Every time I see this photograph a smile, automatically, creeps up on my face.

There is something joyous about this image.

He stands out. With his aluminium tins on his rickety old cycle, he stands out on a road that is considered to be the poshest in the city, with its swanky cars and even swankier shops.

And it is no fun to be the cynosure of all eyes even if its just for a minute. It is no fun to be surrounded by things that you might or might not aspire, but it is still there staring at you, revealing the prosperity landscape on the other side. But yet, there was something joyous about this man. I watched him for quite sometime. And he stood in that position for a long time, waiting for the unending traffic is ease a bit so that he could pass by, but in vain. He didn't seem annoyed. Instead he was using the time to look at and enjoy the passing cars, the shops and all those beautiful things and people around him, which seemed like a different world than his own. There was something positive.

And as I kept looking at the scenario I realized that the world around him did not alienate him either. He was part of it. Yes, everybody did go about doing their own thing and leading their own lives, yet he was a part of their busy world. However, I think the picture might have presented itself differently, if the man on the cycle felt alienated from the world around him. He somehow exuded an air that said, he might be different, but he was still a part of the world around him.

I guess alienation begins in the minds of those who think they are being alienated....