The shadow of silence was broken by the pinching cacophony of cries. It was so
unprecedented that I could not make any
head or tail out of it. I went outside and saw my bulky maid whipping her son up with full intensity. How could a real mother beat her son so cruelly?
The deep-seated forlornness in Ali''s eyes (he later told me his name) filled my heart with sympathy. I asked my maid that what the matter was. ''He deserves that,'' she replied rather sardonically. ''He wants to read books. He is 11 now. If he will not start working in a workshop, we will no longer be able to carry his burden.'' She added bitterly, turning to Ali, ''Do remember! Only a
miracle can change our miserable condition!''
''Only a miracle can change our miserable condition…''
These words sent a shiver down my spine. How helpless they were! Being a citizen of a Third world country I had seen many cases of child labour, but this was a really different case. My heart took a complete somersault as I saw Ali, tremulous like a leaf. His moist, dark brown eyes eventually turned dull and insipid on seeing his cozy world of dreams shattering before him...
I could not resist. I embraced him and promised to do something for him, oblivious of the rigid rocks of obstacles that awaited me, ready to shatter my vow into pieces...
I made a solemn vow to myself that I would teach Ali. But it proved to be a horrific nightmare. My
parents were not happy with me because my final tests were only three months away. The books needed for him was another problem because my parents were not interested in buying them. I had some money from my dad for my course books, and I decided to use that money for buying books for Ali.
Three months later my result was announced. I got 4As and 4Bs - a poor result that was not expected from me. My parents scolded me and my friends booed me. But all that was like water off a duck''s back because I had achieved something more important than that... As the saying goes, the things that matter the most cannot be ignored for the things that matter the least...
I can excel in my next examination, but had Ali been left in his desperate state, he would have been buried in the deep mire of despair where no light can reach! At first, I faced a lot of difficulty in teaching him, as he had been to school just for few years, but situation improved very fast. Ali proved so intelligent that he could rattle off a thing I had explained to him a minute before! He got admission in a high school on scholarship basis and is going to school regularly.
Now I feel very happy that Ali has got the key to the ''miracle''. And I am sure that you can also share the same inner satisfaction that I feel after doing whatever I could for Ali by helping some other Ali present around you, whom you have been neglecting for so long! And by this, I don''t mean to say that you should start neglecting your own studies, but finding out a little time to educate a person would not only give you the feeling of satisfaction that cannot be expressed in words, but by doing this, you would also play your role in the development of this country.