It was our semester break and all my
friends and I planned to have a night out in the city. At the last moment few
of our friends backed out because of unavailability of vehicles and some for
other reasons. It was two of my friends and I who set out to explore the city.
The roads that would be filled with people in morning were all vacant. Narrow
streets where normal riding speed was less than 10km/hr in the morning looked
broader.
We parked our vehicle to the side of a
tea stall and enjoyed our hot tea in chilly winter winds. We sat to the side of
the stall in front of a shop that was closed now. We started talking to the tea
vendor about the general stuff. He was not rough and seemed well behaved. Soon
our conversation drove to how he set up his business and why he picked to sell
the tea at this hour of the night. He said he goes to school in the morning and
spends the evening resting and studying. This particular answered of him
surprised me.
The guy was in his early twenties. We
were intrigued and to our surprise he understood it and said you might be
thinking how a person of my age can still be going to school. He said he used
to go to school till 7th grade and then dropped out of school.
Because of some financial crisis he was not able to pursue his studies.
He used to live with his uncle in a
village nearby but he could no longer finance his studies. He started working
in a farm with his uncle. One day uncle asked him do you want to live in a big
mansion to which he said yes. He said never say yes to questions like this.
There are individuals who are of your age and are asked these questions and
sent off to other countries to serve individuals for their pleasure. He then
heard shocking sentence came from his uncle’s mouth. He said I have sold you to
those individuals and if you don’t want to live the life of servitude then you
should run.
He left his home and worked as a helper
and lived off the streets and worked hard to have a stall. He does not
technically own the stall but has a share of profit. He said he goes to school
to learn and to make something out of life. He was in class 11th and
next year he would complete his 12th. He said there are various jobs
that only require you to pass 12th class. We asked what your plans
are once you join a job to which he replied with a determination that he would
go for a college degree.
That sentence of his showed how you got
to plan out your life and why you should value your time. He navigated his life
through the odds and has a hope to make things better for him and that too by
all the legitimate ways.
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