It was also during my walk on this first morning that I met Maya. I was near my hotel when suddenly a little girl was standing in front of me holding her hands up in the traditional begging posture. I smiled at her, then shook my head and held my hands out indicating that I had nothing to give her. (Yeah, right, lady...) She was so friendly and sweet (not to mention angelically beautiful) that she had me wrapped around her little finger within seconds. I remembered that I had Life Savers in my fanny pack, and took one out to give to her. From this point on, I saw Maya at least a couple times a day, and developed a sort of "relationship" with her. Following some advice, I had brought some candy with me, intending to give it to the children in place of money. But, I quickly realized that if I opened my fanny pack to remove the candy, my money and other belongs would be exposed. So, I began to carry a small extra bag of candy (or "chocolate" as all candy in India seems to be called). In this way, I figured that I could give a tiny piece of joy to the children without endangering myself. Every time I would see Maya, she would run to me, knowing that she' d receive some chocolate. As time went by, though, she seemed to crave the attention more than the candy. Not surprisingly, I quickly fell in love with this little girl, and prayed for some way in which I could help her.
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