SAM

She was sitting near the window seat in the train listening to the songs in her I-pod when she heard some people laughing. She turned her head and saw two friends sitting and guffawing at their funny tales. Some old ladies were looking at the friends in disgust as in our society it’s morally bad for a girl to befriend a boy but here a boy and girl were doing hi-fives and laughing with each other in public. She smiled at herself closed her eyes and tried to get back to what her I-pod was playing. Unfortunately she could not do that now. Instead her mind wandered through a whole lot of memories and she went back almost 15 years in her life. Jia was sitting on her bed reading a book when she saw Dev standing by her door with tears in his eyes. “She broke up with me, Jia,” he spoke and fell down on the bed beside her. Jia closed her book and gave her full attention to Dev. “What happened?” she asked softly. “I don’t know. She just said we shouldn’t be together anymore...

“Can money buy everything?” he asked innocently. The question seemed to be a mature one from a boy of only five. Chacha smiled at this maturity and replied, “No, money can’t buy everything. It can’t buy love, friendship, or loyalty.” “And God? Can it buy God?” he asked quickly. “Of course not, Sahil,” saying this Chacha went to his work. * * * * * Sahil’s father died while working on a construction site and his mother was the lone earner of his family of four kids. She stitched clothes at night and cleaned dishes at day. Chacha was Sahil’s neighbour and he made gods’ idols for a living. Chacha was a sanitarian with kind eyes and a humble face. He lived with his youngest son who was an alcoholic. His daughter-in-law used to sweep and clean peoples’ home but still they didn’t have enough to feed their 4 sons and 2 daughters. ...