Usha
7:30 a.m everyday:They are outside my gate - a young mother with a beautiful kid in her arms and another slightly older, sleepy boy attending kindergarten. They wait there for the school bus that stops outside my house. Over the past week, a secret rapport has developed between me and the kid unnoticed by others - I wave to him and he smiles shyly. Earlier he would bury his face in his mother's shoulders and then slowly look up to see if I am gone. Now he knows I am a friend. There is trust and speechless bonding - as he stretches a tiny finger and points out things to me that I would not have observed myself - a blackbird on the electric wire, a squirrel running on the wall, rain water dripping from the palm fronds or a huge milliped slowly crossing the space between two trees. Following his little fingers, I see some miracle everyday. And another wonderful thing I see is how the child is totally in the moment - he smiles at these and you can see that he is one with what he observes and his whole being is happy. He looks at the bird as if it is the only black bird in the world and the only one he will ever see. His face lights up and the day feels brighter for me.

3 Responses
  1. Really nice, Usha - both subject and writing! Strange - we all instinctively know the Zen art of living-in-the-moment when we are children - and then we forget it and struggle to understand it again from big fat books!
    Asha


  2. Anonymous Says:

    Hi ma

    Very nice description of the whole process ... i could see the kid pointing and you following the directions. It is nice to see a kid fascinated by things that we take for granted.

    love,
    siddhu


  3. Swapnil Says:

    :)
    Made me smile.