Those eyes

Haunted me for the rest of my life

I was sauntering in the red light area, aimlessly 

The whistles and the cat calls 

The grazing of hands

I ignored 

Then I saw her eyes

So powerfully innocent were they

She was looking at me from a semi closed window

I stood still and kept staring at her

The purity of her smile

Seized my being

She must be barely twelve 

We kept looking at each other

बाबू मोशाय वो चाहिए क्या, the middle man knudged me

I gave him a shallow look

Words ceased 

My mind battled with the realisation 

What was in store for her 

Choked with emotions 

I walked away from there

But her eyes

Plagues me till date. 

©LR