The Red Ball

The Red Ball

Kisna was very happy today. It was the end of his 4 month long wait. His Baba had finally bought the shiny red big plastic ball. Bishan could not decide which was shinier..his son’s eyes or the ball!! They sparkled so..it filled him with such a sense of achievement..he had brought this sparkle to his son’s eyes after all. It hadn’t been easy for Bishan to buy that ball, it had cost a full Rs 25.

They lived under a bridge, on the footpath along a busy road. Kisna was born here and had seen all the fancy shiny cars whiz by, had grown seeing rich people riding in those cars. Sometimes the cars would stop at the traffic light and Kisna would run to them. Never to beg but to look inside, to get a glimpse of "their" world and with his child like sensibilities he had always known it was not meant for him.

So when his demand came it was all the more surprising. In all his 5 years Kisna had never once asked for anything from "their" world but now he wanted "the ball"..the red shiny big plastic ball he had seen in the long black car. If the kid inside could have it, he wanted it too, weren't all of us from the same God as amma always said?? He will eat only 1 roti the whole day..wont that save enough money to buy the ball?? Bishan was helpless in front of such innocent logic and such determination only a child can show.

He had gone to the store and was told the price...a full Rs25. He quickly calculated, from the odd jobs he and his wife could find they made about Rs 30-40 on good days and about Rs 10-15 on bad ones. Rs 15 went everyday to the local police guy for the space under the bridge. Or was he the local goon, well he could never tell the difference. On the good days they ate almost 3 times a day which left them with nothing or maybe a Rupee or two. Hmmmm this way he would never be able to buy that ball for Kisna!! He will have to find extra work and maybe all of them will have to forgo one meal...maybe then Kisna himself would give up his demand. That was a sound plan. So they worked harder, scrimped and saved and Kisna never gave up on his demand...he just got more obsessed with it.

It took Bishan 4 months to finally come up with Rs 25..his wife had been upset. Why buy a stupid ball when you can get a warm blanket??

But finally Kisna had his dream ball. "amma see how red it is" he was running around with it barely able to hold the ball in his small hands. "Baba look how it shines" "your eyes shine brighter Kissu". Kisna jumped with joy and finally decided to let the ball bounce on the dirty earth. How he squealed with delight. Seeing him so happy Parvati could no longer grudge the ball either. They looked and smiled at each other in parental bliss and turned towards their many chores.

All around them the world went on as as usual. Today the screaming honking cars did not bother Bishan so much. From the corner of his eye, around the streetlight pole he saw the ball bounce by. For a moment the world stood still and then it all became a blur. In a blink of an eye the big red ball was on the other side of the road and Kisna in the middle. And Bishan could not decide which was redder...the ball or his Kisna's body.