Careless with my loose change, I let a five-rupee coin slip through my fingers.
The coin hit the road, rolled for a few meters, and fell into a gutter that lined the side of the lane in one of the oldest areas of Delhi , Chandni Chowk....
Plop!
I witnessed the journey of the said coin with a lot of curiosity, not knowing where it would finally end up. But my interest in that coin ended the moment it fell into the gutter. The gutter was an open drain full of muck and dirt, as it carried the waste from homes lining the street, and contained, among other things, human excreta.
I simply pocketed the rest of my coins quickly, before another one was lost due to my carelessness, and walked away humming a song I had recently heard.
But soon after, the gutter met a human hand, and not for the first time.
I wasn't the only one whom the coin's journey had interested. But unlike me, that other witness' interest did not cease even after the coin had been lost in that dark sea of slime.
That night, a poor man ate two extra rotis.
The coin hit the road, rolled for a few meters, and fell into a gutter that lined the side of the lane in one of the oldest areas of Delhi , Chandni Chowk....
Plop!
I witnessed the journey of the said coin with a lot of curiosity, not knowing where it would finally end up. But my interest in that coin ended the moment it fell into the gutter. The gutter was an open drain full of muck and dirt, as it carried the waste from homes lining the street, and contained, among other things, human excreta.
I simply pocketed the rest of my coins quickly, before another one was lost due to my carelessness, and walked away humming a song I had recently heard.
But soon after, the gutter met a human hand, and not for the first time.
I wasn't the only one whom the coin's journey had interested. But unlike me, that other witness' interest did not cease even after the coin had been lost in that dark sea of slime.
That night, a poor man ate two extra rotis.
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