2. Books Transform Lives

Ranga was a thief, who used to steal things, usually bags, in a railway station for his livelihood. Once he stole a small bag from the same railway station. On seeing the size, being small and weighed moderately heavy, he thought it was a bumper, a BAG FULL OF MONEY.

Excited Ranga, thought of having a quick breakfast before opening the Bumper. So he rushed to a nearby hotel at the railway station. Though he ate a normal breakfast, felt very happy and stomach full, was thinking about the bundles of currencies in the bag he had just stolen. Then he went to a small hideout place, where he usually opens, sort and organize the stolen things. It was the outer part of the railway station, where rusted carriages / boogies / railway compartments were present. He had many dreams of using the money, to eat some delicacies he was longing for, to purchase few new clothes, as his most of the clothes were worn out. Then he was planning to watch a movie, and so on. As each need had a painful story behind them. 

When he reached the safe hideout, his domain, he carefully opened the small bag, to his disappointment, there was no currency note. There were three books –

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickinson, the story was more like his biography, he could travel along the story and he was moved after reading it.  

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl, again he was greatly emotional seeing how the poor boy remained calm, poise and truthful. He admired how the hardships were tested and at the end resulted in becoming a heir of the Chocolate Factory, where he could live with his family.

The Kingdom of God Is Within You by Leo Tolstoy, which speaks on the ways to spread love to mankind, emphasized the principle of nonviolent and asks to face problems instead of resisting it with violent means.

He resolved to leave the act of stealing things from others and decided to work hard to earn a living and give back to the society as a token of compensation. The first thing he did was to purchase good story books especially for children, as he had only limited knowledge in English. With the available money he purchased books from the shop which sold “Used books”, which was located at the platform near the railway station.

After reading all these books he opened a small shop of “Used books”, opposite to a school. He sold the books to those who had money; he rented some books for a small token money for the children who are not offered to buy the used books. He was the first reader of all the books available in the shop. He had been doing enough charity activities, especially for education. 



P. S. : Photos courtesy Internet

1. Education

Kathir and Raju are friends studying in the same class. Kathir is an orphan and lives in an orphanage and studies in the school close to the orphanage. On the other hand Raju is the only son of the rich parents. His house was close to the school, hence he joined here. Despite economic differences, the bond of friendship grew over years.

Raju apart from school, he got specialized coaching for the subjects he was weak. Kathir had no other option but orphanage. Only reason for which he goes out was to school. This reflected in the academic scores. After school Raju advanced to higher education at the nearby town but Kathir had to earn to meet his ends. Kathir joined a cycle repair shop of his relative. He lived with that family. He was given only the leftovers. Many days he filled the stomach with water and previous day’s porridge.

Years rolled on, Kathir joined a spinning mill as a labourer. The mill being new, he used to do many jobs from sweeping to fitting machinery. His income was quite good to live a decent life. In the spinning mill, one of the machines was not working. The functioning of that machine was crucial. The owner wanted to fix the issue. An expert, an engineer was invited to the factory, the next day. Kathir was trying to keep the premises clean, especially around the machinery. When he was still having the broom in hand, the expert arrived. Both had an embarrassing moment. Yes, eyes and heart of both friends met. 

Kathir felt very low seeing his present position and his friend’s. A deep pain, emotional wrath engulfed him. The whole day he was thinking about the divide caused by money and education. From then on, he started supporting poor children living in his area, whose education was restricted just because of money.

P. S. : Photos courtesy Internet