The Old Man

After the long summer vacation, when I was entering the school compound, I felt something was amiss, but I could not figure out what it was. It was only in the evening, on my way back I realised that the old man who used to sit outside the school gate was no longer there. I later found out that he had died a week ago.

The old man had been outside our school gate for quite some days but I had noticed him just a couple of weeks before. I remember, that day we had a test after lunch break and so the entire lunch break was utilised for preparing for it. Lunch was forgotten and when it was time to return home, I dreaded to have my Mom open my lunch-box and find it uneaten. It was only while leaving the school, that I noticed the old man near the gate. I asked him if he would have some food and he seemed only too pleased to accept it. So I tore off a sheet from my note-book and emptied my lunch on it. The old man looked longingly at the food and raised his folded hands as if to bless me.

From that day, I used to occasionally give him some part of my lunch and my friends too contributed generously. After lunch, we would pack some food in a newspaper and give it to him while leaving the school. The old man never uttered a single word, but his eyes shone with gratitude everytime we gave him the parcel.

At times when I found him sleeping, I would silently leave the packet near his shrunken body. The old man had just a few tattered clothings on, and I wondered how he would protect himself in winter. I had made up my mind to ask Mom to give me an old shawl to gift to him as a Christmas gift, but God was more kind to him and opened the Gates of His Kingdom, rather than make him suffer the thorns of winter.