Dreams To Die For

After ten long years of wait, I could finally smell the fresh breeze of my home land, Amritsar. It was in the month of August when I got a vacation and I along with my parents visited my uncle’s house. As soon as the train reached the platform, my uncle had come to escort us. I got emotional seeing my mother cry out of happiness. On our way home, I saw a whole lot of green fields and as I entered the village area ,a cold breeze soothed my soul. It was a fresh and a beautiful experience to have felt the ambiance of the village.

The time had come when I had to meet or rather recognize the family members as I had seen them after ten years. I was really happy to meet all the members of my family and specially that one girl who was hiding herself, peeping through the window of the kitchen. She seemed to be of my age so I approached her. Her name was smile but unfortunately she smiled may be once in a blue moon. She was thin,dusky and was wearing a red long kurti with an orange dilapidated payjama with a dupatta which was no more seen in the then market. However she appeared, she was always seen busy with some work. She was a very calm and quiet girl who did not speak much. After spending four to five days with her, I noticed that she was very hardworking, enthusiastic and had may dreams to die for. Her family conditions were such that she had to work all day long helping her mother in cooking food and doing other household chores. Both her parents were stricken with poliomyelitis due to which she had to play the role of a support system of her family.

Smile had become an inspiration for me because I had seen her work all day long and then without thinking about the rest her body needs, she gave all her time to studies.I myself was a witness to her daily life. Every morning she woke up, did her household chores, prepared the lunch box for her younger brother and for herself and managed to prepare for her examination the previous night. With all sleepless nights, she worked hard to score well in her examinations. And yes! It was not shocking for me to hear later that she was the topper of not only her school but all over in Amritsar with a percentage of 89.This was the fruit of her hardwork. She left no stone unturned to make this happen. She dreams of becoming an aeronautic engineer and I am pretty sure that she is going to be one.

Seeing this girl work so hard in a place where girls are not even allowed to go to schools, she proved that girls are worth it and that they are made not only to do household work but also to fly airplanes high in the sky. She has been a great inspiration to almost every girl in the village. This was my experience to show as to how some people dream worth the cost of a life. There are very few girls who work on their dreams to the extent that they strive to achieve that dream even at the cost of their life. I can proudly say that 'Smile' killed her childhood for her dreams which is indeed a great sacrifice for a 10 year old to do.