An uneasy walk

Tears rolled down the cheeks of the little boy.

His mother had just beaten him up mercilessly.

He cried desperately.

The metal collars around his knees might have hurt him when he tried to walk.

Along with that came beatings from the mother.

His tears melted her.

She hugged him and wiped his eyes.

She was about to cry but held on.

There is a kind of loneliness that poliomyelitis gifts its victims.

A feeling of abandonment by the creator.

As a child, he would easily surrender to that pain unless somebody took up the fight for him.

His mother was a woman who wouldn’t give up so easily.

She held his hands and helped him walk.

Then she would release him to his path.

But, the moment she released her hold he would fall.

Everybody around was walking.

Cows and dogs were walking.

There was a river nearby which was flowing gently.

Even sand on the river bank was moving in the wind.

Other children were leaping into the water and playing.

There was movement everywhere; a movement without pain.

That boy might have felt completely helpless. 

For everyone, walking was such a simple thing and why couldn’t this boy do it?

Maybe because of that she beat him when he fell.

Whenever he walked a couple of steps there was tremendous joy on her face.

Though short-lived, it gave her hope.

It was a hope that only a mother could sustain.

Witnessed on the banks of River Godavari at Bhadrachalam, Telangana State.