It was a long time since I'd been to Kolkata and I'd planned to visit my cousins at Kolkata during the weekend. I arrived at the Kharagpur railway station and since the local trains to Howrah were frequent and I was in no hurry, I decided to grab a bite outside the railway station. I saw a vendor making some hot puris and my hunger drove me towards it. As I gorged on the puris, I noticed a young boy with a little girl standing near the vendor and staring at the puris. Their clothes were dirty and torn, and I could make out that were not so well off. The boy tugged at a man having puris saying ''uncle, humko puri khilauge? (uncle, can you get us a plate of puri?). The man shooed them off and continued to eat.
I asked the vendor to give the boy and the girl a plate of puri each. The boy's eyes lit up and he thanked me. I sat with them and began to converse.
Me: What are your names?
He: Dada, I'm Tapan and this is Pranitha, my sister.
Me: I'm Niladri. You both study? [In Bengali]
Tapan (with a big smile): I study in 9th standard and my sister studies in 7th.
Me: That's great! Where do you stay and what do your parents do?
Tapan: Dada, we stay near IIT. My father drives a rickshaw and my mother stays at home to look after us.
Me: IIT is around 5 km away from here. What are you doing here in the morning?
Pranitha: Dada, the financial condition at home is not good since the last few days. Baba (dad) has to work the whole day because he has to earn while ma (mom) is at home as she is not well. So since we don't have enough money at home, baba dropped us here so that we could beg for food from someone.
[When she used the word 'beg', my eyes were moist and I decided to give them some money]. At this juncture, I noticed the following:
- They were sharing a plate of puri (one plate has 2 puris) while the other plate was kept untouched. When I asked them the reason, they said that they will take the other plate for their parents.
- Tapan let his sister have more. I'm sure he did this because she was younger.
I immediately ordered two more plates for their parents. This made them more happy. The vendor smiled and said:
"God bless you son. There are many such poor people in Kharagpur and very few people care to show them any sort of concern. Your attitude will take you places''
[I thanked him for his kind words and resumed my conversation with Tapan and Pranitha]
Me: Tapan, Pranitha...what do you want to do in life?
Tapan: Dada, I want to become a doctor and Pranitha wants to become an engineer. We live near IIT and have heard that it is one of the best colleges. When we see IIT students, we get inspired to work harder and become successful in life. Our parents support us a lot.
[I was literally dumbstruck. His words inspired me and they won my respect. I was in awe of these little kids. I took out a thousand rupees which I'd kept to buy something for my cousins and gave it to them. They hugged me tightly and thanked me. I waited with them for another 10 minutes at the end of which their father came. I appreciated him and assured him that his kids would scale great heights provided he keeps supporting them. He thanked me for everything and assured me of the same].
Pranitha: Dada, what do you do?
Me: I study at IIT.
[They grinned and hugged me again].
Pranitha (to Tapan): See dada, we are getting inspired from the right place!
I was stunned by the maturity of her words at such a young age. I bid them farewell and went into the station to catch my train.
I reflected upon what had transpired between me and them during the course of my journey to Howrah. I had tears in my eyes and people were staring at me.
But that didn't matter.
What mattered was the care which Tapan showed for his little sister.
What mattered was the love and concern which these kids showed for their parents.
What mattered was their dreams and their zeal to achieve them.
What mattered was the support their parents provided.
What mattered was a father who wanted his daughter to follow her dreams rather than get her married off.
What mattered was the spirit and resolve of these two young poverty struck kids who didn't let their condition get into the way of their dreams.
What mattered was the smile on the faces of those two kids.
What mattered was the plight of scores of children in our country who are often deprived of any chance of education or are not provided the means to pursue their dreams and aspirations.
