Spreading the smile

                     

Her mother was lying beside her,motionless,dead..She was raped
to death.It was not the first time that her mother was getting
raped.Being born and brought up in the streets,it was common.

She would be hardly 2 years old I guess.
She wasn't crying.
She knew that crying never worked,even when she was hungry.
Not with her mother,who happened to be her only family.She
had bitter memories whenever she cried too much and the scars
are still there.

Now,she was amused by the sudden attention she was getting.She
never had these many pair of eyes on her ever before.She could
see few women shedding tears.She wasn't bothered of the fact that
she was sitting in a pool of her mother's blood.

Nobody moved closer to her.She was tired.Weak.May be she hadn't
taken food for a while.May be all she need was a glass of water.
But no,not yet.It was time for the world to sympathize.

I could see that she was getting sick of the cameras.But still,
She wasn't crying.
The media wanted her to cry.They wanted the most heart-breaking
story.The front page photo of the little girl crying miserably
near the dead body of her mother who was raped by seven men.The
housewives should weep like a child with this one picture.And
then, after half an hour,they will move on with their routine life.
The TRP is going to be on the higher side today!

She wasn't crying.
She had no idea that fifteen minutes of the Prime time News will
be featured on her.Its something that people will die for these
days!Eminent personalities will analyse this situation,blame it
on the current society,talk about where India stand now,compare
with foreign nations,mix politics with it...but no,she won't get
that glass of water.

These thoughts were crossing my mind and then, our eyes met.....
Her beautiful little green eyes gazing at me.Her innocence against
my selfishness,her curiosity against my helplessness,the starry-eyed
versus the clear-eyed.

And ....She was smiling.Why on earth..,I had no clue.Yet she was
smiling.I never knew a smile could be this beautiful.I realised
that I was smiling back.Her smile is infectious !!

I was right.She was the topic of discussion with a life span
of fifteen minutes.Someone else was robbed and killed the very
next day and there was no column left for a motherless girl who
doesn't even cry..

Well,those little green eyes ..They are still as beautiful as they
were. She is there ,somewhere in the northern part of Kerala still
spreading her infectious smile.....