The train was moving fast leaving behind the platform far away. Almost all the passengers had settled down. I kept my suitcase just below the lower berth seat. Since the air ticket was too expensive, I preferred two-tier AC.
The other two berths were occupied by a lady with her son, and the fourth one was empty. Maybe someone reserved it. I looked around and then opened my novel to reduce my loneliness. Five minutes later, I heard a feeble voice reading 'Crime and Punishment'. Shifting the book a little aside, I wished to know who it was!
‘Oh! A little boy! He was trying to read the author’s name. When he sensed being watched, he turned his face towards the window to avoid me. Seconds later when he looked back, I smiled at him, and he gave a return smile immediately.
Perhaps his mother was tired. She fell asleep soon after the train picked up its speed. Once again, I looked at him.
'What's your name?' I asked him fondly.
'Shiva.’
'Well, Shiva! Are you going to Delhi or will you get down somewhere else?'
'No, we are going to Delhi only.'
'O.K! Visiting someone?' I asked again.
'No, we are staying there,' this time he grinned at me.
'Well, you are in which standard?'
'Sixth.’
'Wow! You'll be a big boy now,' I giggled amusingly.
He smiled back too, shrugging his shoulders in style.
'Your mom is sleeping. Why don't you go and take some rest? Go, have a nice dream,' I said friendly.
'No, I don't want to sleep.'
'Then, what do you want to do?'
'I want to talk to you if you don't mind,' he answered.
'Oh, wow! I am impressed. Fine! Come here to my seat. We can have a conversation.'
He jumped over my seat as if he was waiting for my call.
'Well, Shiva! Let’s be friends, ok. You can talk to me openly, right? Is that okay?'
'Yeah, it's fine.'
He was delighted with my suggestions.
'Can we start?'
'Yes, yes,' said Shiva, coming closer to me.
'Can I address you 'auntie', please?'
'Certainly, Shiva, no problem. By the way, I am nearly your mom's age. No problem at all to address me 'auntie', okay?'
'Yeah, I know! But, once I addressed my friend's auntie the same, and she became furious. She offended me saying that I was not supposed to call her auntie. I was scared.'
'Oh, really!! Okay! It's fine with me. Don't worry and don't be scared.'
I noticed one thing, the way I assured him to be friendly, he was so delighted! I knew child psychology. Fondly I asked, 'Shiva do you like your school? What's it?'
'I am in D.P.S. I love my school.'
'Oh, I see! Okay. Which teacher impressed you much?' I interrupted again.
'Oh, teacher! I love my maths teacher. She also takes science.'
'Um..Why so? Other teachers are not good?' I asked in a funny tone.
'No- no, they are good. But maths and science are my favorite subjects and she always tries her best to solve our problems as many times as we want. She never gets angry. We are quite free with her. That's why,' he answered happily.
'O.K, now I got you. Well, now you tell me, what do you want to be in your life?' I asked him curiously.
'Me? Um, I want to be very, very rich.'
'O.K, but why so?' I asked him with surprise.
'Because, you know what! When I am rich, Mom and, I can travel by plane. First of all, our time will be saved, secondly, nobody will ever poke me that I have never traveled in a plane,' he spoke proudly.
'Oh, my God!! For this much only?'
'No, no, I have so many other wishes too. I want our own house not the rented one. Then, I will buy a beautiful car. I want a Mercedes, but it is too expensive. So I will manage with some other cars, but I will definitely buy a Mercedes if ever I will be rich.'
I could notice his excitement, while he was expressing his wishes. 'O.K, that's good. But, how would you be rich?'
'Um- I will be an engineer. And I will take big, big projects. From that, I can earn enough money to fulfill my desire.'
'Oh, Shiva! Come on, man! Suppose, you can't earn enough money from that, then what more do you want to do? I don't think, you can earn enough from that,' I added the question a little bit satirically.
'Well, if that will not be sufficient, then I will start some other business to increase my income,' he answered confidently.
'Fine, but tell me, you are traveling in two-tier A.C. It means, you have money, otherwise one can not afford it.'
'No, no, I am not poor, but I am not rich either. My mom gives me anything, everything whatever I want. I know, that after my father's death, she has become more sensitive. I told her so many times that I am a big boy now! But, she- she doesn't understand!’
'Oh, I am so sorry dear! I didn't want to hurt you. Anyways, so you want to be a rich man so that you can do something for your mom! Am I right?'
'Yes! But- but there are some other reasons too,' he said excitedly.
'Oh, really? What are the other reasons? May I deserve to know that?' I asked naughtily and tickled him to make him laugh.
