Ok, so all my friends are going to suspect I did this on purpose – but honest, it was an accident.

I can’t believe I forgot to mention this in my huge post yesterday, but while at the train station in Agra I accidentally kicked a toddler. I was mortified and spent ages apologizing to his mother, who seemed far more interested in getting away from the crazy Canadian tourist than in making a scene.

I was standing talking to Ted, and did an about face to head towards the train bridge and our platform. I barely moved my leg a few inches when I felt it connect with something soft, watched the little boy tumble to the platform, and listened to his ear splitting scream. He got up, dusted himself off, and ran to mommy. I hadn’t seen the boy at all, and Ted had barely caught him out of the corner of his eye. While Ted apologized for not warning me of his presence, I was busy conveying all my apologies to his mother and begging for forgiveness.

And then it struck me – what the hell was a toddler doing 15 feet away from mom bearing down on the white tourists? Shouldn’t someone have been keeping track of him in the madness that was Agra Cantt train station?

In order for my foot to have connected with him – and I know it did – he had to be standing immediately behind me, almost touching me. Shouldn’t someone the child belonged to have called him away from us long before I made a move to turn around?

So know you all know the sordid truth. In country less than a week and I’ve already managed to kick a child. I wonder what next week holds?

Technorati Tags: India, Agra, train, child

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