Beware!

Half of you look at me with pity. Yeah sure. But pity isn't all it's cracked up to be, is it? You might pity me, but you still roll up your windows and look the other way. At least some of you have the decency to pretend to do something else. Like play with your fancy cell phones or feign interest in the mundane billboards and so-called scenery. Yeah, it's only when you see me at your window that the trees on the other side of the pavement suddenly look interesting, don’t they?

Sure, some of you even deign to throw a few coins at me, making sure not to touch my grubby hands. Who knows what kind of deadly diseases I might have. Not that I’m not grateful or anything, but how's a few coins going to help me? Seriously. Does it make you feel better? Like you've fulfilled your service to society? Like you've done your good deed for the day?

Some of you pretend not to see me at all. Why would you? After all, I just might ruin your appetite. Or worse, make you feel guilty about the nice food you're going to eat. Or the nice clothes you have. Or the secure world you seem to live in. What? Do I threaten you in some way? Make you feel insecure?

Well it should. Wanna know why? I'll tell you. I used to be like you once. Oh yes. It was years ago but I still remember. I used to have a wonderful family. A roof over my head. Clothes to wear. Food to eat. I even used to go to school! That is until a stranger offered me a ride home. Yeah, I used to be gullible, but not anymore. I never did reach my home. He made me get into an auto and then he blind-folded me. Said it was a surprise. Yeah, it was a surprise alright. Specially when he took me to some warehouse and broke my knees and blinded me in one eye. After that I remember a long train journey but I was in too much pain to notice anything else.

When we reached our destination, he took me to another warehouse where there were other kids like me. All handicapped in some way or the other. Talking in different languages. Wearing rags. I was also given rags in lieu of my school uniform. And there I was, just another face in a multitude of faces. We weren’t given much to eat. Just some stale bread and something that could have been water.

Life became routine after that. If you can call it life. Every morning, the man would come and pick us up in his car and drop us on some street corner with a dire warning that if we didn’t bring back a certain amount of money by the end of the day, he’d do worse to us than break our knees. We were left there to beg for our keep and were picked up every evening. All our money went to the man and in return, we got a place to stay and something that resembled food.

At first, I tried to escape but it was tough because of the language problem. Besides, nobody even spared a glance my way when I tried talking to them. I didn’t realize that I was being watched and every time I tried talking to someone, I was severely beaten at the end of the day. Once, I even tried talking to a policeman but that just earned me a box on my ears. Apparently cops don’t like helping us either. I think that was the worst day because that evening I was not only beaten, I was also molested. God, that was the worst punishment ever and I’d make damn sure I did not offend my captors again.

I’d like to think my parents tried to find me. Well, if they tried, they didn’t succeed. It’s been six years and I’m now twelve years old. They probably won’t recognize me even if they saw me. Oh heck, there’s nothing wrong with hoping. After all, hope is all I have.

So, the next time you see me at your car window, it would be nice if you didn’t treat me like a non-entity. It would be nice if you really would do your service to society and maybe throw some food my way instead of a few measly coins. And before you roll up your window or pretend to not notice me, just remember:

I used to be like you once.

If something like this could happen to me, it could happen to you as well.

I’m still being watched.

Act too smug and you just might become a target too. It’s not that difficult to follow you home or to your work place.

Above all, remember: You’d feel justified in feeling insecure when you look at me.

After all, anything can happen.

Anywhere.

Even to you.