The Birthday

The cars kept coming . Mercedes, Porsche, BMW you name it ! The kids alighted, all of them resplendent in gleaming Nikes, Benettons , Polos . They stepped on the carpet lest their shoes get dirty. The party was already in full swing . Raj's 10th Birthday was a matter of extreme Joy to his parents and they had spared no money to display their Joy . Cooks had specially flown in from Delhi, Decorators from Autralia had made the home into a mini Hogwarts . The cake was a stupendous 10 feet high marvel. They had hired City's topmost DJ to entertain the kids, a livery of servant were on call .

The kids blew kisses in a poor imitation of their parents. They danced, ate, shrieked, chatted on Cellphones, and made merry. But there was one kid who was not making merry. He was staring wide-eyed at the spectacle. This was the first time he had seen such a big house. Back in his village, they used to have just a single room hut . It was only yesterday that he had come to Bombay for the first time. His mother was one of the scores of servants hired especially for today's party. He stared at their clothes, their cellphones , their gifts with disbelief. He wished he could also get expensive gifts like this. He had only 2 pairs of clothes, one of which (the one which was least torn) he was wearing today. His mother had washed him and applied soap, a luxury for him . After all, it was a very special day.

He suddenly saw something shining infront of me. It was a gold chain. It must have fallen off somebody. He picked it up in order to search for its owner. Just then one of the guests saw him and started yelling "Thief ! Thief" . The boy was stunned. He just stood there, paralysed. The kids started laughing at his shabby clothes . The owner of the house stepped forward and was about to slap the boy, when his mother came forward.

"Stop Sahib !!" , Said She, "I have stolen the chain and gave to him to keep"

The owner got very angry and slapped the mother very hard several times. He then instructed the Guards to throw both of them out.

Out on the street, the mother broke down. She could not stand and collapsed. The boy, too, now in tears, embraced his mother. He tried to explain that he was not trying to steal.

"I know", Said the mother between sobs, "I know you were not stealing "
"Then why mother, why did you do it " , Wailed the child.
"Its your birthday Chhotu", She said, " I could not let anything bad happen to you on your birthday" .

It was then he remembered that it was his birthday too, why his mother had cleaned him, why she had taken him to the city for the trip. He realised that he did not want any of those expensive gifts. He had got the best gift of all, his mothers love ! He just hugged her and smiled. She too smiled back . One bond had just gotten stronger !