A billion dreams...but I was heartbroken...

They boarded the train from Khar, I was amused by their behaviour.

While sitting on the board, they were intrigued in their conversation. The eldest was holding one magazine, ‘Cricket Samrat’...

“ye Dhoni hai...or ye pata hai kaun hai?” asked the eldest to two younger ones.

“Gary Kirsten...aur ye Yuvaraj!” said the younger one.

I was amused by these three lost little boys, dressed in wrenched cloths, dirty, stinking and who, I guess didn’t know how to read. But they knew who is Gary Kirsten, and how does he look. They were more interested in looking at Yuvraj’s several pictures clicked during world cup and discussing about him. A billion dreams, this was the title given by the newspaper I work for to its world cup campaign, I have never understood how one game keeps a nation going. To be honest, these boys should have been in school, studying about how this country has sustained its unity in diversity, its national game is Hockey and Mumbai –where they wander in, is this country’s economic capital!

I wonder about these billion dreams...where are they heading.

A world cup victory, Anna Hazare’s fight and India’s youth standing against corruption at one side and on the other dropping number of a female population in the new census, series of scams and how right to education haven’t even reached 20% of kids in the country!

While looking at those boys gazing at photographs of their heroes, I wished at that very moment, I wished from bottom of my heart if they could read what Dhoni said after the victory...if they could read how Kirsten inspired Indian team. How i wish...

Lost in thoughts I left the train and looked back at the boys, they did not care which station came, probably they did not know their destination... but while looking at Harbhajan’s picture, they knew he is bowling a dusara!

All I could do is to smile at them...somehow; this victory which has won billion hearts was making me feel heartbroken...