My summar vacation

I wake up before the Sun,
And get ready to join my father,
After a long walk with my silent dad,
We pass through a park,
Where we stop to begin our routine,
My friend Rahul and his dad jog past us,
I hear him whisper to his dad,
“He is my classmate”
And his father, replied “Don’t talk to such boys”,
Unmindful of what we heard, I help my dad,
We finish our work on that spot and move on.

Hot scorching Sun doesn’t stop my dad nor me,
We walk bare footed on the hot tar road,
Passing one destination after the other,
As we walk our bags become heavier and heavier,
Watching my dad walk unmindful of the weight,
Had made me also bear everything,
From the comments to the weight of my bag.

We stop by on a road side shop for lunch,
Just opposite to the busy road,
Is a small restaurant, which my dad dotes on,
He says one day he has to have a cup of coffee there,
It would not cost more than five rupees,
But just that he would not think of spending that amount for himself,
Heat of the Sun doesn’t alter my dad and me, we continue.

By noon we start to reiterate our path,
The same bins that we picked in morning were full now,
My dad relentlessly digs in the stench filled dustbins,
To find his bounty, but he never lets me to do it,
He says, “Son let this end with me”
By dusk we get back to the shop to weigh our collection,
All day’s work just to earn less than hundred rupees.

On our way back, my dad said,
“Son one day I want to see you with your son,
Like your friend Rahul and his dad not like us”
I know my dad, he works all day picks rags on roads,
Saves money for my future,

No big dreams I carry other than,
One, to take my dad for a cup of coffee in that restaurant.
I work hard to bring centum on my cards,
Just to earn my dad that one cup of coffee.