Desperate for a useless crumpled note
I take the metro to the office, and outside many metro stations, I can see vagabonds.
They approach many travellers, seeking alms, and follow them until the travellers have entered the station premises, at times, following them to the point where the escalator is.
These people usually stay on the roadside under ramshackle plastic cabins, with utensils lying around the cabins. There’s no kitchen, bathroom or a defined space for different activities.
One can see grime accreting on their face, forearms, fingers, and I guess it was because they didn’t have access to clean water to wash themselves (talk about fundamental rights).
Boy outside the metro station
A few months ago, I was heading to the office, bathed and dressed formally, and I had taken out my wallet to pay the autorickshaw driver.
I handed a crumpled 10 Rupee note, might have had a little slit on the top, to the driver, and he instantly refused to accept it.
I was looking for the coins in my wallet, which took me a while, when out of nowhere, a boy clutched my forearm, asking for that 10 Rupee note, which I thought was worthless.