At the traffic signal: A child’s fight for a tricycle

Every day my return journey from the office brings me face to face with different experiences. While my car’s driver meanders his way through the traffic, I sit in the back seat and gaze through the car window, soaking in various scenes previously unknown to my affluent self. On one such evening, as the car stopped at a traffic light, I observed some commotion on the footpath opposite my car. Since the windows were rolled up, I couldn’t hear the voices, but the situation was obvious.

A five-year-old child was bawling loudly, holding tightly to the handle of a tricycle and trying his best, which was not good enough, to prevent it from being taken away by a ten-year-old child. The five-year-old was being supported by an older girl, presumably his elder sister, in fighting to clinch this prized possession. No prizes for guessing that the tricycle must have belonged to both of them, and the elder “bully”, if you may call him so, was trying to take it away from them.

All three of them were dressed in rags. The force being used by the eldest child to snatch the tricycle was directly proportional to the grip of the youngest child and his elder sibling. Neither of them was ready to give up. It was as if a tug of war was taking place right in front of my eyes, and all I could do was wait with bated breath for the result. Of course, I was hoping that the youngest child would get back his valuable gem. Well, I presumed it was his. There was an exchange of words which I could not hear, but this silent movie was very much understandable even without the audio. The fight continued for over a minute, which was the time for which my car was standing at the traffic junction. Finally, the eldest child let the tricycle go. Immediately, the youngest child’s weeping stopped. He wiped his tears and, holding his tricycle in one hand and the finger of his elder sister with the other, started crossing the road to the other side, presumably where his other family members were present. The bully child’s words and even a kick on his buttocks were not important to him. He had been able to retain his treasure. The entire episode made me wonder about the lives of these children. At a tender age, when our children are safeguarded, these children learn to fight for their rights, knowing fully well that if they do not do it, then no one else will help them. While our ten-year-olds are bestowed with the best material products at their demand and at the click of a mobile phone key, these children’s temptations get the better of them and train them to snatch something which is not rightfully theirs. As the traffic signal turned green, I thanked the Almighty for the blessed life He has given me and prayed for the wellbeing of all.

The writer is an educator author, and corporate coach; views are personal