By AYUSH JOSHI

I sat outside the lavish boutique, the display consisted of a lavishly done sari beautifully embodied making the mannequin more beautiful. Inside my giggling cousins were truing out dresses for Tihar ( The festival of lights celebrated in Nepal by burning oil lamps and bursting crackers ) and each time the other commented on the dress the duo burst out laughing ( girls I though). I fiddled with my cell phone and furiously typed an SMS to my cousin inside- let’s go please feeling bored! As I sat furious outside a little girl about 6 came near me and looked admiringly at the beautifully done mannequin.

The little girl who was highly impressed by the glitz inside the boutique she carefully tucked her plastic bag in her shoulder as a handbag , and dusted the speck of dust in her government blue school dress she was wearing and carefully touched the butterfly clip in her head that carefully parted he hair on each side.

Her mother called her name as she slowly guided her husband who was drunk, her mother looked embarrassed as her husband shouted absurdities and she was well aware of the stare being awarded by the passerby. The girl ran near her father and pulled his hand and said “father when we have enough money I want a beautiful sari just like that”, her mother told her to shut up and the little girl gave her a cold stare and again pulled her father’s hand and said “father I want green bangles” she fiddled through her faded plastic bangle in her little hand “we have money for that its just 30 rupees” she added stubbornly. Her mother again told her to shut up and dragged the girl along with her drunken father but the little girl was still nagging and demanding for her green bangles.

This really touched me as the girl who was barely six knew that her family was not financially strong to fulfill her desires. Where be the girl be in the future? I thought. Will she be just like her mother married at a young age; with a drunken unperturbed husband? And will her children share the same fate as her’s when she sees her child’s desires being raped by the inequality in the society.

God is biased I thought. Every one of us have bestowed equal fate in the almighty but his grace is bestowed upon only a few. There were people in this world enjoying amful wealth and in the other hand there were people who were uncertain about their future but still didn’t give up dreaming for a future they will never enjoy and dreams that will never materialize.

All the way home I just thought whether the little girl got her green bangles, as I listened to my cousins who fussed over the dress they had brought.