Sitting in my comfortable car with the windows rolled up, the air conditioning keeping me cool, and my favourite music playing, I waited impatiently for the signal to turn green. Irritation crept in when I saw the timer — 120 seconds of red light. Insane.

With a lot of time to spare, my eyes wandered to a young boy, perhaps eight or nine years old. His worn clothes spoke of poverty and daily struggle for two square meals, yet his face wore a bright smile, and his eyes sparkled. He balanced a long stick on his shoulder with colourful balloons tied to one end.

“Aah, a balloon seller,” I thought.

He suddenly ran towards something. A SUPERBIKE at the signal. Though I couldn’t hear him, his expressions clearly screamed “Wow!” The bike owner, probably a young professional, smiled and gave him a high-five. The boy returned it, but his eyes never left the machine.

He asked something hesitantly. The owner nodded.

The boy’s face lit up. He circled the bike, touching it carefully, almost lovingly, as if memorising every detail.

With barely twenty seconds left on the timer, the owner gestured for him to hop on.

God bless him.

The seat was high, but the boy managed to climb on before the signal turned green. The owner revved the bike a few times, and the boy burst into excitement. Then the bike roared forward and sped away.

I, too, started driving.

A little ahead, after crossing the signal, I saw the bike stop. The boy climbed down slowly, still smiling in disbelief. This time, he gave the owner a high-five. The man gently ruffled his hair and zoomed off.

The boy stood there for a few seconds, watching the bike disappear.

He had just received one of the happiest moments of his life.

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Illustration Credit: Shivani Akant

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