Creative Writing: My Identity

Who is he? For how long will he hide his identity from himself? His sweat was mixing with his tears while he held his wooden stand supporting the container full of papad. In the scorching heat he often waited outside a public school for children to buy his papad. The adolescent boy of twenty two years old, staring at his muddy feet was lost in his thoughts. Poverty has stolen his laughter.

Suddenly his chain of thoughts broke when he heard the voice of his regular customer , "Gaurav bhaiya, I want two papad". Carefully he picked two papad, sprinkled some salt and bent over to hand them to the little boy who first put four rupees in Gaurav's pocket, then took his papad. What would Gaurav

Shouldn't you be in school right now?"A genuine question that Gaurav would ask Prakhar.

Prakhar replied ,"I want to draw. I want to make my own world on this paper. My teacher doesn't allow me to draw so I came here. She wants me to read and write all the time. I don't want to be in the school." He was of about 13 - 14 years old healthy boy dressed in clean and ironed school uniform.

"For the change would you like to come with me to sell papad ? We will be back in half an hour? ", Gaurav asked him and he agreed.

The innocent eyes of Prakhar fell on the boy who looked almost of his age. He was selling ballons. Gaurav had taken Prakhar on the outskirts of the slum area where there were many children who worked to earn their living. Prakhar noticed the thin body, dishevelled clothes and tired looks on the face of the boy selling balloons. Gaurav told Prakhar about this boy who lived in the slum area that " He doesn't play with his friends or chat with them. Everyday without fail in the hot sun I see him sell balloons. If he doesn't work he won't get his meal and even if he does, his plate lacks chapattis with ghee and pulses and usually the vegetable is replaced by a pickle." Prakhar looked

Both of them moved towards the school.

When Prakhar told in his class about what he saw, his teacher asked him, "who showed you the other children involved in labour?"

"Gaurav bhaiya, the one who sells papad outside the school," the little boy replied. This made his teacher eager to talk to him.

So the very next day Prakhar's teacher spoke to Gaurav -" I'm Prakhar's teacher. He told in the class about what you pointed out to him yesterday. Since when have you been selling papad here? Who are you? ", she told Gaurav.

Gaurav told her that "I was like Prakhar who didn't understand the importance of education. Even today I regret it because my father sent me to school and I didn't work. I'm now determined to help people who live in the slum area. I have been hiding my identity from people and from myself to live the harsh life just to understand how to bring in the change so that people here gradually accept it. I have been living here for a month now."

"I'm an NGO worker."

"Will you help by providing tuition classes for the poor children? ",Gaurav finally asked her.

And she smiled.

-