Semantics of The Fast

The small letters did not make much sense,
The picture on the crumpled newspaper was familiar though;
He did not know how to read,
Much less distinguish Times New Roman from Verdana.
He had been to one of the municipal schools for two days
But literacy comes at a price,
For him it was a couple of long hungry nights.
The usual routine of begging at the lights
Seemed so much more prudent!
On an empty stomach logical arguments seem irrational;
Somehow, education seems far less important
From a famished six-year-old's perspective!

The letters did not make much sense,
But the picture? "Yes, that is the man I saw", thought he.
The electronics store at the corner of the road
Was his favourite spot whenever he was not 'working'.
He had seen the man in the television sets
That adorned the shelves of the store.
People adored this old venerable man,
Who had raised his voice against the evils of society.
He inspired many to the cause, like a true social reformer.
The boy had heard much of this being discussed at the store
He understood some, while the rest proved to be too intellectual.
However this one notion that struck him the most
Was that the old man would not partake of food until,
His demands of righting the wrongs were met.

This all seemed too strange to the little boy.
"Nobody asks us when we don't have food to eat!
Why would then anybody be bothered about Him?"
When he asked his mother, he was told:
"These are whims and fancies of the rich, beta
We poor people wouldn't understand."
His father explained that the revolutionary was doing all this,
So that the people of the country could lead a better life.
All this was beyond that little kid's comprehension.
The stark irony of the situation seemed amusing to him;
A man wouldn't eat so that others didn't have to die of hunger.
He kept wondering, why would anyone bother...