Reasons to Smile

Originally posted: February 11, 2011

 

This post will be very short for it took me two days to decide whether the topic deserves a blog post or an fb update will suffice. Finally, I realized it would be too long for an fb update and decided to go ahead with a blog post.

This post is about my experiences while  teaching a bunch of street kids and slum kids. When one tries to narrate such instances, one either tends to be preachy or starts praising himself. The task at hand for me now is to avoid both. And thus, I will just give you a straight forward narration (no literature) of the instances as they happened.

Radha-Kishan:

Have you ever passed through(not over) the IIT main gate flyover? You can easily see a girl aged 14-15 and a small boy aged 8-9 selling flowers and toys to people who stop at the red light. As you might have guessed, they are named Radha and Kishan. Radha is Kishan’s sister. I was sitting in an auto and coming to the new teaching site which we were about to start later that day, when my auto stopped at the red light. I saw them there and said Hi. They were happy to acknowledge my gesture and came running towards me. I was talking to Radha when Kishan ran off and returned a few seconds later. He gave me a piece of paper and said,” Deepak bhaiyya, yeh radha ne lakha (lakha not likha) hai“. The page was an A-4 sized sheet written in Hindi. It consisted of simple sentences. As i was reading it, the light went green and I was about to return the paper to him, when he said, “Rakh lo“.

The auto driver was surprised. Kids who beg and/or sell at the signal were giving a gift. Surprised, he sped off in the direction I asked him to. I don’t want to describe the feeling I had at that moment. But I request you to wait for a few seconds and experience the feeling before you move on to the next part…..

P.S:

1. I tried writing the next part but couldn’t. I was so moved by the recollection of the incident.

2. People often tell me that my posts lately have had an abrupt end. I am sorry, this one will also have an abrupt one.

3. Radha doesn’t go to school, but can read and write  now . I am happy I taught Radha once.