The family, The share

The bus stop was quite empty save the blind beggar who sat in a corner, requesting passersby to increment their own good karma by offering him some alms.

Bus No 110G turned right at the signal and stopped with a screeching noise.

Murugan alighted. His shirt was nearing its eighth anniversary and had now evolved into a permanent dull brown from its initial white. The worn out rubber sandals offered as much support as they could to his tired feet.

As he started walking, the bus sped off , fulfilling its role in maintaining the impurity levels in the air and leaving him in a puff of smoke.

He walked in a slow gait, his forlorn face fixed on the ground below.

As he neared the slum, the voices of his boys made him look up. They were fully engrossed in a game of marble with the other kids. Muthu, ten and older of the two was about to strike and was fully concentrating on his fingers while the younger Kumar, eight , cheered on.

Murugan got reminded of his marble ventures as a kid. He managed to give himself a slight smile despite the heaviness in his heart.

When he entered their hut, Kanaga was folding the children's clothes and piling them neatly in a bamboo basket meant for storing them.

One look at his face was all she needed. She understood. The building contractor had not given him any work today as well. Murugan was a construction worker. The past month had been really tough. Sudden increase in prices of cement and concrete had made the builders stall the work for some time.

Murugan lay on the rope cot and covered his eyes with the back of his arm. He was exhausted . Within minutes, sleep overcame his troubled mind and he drifted into a deep slumber.

Kanaga opened the rice drum. Lighting the stove, she proceeded to boil all that was left of the rice.

The boys were sent to the government school partly for education and partly for the wholesome noon-meal program. These days, they were also giving them an egg per day. That was two meals down from their expense list.

When Murugan woke up, it was very late in the night. He saw the boys curled up their usual places in a corner of the hut. Little Kumar had his legs on Muthu's which the latter kept trying to push away .

"Go wash your hands.Lets eat" Kanaga said seeing that he was awake.

When he sat down to eat , he saw the quantity of the rice in the bowl. In good times it would not be enough for even one of them.

He let out a sigh and sat down crossing his legs.

"Has Mani eaten?" he asked.

Kanaga smiled and said "When has he eaten before you?"

She served one portion for him, and one for herself.

Then she placed a handful of rice on the floor.

"Mani! Mani" both of them called in unison.

A brown colored dog came running from outside the hut and came and stood near Murugan, its tail wagging fervently. He let out a small 'Woof' and looked at him with soulful eyes.

There was a small cut behind his ears and it was slightly bleeding. Murugan chided "Have you been fighting with that white dog again?"

The family  began eating in silence.