Both fell in love once again looking at its surroundings soon they entered its restricted camp. The serene locality which they left almost two decades from now got afresh their memory back.

Rabin, an Ex-Air Warrior and his wife Gitu were walking through the curvy but slightly uphill lane of Subrato Park, New Delhi. Suddenly on the way, he discovered Biren, a longtime friend who happened to be once one of his office colleagues there. Their bosom interaction ended with a forced invitation.

“Rabin, am besieged to meet you after a long span of audio-visual separation! Hence, I won’t let the two of you go like this without having lunch at my service quarter? Please, don’t say me, no!” Biren almost forced them emotionally to say eventually, yes.

They tried refusing Biren to visit his home as they were heading for AFWWA Thrift shop. However, his sentimental approach made both to rethink for an hour of stopover at his home forthwith for a palatable lunch. It’s also true that nobody knows when they could meet this way once again. The happiness of meeting two friends each other suddenly after many years, itself is a great sense of excitement in one’s life.

Despite not wanting, both begged a bye from Biren after a toothsome lunch. Straightway the duo came to the magnificent shopping complex to buy some arts and crafts for home decors. Subsequently having finished their pick up, decided to sit on the bench arranged inside the complex lawn. Being it was a sunny summer day, they wished to have some ice-cream cones to mitigate the heat for a while sitting with other compatriots around.

Took vanilla flavoured for him and a strawberry for Gitu as he knew her choice and both were busy lickings. They talked a lot while relishing cones especially compared to the eminence of the camp then and now.

All of a sudden, when Rabin turned his head and eyes, he saw three little cute kids possibly between four to six years of age. All of them were stared at his frozen desert in the lure of the lick. Out of them, only one had worn a pair of slippers and the rest two were barefoot even though the surface was too hot to walk on without footwear. Meanwhile, soon he saw them; they were chanting to and fro, thinking if he could have owed for them too.

“Uncle-uncle, could you please fetch an ice-cream bar for us too? Only one will do, and we shall share it turn wise among us. Please uncle”, appealed by one of them so placidly. Putting her tiny hand on Rabin’s right elbow, the pretty little baby among them lovingly said stuttering, which meant, ‘uncle, I too like to have one.’

Rabin’s flimsy mind got occupied with compassion. Handed over the remaining portion of his ice-cream to Gitu for a minute, he caught hold of their tiny hands and fetched three more chocolate-coated ice-cream bars for them too.

Made all of them sit beside both, continued enjoying their ice-cream together with a cordial chat. He enquired many things about them such as, whether they go to school, what their parents do, etc. 

The eldest amongst them named Manoj, introduced everyone’s names one by one patting on their backs wittily. Pushing his ice-cream bar on her face, said jeeringly, ‘uncle, she is Pankhuri but she doesn’t have Pankh (feather)’. She chews throughout the day like a goat.

He could not hold himself from cackling before he concluded the intro. And then, the other two babies also joined him and made a fare of laughter. Looked them so fresh like three full-bloomed roses. All three angels Started dancing cheerfully all around, gazing at one another with ecstasy after having finished their ice-creams.

Seeing the three of them jostling with joy not only raised the contentment to an inexpressible height for the couple but also, attracted the attention of others sitting on the lawn.  

It was learned that they were from a nearby slum and their parents work as unskilled labourers at some construction sites inside the Air Force base camp. Sometimes they get work and sometimes don’t. Sending them to school is like building a castle in the air for their parents.

‘Uncle, my parents use to be inebriated almost all the days’, Manoj whispered in Rabin’s ears. In the cadence of talks, he also painfully said that he and his siblings get physically assaulted by them regularly. Hence, they roam stray.

“Uncle, I also get beaten up badly by my parents, Give nothing to eat sometimes and I have to sleep in our makeshift with an empty stomach”, said the other adorable small boy in a faintly audible voice.

They don’t go to school but wander around throughout the day and eat whatever could get from the people in the camp. Due to not having any good carers, probably, it was not possible for them to go to school.

Rabin was broken listening to them spoken by heart. What worth could he do, except to hear them mindfully?

Simultaneously, it baffled him for a while, thinking about their future prospects. Soon they grow up; it would be very difficult to know the direction of their life to start with. With the lack of proper education and upbringings of these children, there is a chance of getting exploited for sacrilegious activities by some of the perpetrators around.

These socially excluded children who have just learned how to walk are abandoned carefree. Growing up unhindered and uncultured, they are prone to addiction and many other unlawful activities. As a result, numerous criminals are born out of this lot.

Many things jammed in Rabin’s mind and he lost in a different world for a moment. Gitu said by distracting him snapping her fingers, “hello, where are you mislaid, they are gone, wake up and let’s move”.

He got his sense back in a jerk. This unique incident has left an everlasting impression in his mind which leads him to take full care of education for two poor children on coming home.

Rabin is an Ex-Air Warrior and a new story writer. Playing the African Dzimbe drum and many blowing instruments is his passion. He loves to write poems and fiction stories in his leisure