sheikh Sameer
When the opportunity of taking a guest lecture for the primary school kids of our village, presented itself it didn’t seem like anything challenging, given the innocence of the kids. The only challenge that could be envisaged till then was how to get the shy kids to open up. However as it turned out that should have been the least of our concerns.
These kids don’t come from far off areas as the school is right at the heart of the village. Sharing a daily acquaintance with them is nothing unusual, they wave a hand whenever we are passing by and flood the camp in waves when evening games are being played. Few of them have visited on various occasions organised by the camp and are quiet familiar with the faces and environment inside. Hence on entering the class a rush of smiles and murmuring was just as expected.
The curiosity of a kid is something to which a blind eye must never be turned. I remember my primary days when my shyness to ask my teacher as to how do people walk head over heels near the south pole; prevented me from understanding the most basic concept of gravity late up till high school.
After the initial introduction and chit chat was over with, the kids brought out their paintings and toys that they had brought to flaunt in front of us, as they had been made aware, a day in advance, of our visit. It was heartwarming to see the connection they had formed in few occasional acquaintances. Iqbal had made a tank which could destroy the enemy’s garrison in a single blow, Ishfaq had made a silhouette of a soldier and a toddler walking towards the ever high waving flag. Nilofar got her doll which she had somehow managed to paint in camouflage.
As soon as the teacher allowed the kids to shoot their curiosities towards us in order to be answered, once again the class forgot its discipline and nothing except vague noises could be deciphered. After taking control of the class, we allowed the first girl who raised her hand to ask her innocent question.
“How are you so courageous?”, she asked, as all the innocent eyes dilated gazing us squarely in the face to seek answers.
“Can I tell you a secret?”, I whispered, inviting even greater attention;
“I am not!”, the kids got confused.
“When I was your age, I was afraid of the dark, as I grew up it went away, today, I am afraid of other things, fear is not something that could be absent in any being, even Lions are afraid at times, the willingness to do the right thing in those crucial times, despite the overhanging fear, is what makes a man /woman courageous. Also, risk is real, it exists in time & space, and can be tackled by taking the right calculative decision; but fear, is unreal and formless, it only exists in our thoughts, not in the physical world.”, the class seemed to have felt an overwhelming sense of confidence.
“Who wants to go next?”, I permitted another wave of raised hands.
“How do you live away from your mother?”, asked the vulnerable eyes of Fatima.
“I focus on the right thing that needs to be done, and all else simply vanishes”, I draw a point on the black board in order for the kids to focus upon and observe the results themselves. They try but only few are able to blur the surroundings, due to which I explain further.
“Distractions in pursuits of the right thing will be ever present but its upto you to decide where do you want to direct your energy. Would it be on the target? Or would it be on the distractions!”, the kids, surprisingly seemed to have understood it all somehow.
“Major Sir I have to ask one important question”, interrupts the innocent Ishfaq who’s innocent face I simply cannot turn down.
“Go ahead Ishfaq.”, I smile.
“Why do we need to have boundaries? Why can’t we live like friends and not be troubled by all the classifications?”
I got struck by lightening while being transferred to the flashbacks of my shy primary days. Do I even know the right answer that the kid desires? Would I nervously just reply with a haphazard and deficient answer? Should I commend his curiosity and tell him I would get back to him later which I probably might not be able to? Would I be able to find a worthy experienced person who could address the kid’s genuine curiosity righteously ?
“Imagine this Ishfaq, you have a set of crayons, but you deliberately place each one of them stacked with the familiar shades. You are from this primary school, take example of another primary school, would you be comfortable with kids from other primary schools attending your class? Although its nothing wrong but still you’d have your apprehensions! In the same manner when people, families, communities, societies, religions, countries, etc got familiarity with each other they chose to be apprehensive and protected from any future dangers. Hence we live in a world with borders and differentiation. However its always upto us, if we want to continue in the same manner , or not!”, I hoped I didn’t do injustice to him!
