What makes you think ....

'Coming back home after a month-long "sabbatical" stay in kgp' .. i was looking forward to it . Though with the convocation in the insti this weekend , i guess i missed out on something . But then there were old,really close school friends back in town after a long time .... and i was dying to meet them.


Now , the last few days in kgp have been a real waste (almost ;-) ) . For one , i havent studied at all (other than the OS assignment which i completed real quick coz dpc told me of all the loopholes beforehand) . But the main reason is my new found love (OBSESSION is actually the word) for "ONE TREE HILL" . In the last four days , i have watched 22 episodes (the entire first season.. more than 16 hours ) . WHY ??? 'Coz i guess i just didnt have anything better to do and probably i liked the characters very much .


But its only when you get out of your 'holiday' mode back in kgp , that you realize that there is a big , bad world out here where people are still suffering . You see the numerous beggars on the trains (many of them truly not capable of supporting themselves :( .. ) and yet you cant really do much to help their cause . That's why i probably dont give money to beggars 'coz i feel that i will be unjust to the ones i cant give money to (i know it sounds like a stupid excuse .. but you cant possibly give money to every beggar that you meet) .... anyways ..


Now at howrah .. and suddenly arka was at his generous best ... so i gained a chilled "Frooti" in the bargain !!!! As i was laboriously tugging away at its aluminium 'sip-point' , this little kid (i dont want to use the word "urchin") came up to me and started pulling at my shirt . Now i initially adopted my usual "Sorry , but i dont have change" and "I absolutely fail to acknowledge your existence" stance . But the kid was persistent and he even quoted the price of letting go of my shirt (and mind you , he was pulling at it pretty hard now) .. an 'exorbitant' ONE RUPEE .


Obviously , the manipulative side of me decided to play the trust game . I told the kid to trust me and let go of my shirt first ... only then i would give him money . Initially reluctant , the kid finally let go trusting me to keep my word . And obviously enough i didnt give the kid 'ONE RUPEE' .

A few seconds later ....
The kid walked away from me , a little surprised and hopefully happier 'coz he had expected a hard-earned rupee .. he got a fortunate 'booty' of five bucks !!!
I walked away from the kid .. sad .. 'coz i just realized that i probably should have given more money to ensure the kid had a proper meal .

But then thats life ... unexpected surprises ... trying to do what is right but never quite doing it perfectly .... and a chilled Frooti to complement a clear conscience :)