"...Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table
But you only want the ones that you can’t get...

I watched on dispassionately at the flopsy razzmatazz of bedecked women, neon lights and showy malls on Gurgaon's busy MG road-when suddenly a scraggy little hand jutted before me. "Just one rupee, madam!" she pleaded. I moved on a few steps but the little one tagged along, this time tugging at my shirt- I recoiled and headed straight towards the mall-this would be a "safe" place I thought.Inside there were colourful banners, smiling faces and glossy manequins. I walked on when suddenly a heart wrenching cry and a loud thud pierced my senses. "What was that?" I asked myself, and noticed a crowd of men jostling for space. Did I know what it was or else why did I not inch forward? I rushed out of the mall, got into a crowded auto and returned home.

I sat with my morning cuppa the next day,and opened the crisp pages of the Hindu. "GIRL MURDERED IN CROWDED GURGAON MALL" it read. The vagaries of existence-all too prominent, and so well defined, they mock my beliefs, ridicule my superstitions and sneer at my notions.

In the evening MG road was once again beaming-the neon, the crowds, the glamour and the buzz, everything was in place. Business as usual one might say!! And the scraggy little one was there before me again. I took out a two rupee coin and gave it to her. "Bhagwaan apka bhala karein"!! she said and walked to the nearest tea stall for a cup of tea.