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I was the only midget in a herd of giants, hiding somewhere in a corner,

Discreetly, peeping into the skies to explore freedom of the open skies.

As if god heard my wish just before his rush hour of wishes, I was beckoned by my master ,

As if in trance, I blindly followed him…

The bruhat gopuras of the big temple arose as an oasis in the desert…

The master prayed, Holding me in his hand (decorated with twelve rings made of solid gold)…

He prayed vehemently to cover for his sins and as If to pacify the wrath of the big god, he offered me to gods as an offering of peace.

From one corner to another, from one jail to another I lay confined in this dark dungeon. The temple bells rang, thousands upon thousands of pot bellied men ate their share of gods grace. I waited, for a stray rice morsel to fly by, but  my wishes never seemed to go beyond the walls. huh! god was so near , yet so far...

Four days later, the sun tore into our darkness and the temple authority took me away. In his hand I stayed put, a small beggar dying asked for me yet this holy man walked off un-deterred chanting god’s name in a monotone…I wondered sadly

The holy man swiftly  got up onto a locomotive, with its wheels rolling it accelerated my journey of destiny, a man in dark brown uniform asked for me and gladly this man offered me with a smile, so again from one dungeon to another I was transported to another land. A few minutes later the holy man disappeared from view…

Soon after a few more stories shared with my brothers and sisters also in captive,

I was gifted with a snort to a young hand, holding in his hand a trophy. This small kid came into my life full of energy, sweating profusely handing me a bath after four years!!

His back arched with a huge burden carrying a truck load of books,   he wondered about his trophy, won in a basketball match but how would his parents take it when they knew he had failed an exam again…I loved this kid, so full of energy, heart so pure, voice so divine but suffering in fear… I felt sorry for him, He cried walking back to his home, ashamed distraught and dejected…he never noticed a truck coming in his direction, there was just one second of pain; I lay there in a pool of blood, as his lungs expunged its last effort to live…

The truck sped away…it was dark silent and ghastly, I shivered in the hands of a dead kid, so full of dreams , so talented...yet so easily taken to the world of hell and heaven… I wondered would his trophy or his academic records get him to heaven? 

Soon there came a drunken man, swaying gently in the breeze, he saw the kid there, collected all valuables he could find, he dragged me along too and left him for dead not bothering to call an ambulance...

I was bartered again for a packet of alcohol, paid by a dead kid on the side of the road…My newest master took me along, kept me under his bed and slept. I shivered and cried all night like a child running in fear…where could I run??

The owner took me along with his ailing mother, termed as a mentally disabled woman she was subjected to humiliation by society…but her son loved her, selling liquor he would manage to feed her , again I wondered at this man would he go to heaven  or hell??

on my next journey I met an autowallah, who ran his auto along the countryside, all over the world, swaying from danger, avoiding potholes, music radiating from his radio eternally; I roamed safely in his world, exploring the freedom of life…It was only when he gifted me away to a young teenage couple did I notice his legs in crutches, a result of an accident…I wondered again…life was strange

A happy couple, holding hands they walked…In their hands they held a tiny little magic box, dissipating strange lights and sounds,  They buzzed away blissfully unaware , caught in a web of deceit, merry and jovialism. But all was not well in the lives of these two lovers, so they set upon their destiny on road on top of a hill..The autowallah dropped them off and set about happy that today his sons would not sleep hungry. The young lovers walked now hands apart, speaking in harsh tones and blaming each other for their inherent sadness…after hours of squabbling they left their separate ways…I was still there hidden in the cusp of the scorned lovers grasp…I wondered what love really was??

The boy sad and disturbed took his bike and zoomed the night in the foothills of the nilgiri forests, Up and up he went revving up his rpm, The sun broke his vow of silence and out he came, bringing life back to the young boy’s morale…By the side of a river, he simply sat taking in the beauty of life…For now, his anger had left him; he threw me away wishing for a wish…

He wished that one day, he would be a great man having lots of money…The stream swept me away, putting me in mortal danger, I leapt in the air, bounced about boulders and fell from a height of a few thousand feet…There I lay on the floor of the river, breathing in peace, Away from the world I never understood…

Another journey began,  big men wearing white shirts and men who donned yellow robes came and blasted away the rocks I slept on …In greed they watched as tons of mineral ore lay in their possession….Again I wondered where god was???Letting his kind die in the clutches of immorality, in doldrums of corruption …

Who was I to change the world?? After all I was just a one rupee coin….just a rupee coin with a story to tell!!

But I was humbled again, another grown man, black bearded, gave me away as a part of fifty thousand and one rupees  donation to an orphanage for the blind. I just wondered there was still hope left…

Where would my journey take me next time…??

Maybe you could answer that when you get to hold me in hand…

Through cobbled streets, hands of the mighty, to lush lawns and bungalows, friends and frolick, plus the borders of craziness, to the humble abode of love, to the steps of religion, masks of sadness Bordering on the corridors of “change” I travel the world!!

So begins another journey,  ”saar one rupee change idre kodthira?” !!