He wriggled with loud laughter, avoiding further tickling. His mom woke up with his sound.
'No- no, mom, sleep. I am just playing with Auntie. Don't worry, sleep comfortably.'
'Shiva's mom grinned at me, then turned her side to linger her rest.
'O.K auntie, now can I tell you the other reasons?'
'Oh, yes, yes! I am waiting for you. Go on.'
'You know what? I have so many very rich friends. One of them is very showy. One day, he missed the school bus, so his dad came to pick him up in a Mercedes car. Continuously for one week, he was asking me whether I ever sat on a Mercedes or not, and besides that, he was going on telling me what he had in his house. A wall-size TV, expensive AC, wonderful bathroom, electric guitar blah..blah..blah. He knows very well that I have nothing of this sort of thing. I don't know why I feel very negligible myself, in front of him.'
'All right, calm down, Shiva! Look dear, you might have misunderstood others. Your friends are also in your age group. Don't you like to show something, when you have a new thing or something exceptional? The same thing might have happened to them also. They are not showy, but they feel excited to tell others, what they have. Never mind that attitude. Whatever it is, you are a small boy. It happens sometimes. You have enough time to be a good, gentle rich man. Would you like to be like your friends?'
'Oh, no! Of course not. But auntie, I have already noticed a disparity in the behavior of others towards children like me and towards the very rich children. I am not jealous of them, but whenever they repeat the same thing again and again, I feel bad. I often watch TV after finishing my study. But I am always confused about seeing the ads for anything, whether they are ever accessible for people like us or not. Once, I went to the market with Mom. I asked her to buy a good shower to replace our old broken one, in our rented house. But when we asked the price, it was too expensive. So we gave up. Mom told me that when we have our own house, we will buy these expensive items.'
'Okay, good. Your mom is right.'
Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by the catering boy's noise. The train slows down its speed in a small station.
'You want something?' I asked him.
'No, no. When mom gets up, we will have something,' he answered looking outside.
Despite his reluctance, I bought some snacks for both of us. In the meantime, Shiva came closer to the glass window on my side.
As the train picked up its speed, the outside views appeared, as if they were running.
'Auntie, look, look at that poster. It is so good!' shouted Shiva.
'Which picture?'
'It was a huge poster of Messi,' he said excitedly.
'Oh, Messi! You like football?' I asked him.
'Oh, yes. I love football and I love him. I want to play football like him only.'
'I see. That means you have so many aspirations. You want to be rich, you want to be an engineer and you want to be like Messi too.'
His beaming face told its own story! 'Yeh! I want so many things.'
In the meantime, Shiva's mother woke up from her sleep. She felt quite relaxed. She looked at me, then said,'My son is very talkative. He must be babbling. I feel guilty sometimes for not spending time with him. I do understand his problem but I have no choice. From morning nine o'clock till to evening eight o'clock I am in office. After coming back from the office, I have to cook and do other sorts of work. So, almost there is no time to spare with him. I know he feels bad, but I am helpless. I am the only earning member, single parent,' said Shiva's mother.
I was listening to her silently. My mind was overloaded with Shiva's sweet high aspirations and his childish arguments. As Shiva went to the toilet, I spoke to his mother very politely,' Ma'am, if you don't mind, I would like to suggest you something. With this two-and-a-half-hour talk with Shiva, what I have noticed is that he is a wonderful boy. I can't believe what an observation capacity he has!!’
I think, he is feeling lonely. He wants to share his thoughts, his happiness, and his sorrows with someone to whom he can express himself freely. He is not shy at all, rather he wants someone, who can understand his feelings. He is just touching his teenage, which is very crucial and important. A child gets happy, if somebody listens to him. He feels as if he has some importance. Not only does he feel like that, this is human psychology. So I think, if you can spare a little time with him out of your tight schedule work, he would become an amazing person! He is really such a wonderful boy! Just be on his side to fulfill his desires, and motivate him properly. I know, I am not one to suggest you all these things, but within this short period of conversation, I really feel he is very close to me. Give some value to his thoughts, I think he would show you wonders. Please, don't mind for my suggestions.'
Shiva's mother looked at me adorably. She nodded her head with full gratitude. 'Yes, you are right! I will try my best. Nice to talk to you,' she said politely.
By that time, it was already eight thirty p.m. Few passengers were ready to sleep. We talked a little more, then went to sleep too. So many things flung in my mind. Especially, Shiva's high aspirations. It is really beyond imagination to guess, what exactly is going on in a child's mind!!! I appreciated his thoughts and smiled at myself. I have no idea when I slept.
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