A moment that shook a day

It was an overcast Monday afternoon. The traffic was not too overwhelming. I was on my way to the school to pick up the kids. We stopped at the traffic light just beneath the flyover and predictably a young girl runs up and bangs the car window begging for money. Her partner is doing somersaults off to the side. It is an everyday incident.

I wait till she leaves and look out the window again. Thick dark clouds line the sky and the afternoon is gloomy. A slow drizzle begins, adding to the dreariness of the afternoon.

It was then that I saw the three men. They were walking fast and purposefully all the while dodging cars, rickshaws, two-wheelers, assorted cows and the city buses. The man in the middle carried a white bundle. The bundle had a single marigold garland wrapped around it. The ends of the garland trailed almost till the ground.

The bright orange of the marigold stood out against the stark white background of the bundle. Something made me look a little closer. That's when I figured out it was the body of a child. A four year old I guessed. The small head was not fully wrapped. The father was carrying him in his arms. He was expressionless and walked fast cradling the child close to his chest.

I felt my throat choking up as I tried to swallow the lump lodged firmly within. My eyes blurred with tears - not more than a few feet away a father was carrying his son for the last time. He was taking him to the electric crematorium nearby to be incinerated in minutes. All he would be holding after this last trip would be the ashes of a once vibrant young child.

How many times had this same father carried that little one in his arms?

How many times would he have hoisted him on his shoulders while they both watched the spectacle of a festival?

How many times would he have felt him climb on to his lap while he was busy with something else? How many times would he have come home in the nights to have his son hurtling into his arms saying "Appa, carry me!!"? How could he carry him on that last journey and again how could he not?

A solemn moment lost in the chaos of everyday life. A moment to remember the heartbreakingly difficult nature of parenthood despite the joys a child alone can bring. A moment to curse the Gods above for taking away a small life so meaninglessly.

A moment to selfishly thank God for sparing your own family the misery you just witnessed.  A moment to be afraid of all the dangers in this world that could cause such a happening. A moment to feel powerless to protect a child against a crazy fate. A moment to hold close your own little ones and not let go…