You Do Not Need Privilege To Dream Big

I feel fortunate being in the company of thousands of wonderful children and hundreds of teachers every day. Children, who aspire, dream, try, fail, achieve and excel, and teachers who give their best to help these kids, realize and achieve their goals. Each child is an individual full of dreams. I should mention that parents are also playing their part in shaping these individuals. They are doing their best to stand by their kids through thick and thin. We also teach our kids a lot of values, we ask them to be positive and count their blessings.

Amidst all this we often forget to remind them that they are privileged. Yes, it is indeed a privilege to able to attend a school. From the clean water they drink to the very fact that they have clean water to take a shower every day, is a privilege. With all these facilities being provided to them, kids often confine their world to themselves. They become indifferent to the fact that they are a part of a community, a society and a nation; a nation that was built by legends who put service before self, and who believed in ‘giving back’. “I believe giving back is one of the greatest life lessons we can teach our children: that the world isn't all about them and that, through our actions, people will really discover what kind of a person we truly are.”

We often read about various NGOs working for the upliftment of the underprivileged and how these children provide us an opportunity to give back to society. Can you imagine that some of these underprivileged kids want to give back so much more to their country? The patriotism and humility that we as teachers and parents try to find in our kids, flows in the veins of these deprived little souls, in abundance.

Let me now share with you my ‘privilege’ of getting acquainted with two little kids who dream big in spite of their deprived conditions and most importantly, they realize that they are a part of this country and thereby have certain sense of responsibility towards it. Four years ago, we happened to meet a little girl, about 8-9 years old. She belongs to a very poor family in the nearby village. She lives with her father, mother and three siblings in a hut. She is suffering from a severe medical condition and her physical and mental growth is not appropriate. She also suffers from a severe speech defect. Her father is a daily wage earner and their economic condition is miserable. Her innocence and honesty moved us when we first met her and now we make sure that we visit her at least once a year and provide her and family with few basic necessities. This girl is lively and amiable. She welcomes us every time with a smile on her face. Due to our frequent visits, kids from the neighbouring huts gather around her and focus on the food packets and other stuff we give her. Interestingly, she simply passes them to her mother and gets engrossed in playing a perfect host.

Recently, when we were on the way to visit her, we stopped at a shop in the village to purchase the necessities for her family. A little boy, who studies in class VI, was helping the shopkeeper. He told us that he aspires to become a CBI officer. His charming and zealous personality instantly attracted our attention and soon we were lost listening to the story of his life. He told us that his father is an alcoholic and often beats him. He lost his mother few years ago and the generous shopkeeper is paying for his education. This promising kid with big dreams in his eyes assured us that he has everything ‘sorted’. He will finish his education from the village school and then apply for college and later he will pass certain competitive exams and work for CBI. Here, his face became solemn for a few seconds as he was lost in deep thoughts, “I know I will have to “waste” a lot of money for my education but I will have to be what I have decided, it is important.” (“In sab me bohot paisa bigrega pr mjhe toh CBI me jana hi h.”). Enraptured by his spirit and sincerity towards his cause I asked, “Why? Why is it so important for you to work for CBI? He smiled and said, “Saheb, it is my responsibility to do something for the country, isn’t it?”

This made me wonder about the kids back in the school. Do they have such aspirations? Aspirations that prioritize the country they live in and parents who dedicate their lives to them. Then, something beautiful happened. We got a glimpse of the calibre of this confident ‘future CBI officer’. After he handed over the items to us, he started doing the calculation. To our surprise he did all the calculation without using a pen or a calculator. Considering that he is just a child, we insisted the shopkeeper to do the calculation again. The shopkeeper pointed out that we had given 25 rupees more than the amount as the kid calculated it wrong. The child said with confidence that he was pretty sure about his calculation. The boy insisted that we should visit him again when we return. We told him it would be very tiring and we would not have the strength (“Beta, himmat hogi toh ayenge”).  To which he said, “Saheb, Himmat kroge toh himmat aa hi jayegi.” (Please try to come; you can do anything if you try). Anyway, we smiled at this childish assertion and left for the little girl’s house. At the girl’s house we were welcomed by her cheerful face and she tried to express a lot with the little words she could manage.

We decided to meet this boy again as we returned, just to bid him goodbye and have some water as we did not want to disappoint him. When he saw us he happily came running to us and served us water. With a proud smile on his face he said at once, “Saheb, my calculation was correct, you paid 25 rupees less. The shopkeeper accepted the same as he handed over the new bill accepting that the calculation he made on the calculator turned out to be faulty. We were so impressed with this little boy. My good friend who accompanied me on this visit proposed that we should bring him to the city and enroll him in a good school with hostel facility, for his further education. All of a sudden a thought stopped me. I realized that he has seen the hard life; he has seen that everything in life comes with a price. Nothing was ever handed over to him for free. Providing him with a comfortable life, will I not be taking away the most significant lesson life has taught him at such a tender age? The lesson that, ‘nothing can substitute hard work and hardships are a part of life.’ Back in the hostel, amidst all the facilities, he might forget his purpose, I feared.

I appreciated him and bade goodbye. I knew, this hard work will inspire him and take him to his goal. The austere life he is living will teach him that nothing in life should be taken for granted. With this I wondered about the kids back at school, will they ever realize how privileged they are? Will they ever learn that the blessings they don’t count are a farfetched dream for the little boy and the handicapped girl? But I know that adversities bring out the best of one’s abilities and I will spread their stories as an inspiration and encourage other kids to dream big and not to let the hurdles perturb them.

I ask the parents and teachers to make sure that the students get to know about the underprivileged so that they can learn empathy and start appreciating the blessings that the Almighty has bestowed upon them; encourage them to dream and eliminate all the excuses because when you aspire for something with all your heart, adversity becomes your friend.

A.P.J Abdul Kalam once said addressing the slum children of Mumbai, "My teacher once explained on the blackboard how a bird flies... I instantly got attracted to it and I decided to make something fly one day. Every child must have some great aim before the age of 15, every child."