Swinging his leg in a slow, sweeping arc br Children running behing him imitating his walk br Polio stricken right leg with paper skin on the bones br Some of them sniggering at him and pelting stones br br His lower face frozen with a congenital paralysis br Unable to smile, a grim face he always flashes br When he is happy you can see it only in the glint of the eye br When he is sad you can just hear him slowly sigh br br Married to a woman who always sneers at him br Makes his life hell, his sorrow never dims br With her oscillating hips, tempting countless men to sins br One fine day, she runs away in one of her whims br br Silently he endures the worlds million lashes br He had found his joy, his antidote for the gashes br His little one, the apple of his eye, the only gift she gave him br The only reason he lives, his happiness filled to the brim br br **** Inspired by a charactar in the book -The Kite Runner***br br Renu Rakheja a.k.