This is baby Rhema.

Was carrying little Rhema in this cafe @ RMIT yesterday, after JG meeting, waiting for e rest while they were practising p&w. i was trying to make Rhema sleep, so had to carry her away from her mummy (cos she'd cry and want her mummy if mummy was in sight), anyway so i was reading the notices on this pillar when this old indian man (the fair ones - north indian?) walked right up to us shyly (you know, like when ppl walk up to puppies). so me being nice and all, i gave him a nice smile. from his dressing and all he looked kinda poor, and fragile cos he was tall and skinny, with white hair.

he then offered me a dried preserved apricot (/plum? - the oval ones, and it was orange) to give to rhema, but i said she couldnt eat it, so he offered it to me instead. well obviously i refused, but he insisted, so i just took it and held it in my hands. then this old man smiled and walked back to his seat.

as he was still around, i continued holding on the the apricot, then found myself a spot to sit behind a pillar. my initial reaction was, sadly, suspicion, and i was wondering if the apricot was poisoned/drugged, cos you never know what might have been done. but i felt bad about throwing it away, because it might have been a purely good-hearted gesture after all.

after rhema had fallen asleep, i took a closer look at the apricot. it had bits of fluff on it. then it struck me that it might have been sitting in a pocket for some time, which may sound disgusting, but it made me think. this poor old man might have been saving it up (which is not as ridiculous as it sounds, cos there really are alot of homeless people in melbourne) and couldn't bear to eat it. his offering it could have been his way of wanting to bless others. and here i was, treating his treasure so ungratefully.

and it's so sad cos we never know who we can or cannot trust anymore these days, and it's become so natural to treat all things with suspicion and mistrust, wondering what's in it for me and you, instead of just accepting things with a smile inside and outside. so anyway i didnt eat the little apricot, cos i dont really like preserved fruits much, but that little orange fruit ended up sweetening my day anyway.