4. KID on the Beach

It wasn't long ago that I came across this kid on the Beach, but before that there are quiet a few things that need to be cleared before I get to the kid himself. First of all the Beach, definitely I'll have to tell where is the beach as its definitely not in Bangalore, why did I go to there.........And all the other things surrounding the kid which i believe are equally important if not more......

One of the best things you get to do while working an outstation project, is that you get to travel, one such place I got to visit was Chennai, where I spent a good six to eight months, all alone for most part of the stay. When you stay alone in an unfamiliar place for that long, one would try and find ways to kill time.... Being alone was never a problem for me, like this statement that I read [though i don't read much] somewhere- "I talk to myself because I like dealing with a better class of people". And in my own company I would often venture out into this unfamiliar city at the end of my days' work, obviously to familiarize myself to the city, one such place was THE MARINA BEACH, the same beach which I had visited as a KID myself in my school days, the same beach where I started smokin' for the first time and like all the Smokers after the first cigarette, I too think that every other cigarette that I light is my last one.... even to this day.

On one of those lonely evenings in the good company of MYSELF at the beach, was this SELF EMPLOYED kid selling baked beans, with a pinch of salt and pepper, flavoured with not so ripe mango pieces. The Kid marketed himself pretty well in front of his prospective customers and I for one was impressed with his marketing,[I leave the marketing by the kid to the imagination of the reader] and I bought a plate of baked beans at a cost of Rs.5/plate and paid him ten bucks....He innocently took the money searched all his pockets for the change and said he's not got the change, but being the smart ass that I am, I told him I can hear the sound of five rupee coins in his pocket. For that, what he said was so impressive that I took a picture of the Kid and asked for his name. I told him to keep the change for himself in exchange for the pic, as he had told me that he was collecting the five rupee coins......

About a week later when i visited the beach again, sitting in the same place where I was the last time, I saw the kid again doing what he does best, selling baked beans...... this time the kid recognised me and reminded me that I had taken his pic, sometime back. This time again I bought a plate of baked beans and gave him ten bucks, guess what, he returned me a five rupee note and left in search of new customers [at that moment, I wished the kid did not have the change, so that I could ask him to keep the money and take another pic]. After some time he brought his friends around [self employed kids] and was telling them the story of our earlier meeting. I could see the blush on the other kids faces, as if they expected me to click another picture of them....

May be I could have named this part as "Prem", that was the name of the kid but in spite of knowing his name, the kid remains a stranger.....and HE was special. Special because at some point in time in my life, even I had tried to save coins as a kid, Now I just hope He's saved enough COINS to buy something more important than what I had tried to save THE COINS for......