Lost spring

Today, our English teacher taught us a lesson “Stories of stolen childhood” by Indian author Anees Jung. It was about certain incidental meetings with underprivileged children that the author comes across. Incidentally, a well-privileged child misbehaved during the lesson. Well, what should I recount? He was eating his lunch during the period!

The story itself was about Saheb, a boy born in Bangladesh who by cruel turns of fate, was living impoverished in a slum near Delhi. Cruel twists indeed, for his home was uprooted in a huge storm that ravaged much of the country, and which is also a seasonal occurrence during and before he monsoon sets in the Indian subcontinent.

So, a little angry, our teacher prodded us on with some recounts of who we were. She said, “Look at Saheb, who, despite not having the best of resources, wanted to study, but did not get enough money, or at least a school to go to. He made his living in such an age (eleven) that you could not even buy vegetables for yourself. He makes a living, which none of you, even now, could or can do. It does not matter what he earned, but he earned his bread and butter cleaning dishes at a tea stall. How many of you could do that now I wonder?

“But some of the people who do have the resources (she pointed to the child), do not have the wish to study. Regard your fortune with luck, for though you have all, in an instance, it could be reduced to nothing, and you may have to struggle. You spend your parent’s hard-earned money in buying electronic toys; in that money a good child like Saheb could have got his education!”

I was left stunned by her. I don’t really spend a lot of money myself, because I only come from a middle class family, but it is true that the truth hurts more than a bee’s sting.

How much money do we waste? A lot, to tell you the complete truth. We waste it in betting, in casinos, in spas and boutiques, and in countless other stupidities, like Lindsay Lohan and her girlfriends partying all over the world and spending thousands and thousands of dollars. Why don’t we use them for some constructive purposes? What has stopped us in spending them for constructive purposes? I wonder deeply.

Do not mistake me! I know that some people are the result of their own waste; I know how indeed they destroy their lives drinking, abusing and cursing. They are not people of God. They don’t even consider him a part of their lives, and I don’t bother considering them at all.

I am talking about them, who are not only god-fearing, but are also they who work indeed for the good of the world and uphold His name. I talk about them, who indeed work hard and to make their ends meet, to earn their daily bread. And despite working harder than many suited-and-booted managers, they take to bed an hungry stomach! I think they deserve more than this. And if given an opportunity, they would prosper, only if we (who possess good fortune) let them do it.

I do not say give them money for free, I only say give them confidence so that they can aspire too.