I am special

It's been few days since this incident occurred but that particular moment seems etched in my memory and I guess it will remain so till the end...

I was attending a function; the tight packed hall and the body heat emanating from the crowd made me claustrophobic and I elbowed myself out of the hall for good and to breathe fresh air. Luckily there was a Kirana shop outside the hall and decided to get something to drink and snack....I looked around and found cemented bleachers on the far side of the hall and walked towards it. 


To my surprise I found a young boy(could be around 7-8 years of age) seated all by himself...Surprised, I asked him if his parents knew that he was here to which he nodded without replying and stared at my dew and pringles...sensing that I immediately offered him some...suddenly a smile burst from his face and I told myself, "AWW! He is so cute". 


I sat next to him and we took turns to sip dew and fish into the pringle pack like bum-chums. Then I noticed something strange, I looked again to affirm what I saw was indeed true...To my horror he found me staring and I wished I could bury myself that moment...Before I could speak he said, "See here, on my left hand I have 6 fingers and on my right, look, 7 fingers". For a moment I was speechless...I didn't know how to respond to that and even before I could react he removed his sandals and showed me his feet...7 toe fingers on the right and 6 on left....suddenly my mind was flooded with so many questions that ranged from sympathy to empathy..Like...Does his friends make fun of him? How does he feel about it???, How does his parents treat him??? Is he able to write properly, walk properly...etc....but I was so scared to voice it for the fear of hurting him....He seemed to be least worried or burdened with it, in fact he was so full of life that he started jabbering about his school , class, friends, butter chicken - his favourite dish etc...For a moment I was relieved that we were not discussing anything about his..err!!!I still cannot find a word to call it... additions????

Then he said after sometime, "Do you know my grand mother and grandfather have extra fingers that's why I have them too:)" To my surprise he spoke of it like it was no big deal...My parents tell me that I am special and God love me very much thats why I have these special fingers...They told me that when I was a baby and was sleeping one night God did some magic and the next day I had these extra fingers...My eyes welled with tears luckily I had shades to camouflage them...."Jeremy, you are indeed special", I told him and continued to share our dew and pringles.....

I have never met him after that incident but I learned a valuable lesson that the 
word handicap is in the mind and in our perception of it...Life is indeed a bed of roses if you magically transform the thorns into the positives you need to work on....