a dream..

What's your name?
Sunny

How old are you?
(an enquiring glance at his mother, responded to by a giggle)
i don't know...perhaps 9

What have you made?
A house

Whom for?
simmi didi (name changed)...she is ill so I thought I will gift her this house on Diwali
(the mother pitches in) this will bring her good luck and good health.

Did anyone ask you to?
No

From where did you get all this cardboard?
They are making a house next door. A man there gave it to me.

Who gave you all this wrapping paper?
I bought it from my own money.

What do you mean your money?
The money I get every now and then on festivals etc.

How much did you spend?
(proudly) Rs. 40/-

That's a lot of money!
(the smile gets wider) I had collected it since Holi

How long have you been making it?
1 month.

But why did you spend all your money on this?
So that simmi didi gets well soon

Do you really like her that much? Is she nice to you?
She lets me play with her video games and gives me her old books to read.

Do you know how to read?
Yes. I learned my tables, and alphabet in school back at home. I also know counting till 200 and I know how to write my name.

Do you like to read?
Very much

Then why don’t you go to school?
Mother says she has no money and the schools here charge a lot of it.

(Once more the mother speaks, this time she can’t help crying) My son is very bright. We had come to delhi so that he could go to a better school. Now I don’t have money to send him to school , or to go back. I don’t know what to do.

What do you want to do when you grow up?
(still smiling) Earn money and go to school.

When was the last time you or I gave up practically everything we owned and put in so much of sheer effort to do something so selflessly for some one else ? This rat-race…is it really worth it?! Can we not stop armchair politics and actually do our own little bit to make this world a slightly better place? Is it really that impossible a target to achieve?

I couldn’t go on after the last question, and till date I cannot shut my ears to the answer. Can you???