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Friday, February 22, 2013

Jigri and Fikri


 
This smile has a long story behind it. Curtained by beautiful smile is a painful reality. This young boy calls himself Jigri and indeed he is one…a good friend. I don’t even remember his given name but I know his surname and it is Giri. His father and mother left him few years ago. He is ever so hopeful that his mother will someday come and take him away from his maternal home where he lives with his widowed grandmother, his elder brother and a young uncle. He says his mother is in India. Working. He doesn’t know where his father is.

 Jigri is one heck of a Kid. Full of life and stories too. It was one afternoon that we were working in our shed. Hammering away nails on dried up bamboo. And Jigri pops in. Thinking about the oranges in the garden I ask him to go and bring us few. Fresh. Right from the tree. There you go. Out he goes. About ten minutes later he is back. No oranges. Oh no. I ask him if he was not able to pick the oranges. He answers back-"No it’s not that I could not pick the oranges it’s just that I could not climb the tree and  reach them…If only I could..picking is easy". He gave us a good laugh and something to ponder upon.

Unlike Jigri,we have given his elder brother a name. We call him Fikri. Fikri has reputation of his own. Fikri is different.He is into some kind of destructive fantasy. Already a wanna be gangsta. He makes us worry about him a little every now and then. No big deal. It’s just that we don’t want to see yet another kid being wasted away,especially when it’s not his fault. 

Jigri and Fikri are the only two kids in our village who don’t go to the school. But not for too long. New session and you’ll see these guys in their school uniform. We have made a deal. They are always welcome in our place, any time and they will also continue to receive those free marbles every week. Provided that they go to the school. They are in it and so  are we.

They may be abandoned by their parents but not by us.