Where Pencils Are Scarce

A picture from our recent trip to Rajasthan that speaks a whole story.

On our way back from the Thar desert, in a still really remote region, we passed this village.....a village which had those typical mud walled houses that we've seen in movies of Rajasthan. None of the earlier villages I'd passed on the highway had this.......and it looked so quaint, that I had to ask the cab driver to stop for a picture.

Soon as the car came to a stop, this little girl comes running out. She's speaking in the local dialect, and she's speaking so fast, we can't tell what she's saying. There's almost desperation in her voice. You can almost see it in the picture. And then she's gesturing, and it took us that little while to realize what she was saying......she was asking for pens or pencils....... something to write with. 

It was such a touching moment......just to be part of her joy at seeing so many pens (was so glad for an old habit of carrying a bunch of pens at all times)........ then the ensuing fight with her little brother who had by then joined in, and how she gave him one pen and kept the rest.

Also a moment when you come to face to face with the apparent mysteries of life......this time a scarcity of a different kind.....one you take so much for granted. Guess it touched deep, as it created some really quiet contemplative time in the car.