My Vagabond Life

By Sujata Chatterjee 

I was born in a footpath
My cries woke up the Humanity
My father was a pauper
People looked at me with pity.

My mother washed the dishes
As she carried me on her back
My nose running with sweat and dirt
As we dwelled in our little shack.

Humans brought me some morsels
I snatched from a dog, a bread
He snarled at me angrily
As a child barefooted I tread.

The sun shone down fiercely
I was a girl with a brown tan
Illiterate and unpolished to core
I knew not about paper and pen

My clothes were torn and dirty
I never brushed my teeth,
Urchin they all called me
No shoes I had on my feet.

One day I found a wallet
With a gold ring and a 2000 rupee note
There was an ID card in it
In the pocket of a discarded coat.

I knew not the value of money
I carried it to my mother
She looked at it so startled
Then at me with a little bother.

Her face was so somber and serious
She took me to the police station
Where she handed over the purse
I was unable to read her expression.

A day later, a big car came
Stopped near our little shack
A fair lady got down delicately
As my mother carried me on her back.

She met my mom and thanked her
Offered her a job in her home
She was childless, she adopted me
Of kindness she was an epitome.

We entered her marble palace
My mom cooked for her then
She put me to a private school
Where I got the education .

She said the ring was an heirloom
Glad to have it back again
I became a nominee in all her accounts
Mom's honesty was not in vain.

This was a rollercoaster ride
In my plain and vagabond life
I was a princess from then on
Gained freedom from all strife.

BY DR SUJATA CHATTERJEE