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No. This is not meant to be another jargon laced lecture on why the climate is changing and what should be done to mitigate this  and how it should be done and other such crap.It is just about how I felt today as I was passing by the Ganga ghat area and decided to take a halt and walk down to the ghats. The first thing that stood out was the relative solitude on the ghats today, given the sharp fall in temperatures over the last fewdays. Nevertheless, there were a few who were there braving the inclement weather and of course the hawkers- where could they go after all?

Good, I said to myself and turned back to return to where my vehicle was parked. It was only then that I noticed them. They were three children aged between 6 to 9 years and their parents huddled around a dying fire with nothing on their bodies except worn-out and almost thread bare clothes. Now this was no big deal you would say.Yeah, but here’s the best part coming through. I saw a dirty, little street dog shyly walk up towards the group and cautiously approach the smallest of the kid, waving its tail all the time. The kid had been laughing over something along with the others and they all were shivering slightly- you could see that. And yet, when the kid saw the miserable little dog approach him, he signalled the poor creature to come closer and be by his side. Now, I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the dog was not their pet. But this was probably a kind of street-brotherly love that transcends the “barrier of species”- may be. And man, was the little old, son of a bitch happy!, he was overjoyed by the gesture and his tail was saying it all.Now, our kind, little friend didn’t stop at this. He actually covered the dog with a worn out, what- must- have been a shawl and all this while, I could see that the guy was shaking and shivering himself. His parents and brothers meanwhile were poking fun at him for snuggling up to a dirtly, smelly, flea-infested dog, but our guy didn’t seem to give it a damn and laughed back at them.As I left this strange scene and walked ahead, I realized strangely enough that I was smiling.I did not know what my other expressions were like as i witnessed the entire episode but as i left I could feel a smile and it seemed to have happened with out my knowing it. It didnt happen the way it happens when we see something funny and smile, it just happened. Probably, a sort of natural response to whatever my eyes saw and then the interpretations of the brain and then the reflex action- a smile. Simple.

Now this is not what I meant to talk about really. Actually, as I walked back, two strange questions popped in to my consciuosness out of nowhere?First - Would the same kid behave similarly if were born rich? Second, do such people really understand that its not nature thats doing this to them, it’s their own species that has brought this wrath upon them and strangely though the one’s who are responsible, those who make the big bucks by mindlessly exploiting the natural resources , in the process wreaking havoc on natural ecosystem, remain unscathed, enjoying a life of luxury in the comforts of their ill-gotten castles.Strange are the ways of God.Hmm