A childish struggle by a little boy on a busy roads of Hyderabad to earn money for survival and to support for his family will make his little dreams shatter. This is a story of a little boy who are struggling to get some buck by selling some designer baloons.
Mohammad Sameer, a six year old boy, still feels sleepy, but he has to sell all the balloons, before he rushes off to school.
Sameer has big dreams. “I want to be in the military: go to the mountains, use machine guns, and go gad-gad-gad”, he says with a twinkle in his eyes. “Everyone in the TV does that”, he quips.
This innocent little boy is one of the faces of the young generation of India. A little kid who yearns to soar like an eagle in the sky. Yet to realize the hard facts of life.
Sameer hails from Barabanki, a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He is an industrious little boy whose day starts quite early, compared with any other little boy of his age.
His brother Shadab drops him at the entrance of the mall at 5.am, no matter whether it is summer or winter. Little Sameer’s work starts early. He holds 15- 20 big balloons and 100 small ones, in his tiny little hands, and he stays there until all the balloons get sold out.
Some days he may miss his beloved school Saraswati, because of his workload. His father is a strict man. “I stay here until I sell all of them”, he says with a distant gaze. “If I don’t manage to sell all of them, my father will break my bones”. He leaves a big sigh.
A tender shoot struggling to branch out and break free, that is little Sameer. A cuddly little boy full of hopes and dreams, surrounded by harsh circumstances.
Sameer bounces back to life when talking about his family. “Papa fixes punctures of bicycle tires”. “Mummy works as a housemaid”. “We’re six brothers and a sister — Shadab, Nasreen, Sohail, Arbaaz, Saad, Haider and me”, says Sameer with a bright smile.
Suddenly a little girl asks “How much does this big pink balloon cost? In all seriousness Sameer replies “20 rupees”. He puts the money carefully in his pocket and says, “Small kids buy balloons, the big ones are for 20 and the small ones are for 10, he says proudly.
Little Sameer becomes quite nostalgic “My elder brothers, Haider Ali and Saad, stand near the side entrance, while I stand near the front entrance”. “I usually earn 500 rupees, which I give to my mother”.
“Sometimes people give me money just like that, without buying balloons”. “With the extra money, I buy a patty, cold drink or a Barfi”. He grins ear to ear.
Learning new things and playing are the two cornerstones of childhood. Yet for kids like Sameer these may be a luxury. “I don’t like to play with balloons” he quips,” But I like the Donald Duck balloon I sell”, “I watch that one on TV”, he says gazing at the bright blue balloon waving merrily in the air. “Sometimes, I play after school in the park near my home”.
Life is pretty hard for this young lad. He is just six years old and yet has to carry such large responsibilities on his tender shoulders. But Sameer is full of positivity and has great determination to succeed in life. “After selling balloons, I go home and write ABCD”. He says with a steely determination in his voice.
Before long his brother comes searching for him, “Come Sameer” he says, “We have to go”. Sameer smiles at me and both of them walk together, I gaze at them until they disappear in the crowd.
A little boy with big dreams and aspirations. Something inside of me says, Sameer will make it big in this world. #KhabarLive
