  8. Hey such a touching post ME. The loved the narration. I loved the post. keep writing :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much Sukku, glad you loved it :)

      Delete
  9. Hi dear,
    Me also have seen such kids when I went to Bangalore on a college tour. whenever I see or hear about such unfortunate kids, something hard strucks my heart. That brings some heaviness in my heart. I also try to give them food items instead of just money. This too on the thought of a maphia that can be behind them. I really wish I could do something for them.
    Very heart touching story..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes dear, we all wish we could do something and we even do our bit. But perhaps the problem is so huge that it needs more people to come together for it.

      Loved your approach in dealing with them!

      Delete
  10. Some pain arose somewhere in the mind.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks dear.... glad my words could do that!

      Delete
  11. Begging is a crime. And using children to beg makes it far worse. Loved the ending. I had never thought that the child was a beggar.

    Keep writing Me.

    I've been through an incident when a kid held onto my leg and didn't let me walk when I came out of the ATM. I had no choice but give her money. And ten rupees didn't suffice. She didn't leave me till I handed her a twenty rupee note. And I turned around to see her hand over the money to some man.. *Sigh*
    When I called her back and bought her biscuits and tea, she refused to take it saying that the man would beat her up. I wish I had stood up for her. But my car parked in a 'no parking zone' and the police siren stopped me. Still feel guilty about it.

    <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can understand... but it is not our fault. It is our helplessness which pinches us the most here.

      Thanks :)

      Glad you loved it dear!!

      Delete
  12. as always...you are kind a magician...so much to ponder on the feelings of this young chap...
    sometimes i feel how could you write such heart wrenching fictional plot which are absolute real and happens every now and then...it's really felt pity for the child...and hats off to his thinking...any child would love or in that matter anybody would love to eat those delicious items...but what came to his mind was his family...great...!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually I met this boy when I had gone out for lunch. I saw him, gave him lunch to eat but there was something in his eyes which refused to leave me long after that. And that is what gave birth to this story.

      Thank you so much for loving it so much...though I would say you are being too kind with words!

      Delete

Would love to know what you think about this.....

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...