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A beacon of light
Dear diary,
Today in the evening my brother and I went for a drive to Seaview. We were having a nice ride when suddenly we decided to stop and enjoy the sunset and cold breeze. But as soon as we stopped our car, young kids selling stuff such as chips, biscuits, flowers, etc. surrounded us. Amongst them was a small boy almost 5 or 6 years of age, who was selling roses.
He came to us and nearly begged us to buy some of his flowers, saying Baaji aik phool lay lo. When I refused he kept on insisting more and more and said Baaji sirf aik tu lay lo. At this we decided to give him some money without buying his roses.
His answer left us thoroughly astonished. He refused to accept the money saying that he could not take the money unless we bought some roses. I was quite impressed by the little child’s attitude and offered him an ice cream for one of his roses. The twinkle in his eyes for that ice cream was something that I can’t forget throughout my life.
While having the ice cream we decided to have a small chat with him. As we talked with him we were surprised to learn how knowledgeable he was. He was aware of the current situation of the country, names of prominent politicians, names of the famous Bollywood as well as Lollywood stars and their latest gossip, the situation of Afghanistan etc. Thus he knew everything that I could not at all expect from a six-year-old kid.
I glanced at my brother who was just as amazed as me. We thought that if such a talented boy is shown the right way, he would undoubtedly make a name for himself as well as for the country. We asked him if he went to school to which he said that he could not afford to as he had two younger sisters and a brother to look after. His father died in Afghanistan a year before and there was nobody to look after the family since then.
After learning all this we really felt like doing something for the poor child. We decided to educate him on our own, as he was very fond of studying. I gave him my address and he promised to come the next day. It would benefit the country greatly if such talent is not wasted. The state must strive to provide free education to at least such brilliant children who cannot afford to go to school. May God help these children and guide them through as they usually end up on the wrong track if they are not shown the right path.
Dear diary, that’s all for now. I hope that the boy does turn up tomorrow.
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