The Young Boy - Part 1

She was wandering down the streets carrying her yellow bag. Maybe, she was looking for someone but she was not sure. She looked around to suddenly find herself among a lot of people. Each one of them looked busy. Everything was so vibrant. She tried to imagine a place without these markets and people, but she could not. She was not looking for familiar faces in the crowd, instead she searched for faces she could become familiar to. Her eyes fell on a young boy who was about 9-10 years old. He was wearing a khaki shirt and a khaki shorts and was running around with a tray full of tea glasses. He was going to each and every shop and was giving tea. When his tray of glasses used to get empty, he would go back to the small, tin shaded tea shop in the corner. He looked absorbed and content in his activities. It seemed as if that was his whole world. He exchanged smiles with everybody, and engaged in conversations with them. She wondered how could such a small boy be so content with selling tea. Instead of selling tea, he should have been going to school at that age. Did he not miss school and the fun that children have at school? Did he not wish to make friends?  

 All these questions were hammering her head from all different directions. Maybe, he had never been to school and he did not even know a single thing about school life. She wanted to talk to him. A loud voice from somewhere nearby came, "Azhar". The young boy with the tray of tea glasses ran to the big guy who was standing in the plastic goods shop and was calling out his name. Their tea had gone cold and he wanted Azhar to replace the cold tea with some hot one. He was shouting at Azhar and was blaming him that he had bought the tea very late to the shop. Azhar, was looking at him intently and was waiting for him to stop shouting so that he could explain. His face neither showed anger nor impatience. He  had calmness and serenity over his face. She wondered from where he had got such tranquility. It was important for her to talk to him. She would have to wait for a long time though. It did not seem like that he was soon going to take a break. She decided that she would come again the next day. She knew he would not go anywhere.

She grasped onto her purse, gave the boy a last glance for the day and started walking towards the main road. She could still hear voices behind her and people shouting out, Azhar, Azhar.