No. It’s not. But perhaps I’d better start from the beginning. It was a bright, sunny day but it was far from the start of a normal day. It also happened to be the last day of the year. I awoke lazily, yawning and stretching. I checked the clock on my bedside table. It was 7:04 a.m. I jumped up and sprinted into the shower.
“Hurry up, August, hurry up!”, shouted Mum from the car. “Coming Mum!”, I shout-replied back. I was going to an orphanage, the first one that I had ever been to. I shoved my shoes on and hurried to the car. We took an exceedingly green route, one with peacocks, and a railway track. I literally screamed when I saw one. When we reached the orphanage, I had to admit I felt a little excited. The first thing I saw when we looked at the orphanage was a big building, made of bricks. When Mum was looking the other way, I noticed that the walls inside were made of cement and paint. Then I saw a boy working- literally with buckets and filling them with water. The first thought that came to my mind was “Is life fair?”. Again. No. It’s not. The person in charge asked us what we were there for. We told them we wanted to see the orphanage. We were shown into a classroom which was a shocking sight. The children were screaming and the teachers were doing so even more on their phones. The chairs were turned over and the paint on the classroom walls was peeling off. The children were dressed in plain mismatched clothes. Suddenly, I felt that everything I owned was so valuable- even my ocean-blue jeans, my pink and blue floral top and my black shoes, seemed too much. Then the teacher came up and told us that the children there were either abandoned or their parents had died. That was when I actually felt their pain. I felt a pang of sympathy for the children.
A teacher was trying to teach but the screaming was too loud. Our guide told us that they did not have textbooks. At that point, I just thought they were out of textbooks, but it wasn’t that, as I was soon to know. I imagined what life would be for me if I were one of them. It certainly would be tough. I suddenly wondered if they ever thought about their parents, what life would be if they were with them. Mum was too busy trying to make them talk to her. I went over and spoke to them in Tamil. They spoke well to me, and they seemed happy.
I stood in front of the class and asked them what their New Year’s Day would be like. They had simple innocent answers like playing hide and seek, eating biriyani and playing other games. It surprised me that they had no new year presents or such. But there was something nagging at me that I wanted to shout out and go mad. WHY ARE WE LIVING IN SUCH A FANCY WORLD WHEN THEY HAVE NOTHING AT ALL? WHY DO WE TAKE OUR LIVES FOR GRANTED WHEN WE HAVEN’T SEEN THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD?
At the moment, I felt so much anguish and fury that I think I broke the world record! I breathed deeply and held on for three seconds. I exhaled and calmed down. Next, I proceeded to ask what they wanted to become. There were lots of answers. A boy said that he wanted to become an inspector. A doctor, a policeman, a collector… Mum and I exchanged looks. I wondered if their dreams would come true even without textbooks. My favourite was a boy called S.Vetri. He wanted to be an inspector. He also presented me with a drawing, one that I treasure. After all, I wanted to treasure this for the years to come. Till today I have it safely tucked away in my cupboard. We said goodbye and took our leave.
When we walked outside, a tall, bulky man strode toward us. He was the principal. The guide (obviously a teacher) introduced us. Soon the principal and Mum were chatting. I had a thought in my mind. In my headspace. I just had to walk one step and say it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Do they need anything?” I asked slowly. The principal looked awkward. “Er… um…. uh…yes. They need textbooks. We also need dhal. We’re out of dhal and…um…. we don’t have textbooks.” There was a long pause. “We’ll buy it for you,” I said quickly. Mum stared at me in astonishment. I had never done this sort of thing before. He smiled. “Thanks,” he said. That grateful smile made me feel so happy. Not because he said thanks but because I had done something for him. Because he was happy. I blushed. As we walked away, I hoped with all my might that the children’s dreams would come true in the end. As I looked back, all I saw was a golden sparkle.
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