Amar.......

All set in a mood to read and write since early morning today I wrote three blog pieces and they are yet to be posted.Finally I could not resist writing something on Amar when I saw him smiling at me when I offered him biscuits early this morning.

Amar, his smile refreshes my mind each time I look at him when I am back from office.Maybe a bad day working on my usual client deliverables is forgotten the moment he comes to see me!And when I wake up each morning and see him with the infectious curve on his face before I leave for the gym it is like "he made my day".

Wait.......Amar is not my boyfriend or fiance nor is he my adopted son! Just another little boy from Nepal working in the north.......Every year probably lakhs of immigrants come from Nepal and Bangladesh in search of employment in India.Nepal sees the immigrants working in the north mostly as domestic helps and Bangladeshis get employed in the east.And there are children amongst them to tell their story......

Amar turned 14 yesterday.He remembers his birthday and can read the calender.A little of English too........here and there!He believes he has no birthdays no celebrations no rights to the normal happiness a child is entitled to. His birthday also began at 4 am like any other day of the year.How do I know? Early morning note of the utensils when he starts washing them.Probably his age we never used to wake up on an examination day to revise.....That too when the mercury is dipping at a low of 7-8 degrees in Delhi.The older domestic helps are snoring at that time.......

The kid is the eldest of the family.He has younger ones whom he wants to be like us, he says.......He earns and saves for them.If you listen to his worries it ll sound like he is much older than 14 and his siblings are his kids.His vexations span from his siblings not studying to his savings for his family........and "To be continued"..................