The horse ride
The younger
(5 year old) one wanted to ride a horse, and he was all excited as the keeper
walked it near us. The elder one (10 year old), seemed not be very happy and he
stood there on the beach sands, battling his thoughts. The younger one was all
interested about the “Ride” while his big brother was interested about the
“Horse.” He shot a number of questions at us, about what a typical day is like
for that horse. End of it, he commented that, “Amma, we are so selfish for we put
animals into misery for our silly enjoyments; adding about the elephant rides
as well, which he had witnessed in Kerala, a few years ago.
There, then
the little one was made to settle safely on the saddle, and he saw to that his
brother accompanied him because he was too scared to ride alone. The elder one,
went away with such a troubled face. I and my husband stood there, watching
them ride away from us toward the waters.
It seemed to us, that the elder one was sitting in a somewhat
uncomfortable posture, with his one hand behind him. Seems, that he was patting
the horse’s back all through the 15 minutes of the ride!
When he got
down, he requested the keeper that he wanted to click a picture of him patting
the good horse on his beautiful cheek and the keeper was so happy to help him
go with it. He stood next to the horse, with so much contentment this time. May
he was convinced that his loving “touches” made up to some extent for their
ride on his back.
The little
one on the other hand, was just tending to the whims and fancies of a typical
5-year old. In my heart I felt that he
of course had a nobler soul model, to look up to when he grows up into a young
man. The elder one trotted ahead of us, leaving his footprints on the sands; it
remained there as if it were for us to follow. I was just trying to knit the
bits and pieces of my feelings together, as I walked behind him, toward our car
holding the little hands of his younger brother.
As for the
horse, he stood there humbly in all his immaculate beauty. He was all white and
serene, his candid eyes with infinite depths will definitely make one want to dive
deep into them. His eyes perhaps, seemed to be reminiscing his past, symbolising
his valour, royalty, and endeavour as my precious young boy ran his tender
fingers down his cheek!
