Having a Ball

 

There’s something inherently beautiful about watching a child play in carefree abandon. Completely unaware of the surroundings and just enjoying the moment with glee and innocence...

Recently, in Uganda, from my apartment window, I was watching an impromptu game of football. Just a few kids and a lone girl in the mix – kicking the ball around on a dusty, rough patch of ground under the shade of trees. Some of them were running around barefoot and others with whatever footwear they had on. They were kicking the ball in some direction – an invisible goal post on either side. Perhaps their goal was just to have fun. Shoving and pushing, they all seemed to converge onto the ball, each trying to get hold of it and kick it.

The dust rose above their excited chatter, and the increasing decibels were a testimony to their intensity. For all its earnestness, the game had just a motley gathering of spectators – mostly younger kids standing on the sides and cheering excitedly. Some of the older girls were watching the game with infants in their arms. I also saw a couple of girls resting on the yellow-painted jerry cans of water and watching the game – a small respite from their arduous chores. Some boys had climbed up the tree to have an aerial view of the game.

All of a sudden, the ball, which was kicked out of the ground, fell far from the excited crowd of children. Before they could run and chase the ball, it rolled to a stop at the little feet of a toddler. Instinctively, he picked up the ball gently and hugged it tightly to his chest and was looking around as if to see where this object of such joy had come from...

Having caught the attention of the excited crowd and the players, the tiny tot started running towards them with the ball clutched tight. With his oversized shirt dangling down to his knees and covering his bare bottom, he continued running. His small fingers could hardly hold on to the oversized football, but he somehow managed, hugging it tightly to his body covered with dust and his buttonless shirt flapping in the wind, exposing his tiny body...

He was so excited just carrying and running with the ball. The other children and the players also watched as the tiny tot made his way. His little bare feet stumbling and swaying across the rough grass and stones. Nobody moved to stop the child, and the tiny figure made his way into the ground with his precious possession.

From the distance of my vantage point, just by his movement and body language, I could feel the twinkle in his eyes and his whole body shaking and shivering with sheer joy and excitement. For a fleeting moment, everyone around him stopped and stood watching. He kept running towards the centre of the ground in a zig-zag path, with a rather unsteady gait, typical of a child mustering all the strength that his little legs could manage.

After a few minutes of non-stop wobbling, he abruptly stopped as if he was savouring the moment and taking in the adulation of the cheering crowd. I thought he was going to make a U-turn and run back to his mother, unwilling to let go of his precious possession. But he didn’t. Instead, he extended his arms towards a player walking towards him. The player stooped down gently and accepted the ball from the tiny pair of hands. At this point, the little guy turned back and started ambling away, his eyes gleaming with pride and joy.

As he made his way back, I started reflecting on the sequence of events. The little one was not even standing in the crowd that was watching the game; he was standing away from the ground, maybe under the careful eye of his mother. But the ball landed just at his feet, as if nudging him to come and join in the fun... and he instinctively picked it up and ran with it. The child was so joyful and content to just pick up the ball and carry it with him across the ground. He was too young to play or even understand the game, but naturally, he knew that it was something exciting and was glad to be a small part of it.

And, for that fleeting moment, the little one lit up the whole atmosphere with his child-like innocence. In a place where poverty, violence and abuse are abundant, this child, blissfully unaware, made us all realise that happiness is possible when you have childlike innocence.

I wiped a tear from the corner of my eye and closed my eyes, etching that memory in my heart forever to cherish. In that instant, a wave of pleasure filled my soul. I lifted up my heart in a silent prayer for that child and for the many children like him around the world – to make this world safer for these fragile beings who believe only in happiness, not hate.

Note: Illustration generated using AI, inspired by the scene described in this story.