THAT LAUGH….

             Walking towards the river Hoogly with sweat flowing all over his body on a sunny day in Kolkata,Magadh the boatman was thinking about his children and wife who would be waiting for their father to bring some food from the day’s earning. As an artist, this river was like his stage. He touched his boat as it was a masterpiece for him. He took out his oars  and rowed the boat to the river for a little while , then sat along the coast wishing for some costumers to arrive.The day was about to end and like most of the days he was only able to earn a few rupees. He was about to take out his boat when he saw two men standing along the coast. One of them had a electronic component in his hand.”Would you mind rowing us around,We are making a documentary on this place?”the tall one said.”20 rupees for two rounds” Magadh raised the price , noticing their fancy clothes. The two men were not that naïve to accept the deal but after some bargaining the deal was set to 4 rounds for 30.They sat in the boat and Magadh started rowing the boat.There was a silence for some time, until the tall man asked”How much money do you earn usually in a day”.Magadh said “Around 50 rupees, sir, but why are you interested ? Even our government doesn’t care ”. 

                     ”Just improving my general knowledge” and the tall man smiled.”What if I give you ₹2000 just now” the tall man said looking away from Magadh.”₹2000,you have got a bad sense of humour ,sir” Magadh said with a flickering smile on his sad face.The tall man turned his face towards Magadh and with a loud voice and said  “We are from a television show named "Giving Happiness"where we donate money to hard working people as to inspire and motivate them and to let them know  that because of their hard work they deserve this moment of happiness”.Magadh was shocked and with an emotionless face he sat there for a few seconds and then he touched the money with his finger to make himself believe that it was real.His doomed face then had an bright smile which smile turned into an laugh and  what a laugh it was?.It was the kind of laugh which gives you the pleasure when you acknowledge it without knowing the reason.The tall man asked “How do you feel?” Magadh replied with the words between his laugh “It’s not about the money.It will be gone within a week, but its about making me believe that there are people in this world who still respect our hard work and care about us.”