Children With Burden

Marching with placards carrying slogans of 'Equality and Education' ..
People had come out of their houses today to promote a mission ..

But as i walked along with peer supporters of the Human rights ..
A lean and thin figure at a corner caught my sight ..

Carrying a bag stuffed with empty bottles and cans ..
His body missed a shirt and his skin bore a deep dark tan ..

His dust covered face could only afford a fake and fragile smile ..
And the deep cracks on his heels suggested he had covered many a miles ..

With an intimidating roughness , his eyes looked old and wise ..
But one could find an adorable innocence behind those young eyes ..

Those eyes had seen lesser days for he was yet to be a teen ..
But they had seen more of this World , than i had seen ..

Handing over few coins to a shopkeeper,he bought a loaf of bread ..
But strangely he didn't eat it full and kept half of it in his bag instead ..

This act of his completely blew me away for now i realized ..
There was something that made him choose this way of life ..

Someone back home waiting for that half crust ..
Someone he had to support, something which made his working a must ..

Seeing this helpless kid i was dawned with a realization ..
That protesting against 'Child Labor' was not the complete solution ..

Stopping them from working was a goal easy to achieve ..
But the bigger challenge was to provide them a better life to live ..

This kid toiled hard to earn his daily bread and butter ..
But by not doing so could his life be any better ? ..

Now that i had seen this guy, i was not sure what's right and what's wrong ..
Whether i should quit the protest or just march along ..

'Stop Child Labor' from the crowd came a sharp and determined voice ..
But i stopped there, wondering what will the kid choose .. if given a choice ..