Ray of light

‘I wanted sausages and pasta, not boiled eggs and cheese-bread,’ said angry Farhan. ‘Well, today’s breakfast is boiled eggs and cheese bread,’ mum patiently pointed at the calendar. That disgusting and life-ruining calendar! Farhan wished he could tear up that annoying calendar and get rid of it. Since Farhan’s grade is decreasing, their whole family relationship seems, improving with full force. Now his parents mostly agree with each other; his big sister is visiting his study room twice or thrice a day, asking him if he needs any help, youngest brother is not playing video games like before but rather more engaged in studies, and nobody is using cell phone much and, everybody is more attentive to each other! What a remarkable outcome of Farhan’s poor grade.

Let's introduce ourselves to the main character 'Farhan'. He is a teenage boy with a thin and tall body, loose curly hair, and a cute face. As many people say, the middle child is the most intelligent and diplomatic one. Farhan shows nothing of that sort. He is an easily irritated, impatient, and not so-easy-to-handle-kind -of youth. His parents knew from the day he was born that they would have a difficult time with him. Among their three children, he is the most attention-seeker, daredevil and troublemaker. In his sixteen years of living, each year proved to be more unique than the last. The following year, he spent throwing things here and there, especially when he was angry. Now, all these never suggest that Farhan is a difficult kid. Six out of ten children behave the same. The problem is, that Farhan didn’t change much in his behaviour over time, while the other two kids Jassy and Omar are showing normal social adaptation.

The more Farhan grew, the more his parents struggled. Infant Farhan was a crying baby, toddler Farhan was a stubborn fighter, and teenager Farhan, is unpredictable. Nothing strange. But when puberty hit Farhan; it hit hard everyone in the house. Nobody is perfect. Everybody has something different in their personality which comes to them naturally. There are some positive signs in his character, too. Farhan doesn’t annoy anyone with words, and he regrets for his misdeeds even if it takes weeks. He can’t stand when someone is crying, and he doesn't lie. Still, this youth has been suffering since his childhood, because of his vagabond, stubborn nature and super laziness. Laziness alone is enough to engulf a person's all good qualities. Many examples were discussed with Farhan this or that way but all failed. He just likes to spend his time without paying much attention to ever-changing scenarios around the world. This carefree lifestyle is going to put him into an abyss, which he might understand later.

In group 'B", Safwan, Atif and Farhan are going on a field trip, and group 'A' to a movie. Let me check once again who belongs to group ‘B’ …… Ms Dina continues. Farhan gets upset and angry. He makes a grumpy face and scratches at his pants and if he could, he would scratch the walls with his hands.

‘Well, it’s a good chance to see a new place. I’m glad your school is taking you there. If we wanted to visit that area, it surely would take a few more years. We hardly can fix our different schedules and go anywhere.’ That is how Farhan’s mum is trying to cheer him up. It’s not so simple. Farhan knows field trips aren’t any fun. They are part of education. And, after returning from the trip, he has to write a report on that and submit it to his class teacher. Another boring thing!

Anyways, the day arrives for the field trip. Farhan is on his way to a rural setting. It’s not much far away from his school or, not even a remote place to be considered. But this place wasn’t populated a few years back. It’s a kind of shelter for those people who lost their homes in recent years due to floods. A new life is full of challenges. One who owned a home now became one of the distressed. Life is so unpredictable. Some organisations rehabilitated them there. Farhan’s school decided to connect some selected students with these less privileged children this year in an effort to build a sense of responsibility among them, who take everything for granted, and lack a sense of responsibility (which they didn’t share with those selected students).

On the way, Farhan sees vast fields with no cattle, no bazaars or small shops. A great silence in the air. What is this place? After forty minutes of travel, they reach a small area where he sees people for the first time. All the houses are semi-brick built and look the same, roads are narrow and surely, become muddy during monsoon, one or two tea stalls are there, and ponds are being used, for fish harvesting. Farhan looks around. People don’t seem surprised to see them. Perhaps they know about their arrival.

They all are taken to a school which completely different looking than their school. Students are looking at them curiously, some are shy, some smiling when Farhan gets direct eye contact. They are mostly 9-10 years old. Farhan notices they are wearing the same school uniforms, that they wear but a bit torn and old. Some of them have shoes, and some wear sandals. He recognises one of them is wearing his previous school uniform, which he donated five years back to his school donation fund. Before donating that shirt, he stitched ‘N’ on the right sleeve. It’s still there! The classroom is wide open, and the children sit on the floor. That is how they study. Farhan sees a pile of old copies on the table in a corner which they didn’t finish and then donated to the school. And also, some toys, colour pencils, torn school bags, old socks, and half-damaged shoes. What they felt unworthy to be used, are still being used by many other children like them. A small girl is playing with a toy car which he once said is ‘a lousy gift’.

Farhan looks at his friends Safwan, Atif, and the rest of them, and understands what is going on in their minds. Teachers of both sides introduce the students, and then the main part starts. They will have a casual conversation and then will do some work together. Farhan gets three of them in his small team where he will conduct the main role. When they sit around him, he gets the strong dusty smell coming out from their body. The first task is handwriting. He finds them quite enthusiastic, smart, and quick at approach. Three of them show their handwriting to him, eagerly waiting for his opinion. Farhan feels no shame admitting that, these kids have better handwriting than him. They read stories to him from the same book once he got in grade 3. Farhan recalls the past and remembers how annoyed he used to feel to read those. In school, and at home everybody used to encourage him to read loudly so that it could be audible, and his pronunciation could be corrected. But no positive response from his side they ever got. They heard his loud voice only when he lost his game to his buddies, and couldn’t accept that. Farhan feels ashamed but enjoys their readings. While they are drawing, and colouring, he is amazed by their artistic mind. He feels sad when he notices their skinny bodies, and dirty clothes, and how happy are they with the little things that they have. He feels sad when he hears they have a tiffin break without any tiffin, so they take watery rice every morning not to feel hungry. But the afternoon is great fun. They play football in the open vast field until they get tired. They thank them for donating their old footballs to them. What on earth! How can you manage those old, damaged footballs? One boy surprises Farhan by replying to him that, they cut the balls, inserted some other pieces of stuff inside them, and now they play with them. Of course, these balls don’t bounce like the real ones, still, they enjoy playing with them. Farhan doesn’t know what to say, all he knows --- if he wouldn’t visit these kids, this place, he would miss identifying ‘how much worth a human life is!’ They take lunch together (arranged by Farhan’s school), do some videos, and take some snaps with the local people, and their new friends. Farhan promises to himself many things which only his God knows and him.

On the way back home, Farhan talks to himself. He realises, that his parents, teachers --- nobody expected only good grades from students like them, they wanted to make them value the blessings they already have got. They wanted them to understand how lucky they are, and, how they can become better people. So be it. Farhan decides, that he must have the vision to transform his world into a better one.