yesterday i was roaming around Bapu Bazaar with the New Zealand team when a little girl in a dirty dress and matted hair walked up to me. she held out her hand, then did the universal hand to mouth sign for food. honestly, in India, it's hard to know who's really hungry and who's "job" it is to beg on the streets.

my heart wouldn't allow me to just walk away so i reached into my bag, pulled out a couple rupees and handed them to her. not 30 seconds later, a small boy was at my side holding his hand out. very typical in the 3rd world. you give to one and inevitably, there's 5 or 6 more waiting in the shadows to get their share.

after a while, the same girl came back scratching her head and saying something in English that i didn't understand. something that started with the letter "s". as she stood there with her pleading eyes, scratching her hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks - it dawned on me what she was asking for. she has lice too and wanted shampoo.

having had lice myself for almost a month now, i knew how she felt. i knew how unrelenting those tiny creatures can be, how you just scratch your head until it's full of scabs, how they wake you up at night out of a deep sleep. i feel her pain. literally.

anyway, i found the closest medical shop and asked for a bottle of Mediker. then i thought i better get one for myself, so make that 2.

as soon as i turned around and handed the shampoo to the girl, another boy appeared out of nowhere scratching his head! hopefully, she'll share with him :)