January 4, 2003

Haseeb was one of the problem creators of his class. He was not interested in his studies at all. He was very disobedient. All he did was tease the other students and make fun of his teachers.

Haseeb’s parents were very poor. They could hardly afford the expenses of Haseeb’s education. They wanted their son to be an army officer when he grew up. But the boy never cared about his parents’ dream. He was very rude too. But his parents didn’t say anything to him as he was their only child.

Haseeb’s aim in life was to get rich quick. On his way to school one day he found a map lying on the floor. There was a note attached to it too. It read, “If you want to be rich, follow this map. Very soon you will be the owner of the biggest treasure in the world.”

Reading this Haseeb became very excited. Folding it carefully, he kept the map in his bag. After returning from school, he studied it carefully and decided to go after the treasure. On Sunday morning he woke up earlier than usual. Very silently, he peeped into his parents’ room. They were sleeping.

He took some tools with him. And came out from his house. He couldn’t see any bus or taxi on the road, so he started walking. After walking for three hours he finally reached the place. The area was covered with trees. Haseeb was very tired and a little scared too. With the map in hand, it wasn’t very difficult for him to find the actual spot where the treasure lay. He started digging, which was sheer drudgery as the sun was shining directly on his head.

But it all became worth it after a couple of hours when he found a big box. Haseeb couldn’t believe his eyes. He had dug up the treasure after all. He was going to be the richest person in the world. He started pulling that box out with all his strength. Once it was out, Haseeb noticed that there wasn’t any lock on that box. So he opened it very easily. But to his surprise, he only found sand instead of the gold and jewels he had anticipated. He had been made a fool of.

Haseeb kicked the box angrily and hurt his own foot. His eyes pooled up with tears. Then he stood up and with a heavy heart started walking towards home. Realizing something he suddenly stopped walking. He was thinking how hard he had to work for this bogus treasure. His dreams were shattered when he only found sand instead of treasure. He thought about his parents and the disappointment they must have felt seeing the way he had turned out. For was he not their treasure which had turned useless? In a way he was just like the sand in that box.

Haseeb realized his mistake. He started running in the direction of his home. Reaching there, he found his mother crying and his father looking very worried. Seeing him they calmed down. They had been worried about his day-long disappearance from home. Haseeb felt very guilty for hurting them like this. He made a silent promise to try and become a better person from that day onwards. When we checked last, he was still going strong on that promise.

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