India, Sept. 8 -- Fleeting Thoughts By Ashvini Ranjan

The morning air was thick with the sweet scent of freshly made holiges from the Holige Mane on Temple Road. From the quiet comfort of my parked car, as I waited for my wife to finish her errands, I became an unwitting audience to a quiet drama unfolding right outside my window. A slice of daily life that most of us pass by without a second glance.

On the pavement, a young beggar woman was waging a desperate, exhausting struggle with her toddler. The boy had only recently discovered the sheer magic of mobility on his own two feet. Eager to explore, he kept breaking free from her grasp, drawn irresistibly toward the sweet shop by the intoxicating smell of hot holige !

For the mother, ...