MY TWO BOYS...

I will just call him – the Manipur Boy! That’s enough.

He hails from the troubled state of Manipur… and from a family which has tough times making the two ends meet. The newspapers say that, barely six months ago, he almost missed out filling the registration forms for his CBSE-Board class XII exams… because his family could not afford it. Yes, that was six months ago. On this Monday, when the results were out, this young boy stunned the nation: He scored 99 percent and became the first to do that – ever – in the CBSE history! He stood first in a nation crowded with rich, bright, elite and whatever! 

I do not know who this boy is. I haven’t even seen his picture… But, last night, when I read the report in the newspapers, my eyes welled… and goose bumps sprang up all over my body!

I felt a lot proud to be born in a nation where the guys like this one – with acute constraints – still could dream, and go about following them… and, yes, they could achieve them. I felt immensely inspired and – it may sound so weird – I felt he was my own son… my own student!

I really do not know why I felt so strong for this boy. But, I did!

Just two days ago, a pretty, sophisticated woman had brought to me her young son to enroll. The boy studies in one of Mumbai’s hep colleges. The mother wanted me to teach one subject privately to her son and was ready to pay me whatever I would demand. She had already enrolled him, for rest of the subjects, with other private tutors and paid to them whatever they had demanded. My brief interaction with this boy really made me annoyed. The boy had no initiative of his own… It was clear that he had been spoon-fed, this way – of course with parents’ golden spoons – all along the years. He was handsome, wore the most modern clothes and footwear, and carried the finest mobile… Yet, as a student, his attitude was stinking. 

Before I enrolled this young man, I asked him if he knew what it took to earn the kind of fees his parents were shelling out on each of the tutors. I showed him the middle-aged watchman who was on his twelve-hour duty at the Society gate. “He gets Rs. 3,000/- to take home every month,” I told the young boy, “he has two college-going daughters and his dream is to graduate them.”


The mother liked what I was ‘preaching’ her son… and, evidently, she must’ve told such things to her ‘mod’ son a hundred times over. I continued, “Beta, a year ago he had brought his elder daughter to study under me in TY B’Com. I had waived off the fees… because the girl deserved it. She was so dedicated, so focused that – in spite of the fact that she would visit a couple of houses in the nights to cook food and earn some extra income for the house – she scored about 80 percent in her TY.”

The boy did not want my sermon. He was restless. 

I too was.

He did not want to listen, perhaps…

I did not want him to be in – with a swollen head…

I added, “ Beta, their combined annual income is not even enough to fund your two tutors!”

The mother felt very good that I spoke such words… 

“Beta, I will take you here, only if you value the kind of privileges you are blessed with… and, don’t abuse them… Only if you are sensitive to such things, I believe I can contribute to your growth.”

The boy agreed.

He is in now. 

I am happy that he has all the privileges… 

That’s a boon… 

all that has to be done is to appreciate, 

value and be grateful for it… 

and, make the most of it. 

I hope, our Mumbai hep-boy, who now is my student, will make the most of the ‘excess’ he is born into…

Two days, later, the Manipur boy came into my life!

He was also born into a condition Destiny had in store for him: a poverty-stricken home! He lived thousands of miles from my own home. Though I had not taught this boy or raised him up… last night, while I was reading about him, my eyes turned wet and heart rejoiced… My soul was inspired! “Hey he is my student… He is my son!”… I found myself crying out in my heart! 

“May God bless you, my son!” I wished one. “May God bless you, too,” I wished another.

God, in deed, had ‘blessed’… both my boys!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: Lionel Saldanha