world_with'in'_n_with'out'

"Bling!",
another uninvited message from my girlfriend got ignored as I waited for the perfect shot. "Splash!", and it was gone. The moment for which I had been kneeling down on the ground flew past my shutter. 15 minutes gone in vain. Paltoo, my local acquaintance might have acknowledged my frustration as he offered me another cup of tea. I realised that not answering unnecessary texts had become a challenging task so I switched it off.
"Paltoo, let's head for Khoyai (dry riverbed). Enough with the riverside."
Paltoo nodded and pushed the worn off paddles of his rickshaw with his firm calf muscles. The afternoon sun was excruciatingly hot. Palm trees, little huts, vast fields- the abundance of nature seemed to suffer from the blisters just like me. The scorching heat of May was glittering on Paltoo's shoulder but surprisingly, the 20-odd lad had no sign of exhaustion. What extra-ordinary force had he within him that made it possible?
I grew curious.
"Bhai (brother), don't you get tired of pulling this rickshaw? Why don't work at some factory or shop? It would be better for you."
Paltoo puffed his forehead with his Gamucha and replied, "Food dada (big brother), my maalik (owner of the rickshaw) gives me two meals a day and 600 rupees a month. In the shop, who will give me food?"
"You can always buy food. You will get paid at the shop."
"I am not allowed to enter the bazaar, dada"
"What? Why not?"
"I am a baishnav. It's a hindu market, baishnav's are not allowed to go near it. I was a baul myself, dada. I had to do this for my stomach."
"Don't you have family?"
"They abandoned me. I had leprosy two years back."
It took half an hour for us to reach Khoyai and it was almost sunset. A group of Baul singers were humming some romantic numbers. The sun decided to call it a day and have mercy on us. I took out my camera and clicked a random portrait of Paltoo.
"You are wasting it over this black faced slave, dada.", he said with a grin.
"Here, have one.", I pulled out my pack of fags and handed one over to him and lit one for myself.
An eagle flew over a palm tree and headed towards the woods.
I took out my phone and texted my parents and my girlfriend: "I am alright. In Shantiniketan. Will call you when I reach hotel."
The sun set over the dry riverbed as I shared a puff with Paltoo, my bhai.