My Story: "Sir, We Live Here. We Don't Have A House”; I Saw A Small Net With 2 Kids Sleeping

“I am working in an Engineering company in Muscat. I was on vacation in Kerala a month ago. As always. I planned to visit the Guruvayoor temple. Guruvayoor is a 2 hours’ drive away from my village, Attoor. It was on a Thursday evening that we reached Guruvayoor and checked into a hotel in East Nada, near the railway station. After relaxing for a while, we proceeded to the temple.

As always, there was a huge crowd at the temple. We had darshan and returned to the hotel. After leaving my son, Nikhil, and mother-in-law at the hotel, Anitha and I proceeded to the nearby Balaji temple and later reached the Krishna temple again. We spent quite some time inside the temple seeing elephants and different pooja activities. It was a very nice experience.

Around 10 PM, we were returning to the hotel room. I was feeling thirsty. Luckily, I saw a person selling tender coconuts. I drank the coconut and retuned the shell. He charged us Rs. 30. I gave Rs. 100 and he returned change of Rs. 70. I was casually looking around when I saw a small net and two kids lying sleeping inside the cradle. After seeing the children, I felt really bad and showed the scene to Anitha. I asked the coconut vendor, “Don’t you go home?” He replied, “Sir, we live here. We do not have a house.”

He continued, saying, “Sir, one of those kids was missing before. We got back the kid after 9 years from Tamil Nadu.” I searched for some cash in my pocket and gave him the same immediately. I thought I should do something for them in the future.

That night, the children’s faces haunted me. We got up early morning and walked to the temple. I saw them again. The man smiled at me and said, “Hurry – or the crowd will gather!” He was showing gratitude. I am sure I will them again next year.

People are running behind so many luxuries and comforts. Here, a couple and two children are living on the street from the income of selling tender coconuts. They do not a have a shelter or security. Later, I was wondered how they managed during rainy days. Even though many days passed, their faces are still etched in my memory.

Submitted By – Rajan V Kokkuri

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