Thus it was that a group of children were playing tag, or “catch-catch” as the game is popularly known, at a parking lot, darting between cars and motorcycles left there.
Children are blessed with an immense sense of imagination that allows them to turn even the most mundane of objects into toys and games. One needs to watch children at any functions, such as weddings and parties, where a boisterous gang prances around chairs and flower pots as the adults are busy chatting and catching up with each other.
Thus it was that a group of children were playing tag, or “catch-catch” as the game is popularly known, at a parking lot, darting between cars and motorcycles left there. An acquaintance narrated how he had parked his motorbike and gone into a shop to make some small purchases when a young boy crashed headlong onto his bike.
While his heavy bike bore the impact, the boy was hurt and began bleeding from a cut to his lip. Our friend picked up the child and washed his face but since the bleeding didn’t stop, the rest of the children quickly escorted him back home, which was located in a slum settlement nearby.
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To our friend’s consternation, a group of slum residents soon descended on the spot and surrounded the offending bike. They demanded compensation, claiming that the vehicle had hit the child. Luckily, some of the shopkeepers, who had witnessed the mishap, came out and helped defuse the situation. Our friend could only thank his stars, wondering what the incident could have turned into.
Tailpiece
“The older one grows the more honest and less polite one becomes but this is often mistaken to be grouchy behaviour!” an elderly gentleman was overheard laughingly telling his co-passengers in the Metro.
(Contributed by: Deepak Razdan and Asha Ramachandran)
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