Caged

Disclaimer: Imaginary in parts.

It was late evening. The traffic on the road was not moving even an inch. She rolled down the window of her car and looked outside. There was too much of smoke she thought and rolled up the window again.

Less than four feet away along the edge of the road, she saw a makeshift shop made out of four steel sheets that were placed erect and two more that formed the roof. It was already dark and through the dark glass, the shop only looked dimmer.

The shop had a grilled entrance that was locked since the shop had shut down. There was a single yellow-light bulb that lit the small room. The floor of the room looked wet for it had just cleaned by splashing bucketfuls of water over it.

There were three cages - full upto atleast twice their capacity with birds that did not move, that did not cluck. The birds were so closely packed that they rested calm in the cages.

Below the cages on the wet floor she saw a boy sitting cross-legged. He had a tiny plate with two slices of bread and what looked like a spoonful of vegetable. The boy looked at her. She saw him still, dry, empty with his childhood frozen in his eyes.

He was possibly a worker at the shop and lived there after the shop was closed because he had no other place to go. As he tore a piece of bread and pushed it into his mouth, he continued to stare at her.

She saw the look on his face - and the one on the hen' s behind him in the cage. It was the same.

The hen had gone numb - for it knew death was coming. All it could do is count days each time the sun set and it could feel its heart beating.

The boy had gone numb - for he did not know what was coming. He did not know how long he would have to stay here - he did not know where he was headed to.

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Child labour is as bad as animal slaughter. Let's say no to both. Let's free these caged birds...