DAY 62

This man in the pic was doing what I love doing, what all kids love doing. The only difference was he was doing it for a living. I don't even know whether he was enjoying those soapy bubbles that he was blowing out of a small plastic tube. I know when I was a kid I used to enjoy it immensely.

We used to spend a major part of our summer holidays trying to make the right size, long-standing soap bubbles. It was an art form that we indulged in for many summers till we discovered boys. It would be many years before we discovered that bubbles were better than boys -any day :)

However, we as kids enjoyed this simple, marvelous kiddish pursuit, because I think our livelihoods didn't depend on it.But this grown man's did. So I wonder whether he was enjoying it, like he did when he was a child.

I have seen many such people on the sidewalks, selling small monkey toys that would jump when you pull a string, or sail boats in a battered aluminium or plastic vessel or jeering masks and many such wonderful toys.

They are different from the beggars at the traffic junction who also sell anything from ear buds to cricket balls and also beg.

These men are what I would call sidewalk entrepreneurs. I guess every morning they pack their toys and step out with the hope of making a sale. But till date I haven't actually seen anyone make any sale. I have always wondered, how do these men make a living. I mean after all these years I shoudlv'e atleast encountered one sale right? But no.

My friend insists that they must be selling their goods otherwise he wouldn't come back to doing the same thing. He has a point. But I still wonder.

Can he make enough money selling soap bubbles to sustain himself and his family in a city like Bangalore?

Apparently, he seems to have done his math. He might not enjoy his soap bubbles, but he greatly trusts them to put food on the table.

And it was only late in the night did a very valid question creep in -maybe, you don't need all that much to live...maybe, if you want, the soap bubbles can get you what you need...

But the hypocrite in me screams - I like my bubbles in the bathtub and not in a can as a breadwinner.