Only 5 Rs.

The tip of the leaves ,that were drooping  with water that was shed by the silent rain of the night before ,shone  in the morning watery sun like as if they were plated with silver by an philanthropic jeweller who had worked all night ,through.
The arch formed by trees on both sides of the street as they met and rustled nudged to do so by  the gentle breeze whispered their greetings to one another and created an intricate lofty dome ,studded with emeralds of all shades intersped with those tiny sparkling  silver tassels .

The early morning sun and the fluffy white clouds in their light blue frame was reflected on a puddle on the street which was not only bordered by lily white long stemmed fragrant flowers but also a few floating in it ,having been displaced from their rightful residence ,the treetops, by the overnight guest.

I paused a moment admiring this fleeting scene and felt cheated of being devoid of my camera to record it.The best shots i often come across are those when i do not have a camera in my hand.

If i did have it and also took a snap would National geographic publish it in the photo of the day? A photo not of those gorgeous uninhabited  volcanic landscapes of Iceland or the greenish northern lights of the wild white arctic but of  only the eternal  regular visitor , the sun  that to not reflected from the unbelievably placid  picture card perfect lakes in unsullied environments  way up North but from a ordinary mundane street , that to in a dirty third world country?

Why hang them even before trying , so my thoughts went when a schoolboy peddled on with a even younger boy seated on his cycles pillion, on the way to the corporation school.
The young boy, fresh and ready for the day ahead with chandan and kumkum carefully circled on his forehead , was advising the older one.
" It is only 5 rs to tighten this creaking chain of the cycle .Why don't you do it?"

The adjective "only ' of the conversation heard in, snatches jarred on my musings.Wasn't it 5 ps in my school days and i was never scornful of the value of so small a denomination. And wasn't that boy from the nearby slums to be too disdainful of Rs 5?

They passed by and so has time.

I am still stuck in the socio economic values and aspirations  of  my younger days ,that of glorification of poverty and excessive emphasis on the virtues of abstinence and self sacrifice to the extent of total self effacement. . That kid showed me that.