Sherbano Tajammal

AHSAN belonged to a poor family. He was 10-years-old and had six older siblings and two younger ones. Needless to say, he was usually ignored. He wasn’t very intelligent and neither did he have an outstanding personality.

In fact, he was hampered by an absurdly shy nature which prevented him from stepping out into the world too much. But Ahsan was content with being the mouse that sat quietly in a corner and watched the world go by.

However, one day it all changed. Ahsan and his younger brother were playing with an old football in the narrow alley behind their house. It was a summer afternoon and the sun was shining ferociously. But the boys didn’t seem to mind. They were young and used to these sweltering afternoons.

They started the game but due to the alley being a narrow one, Ahsan’s younger sibling complained constantly. He wanted to play on the main road and kept telling Ahsan to move there. But as they weren’t allowed to do so because it was dangerous, Ahsan kept playing in the narrow alley. However, Ahsan’s brother kept nagging him and Ahsan finally agreed to move to the road and play there.

So, they ran onto the main road and made use of the wide space, yelling, shouting and kicking the football. Suddenly, Ahsan saw a car racing towards them. He shouted to his brother to move and himself leaped out of the way. But his brother wasn’t that lucky — in his attempt to escape, he stumbled, fell on the side of the road and hurt his knee. Ahsan rushed to his sibling’s aid.

The car also stopped. It was a grand white car. He had never seen such a car before in this area. The man who stepped out looked like someone really important.

“Are you alright?” the man spoke in a gentle voice and inspected the hurt child’s knee. Seeing that the boy had grazed a knee and no more, he apologised and asked about their parents. Ahsan mumbled that his parents weren’t at home. The man thought for a moment and then he gave each of them a hundred rupee note as compensation and left in his great white car.

Ahsan’s younger brother forgot about his knee and was fixated on the crisp, red note in his hand. He whined and begged to spend it on munchies. Both walked to the nearby shop but Ahsan couldn’t spend his money. What he had in his mind was something different and later that night, he recalled every detail of the white car and the clothes the man had worn.

He carefully kept the Rs100 note under his pillow, wrapped up in tissue papers. He vowed that night to work hard and become a successful and important person when he grew up. So, he took a renewed interest in his studies and worked hard. No one could understand his renewed desire to be someone great but his parents welcomed it and soon, he became their most promising and favourite child.

Everyone praised Ahsan for his top grades. He was the first of his siblings to go to college. His other siblings stopped studying after finishing school.

Time flew fast and soon the day came when Ahsan completed his education and got his university degree. He was very happy and felt great to be an educated person. Because of his outstanding performance he was offered a great job in another country. He and his parents couldn’t believe their son could be this successful and lucky.

Before leaving, he put the hundred rupee note (he had saved after all this time) in his wallet as a reminder for his inspiration. He smiled and headed for the airport.

Two years passed by when one day a grand white car slowly come down the same road where once Ahsan and his siblings played when they were children. The car stopped outside a small house and a young man comes out wearing a nice suite. He looked ‘somebody’ important. He knocked at the door.

An old man opened the door and seeing the young man, the old man cried out of excitement, “Ahsan! My boy, you have made it!” and they hugged.