Last night, I slept pretty late around 2.30am. I woke up today at around 3.00pm in the day. Yes I can SLEEP more than 12 hours. I think its also cuz I go to gym almost 5 times a week, so I'm pretty tired hence I knock out for hours. Anyways, back to my dream..well here is how it goes.
I was in Bombay and I didn't look like myself..I was a girl, my name was Chandni but My face and body were of a different girl. I looked like a mixture of Kareena Kapoor of all people and my mommy dearest. Like I said, this dream was weird.
I was in India and had been there for some reason for 8 months. I had made friends with this little beggar boy/errand boy who worked at this shop, who was probably 8-9 years old but boy was he smart. We used to hangout a lot and talk about his life in India and how my life was as a doctor. I didn't take him as a beggar/errand boy but more as a little brother or like my own child. He didn't have parents and he did all kinds of jobs. In the day he used to work for this couple, who are in their late 40's and he worked at their shop selling 2nd hand things and toys for children and in the evenings he was free that is when we hung out. I think his name was Vijee.
One day, I was at his shop and I saw this weird black bag and I asked him what it had.
"Isme purana camera hai didi", he said ( it has an old camera, that's what he said in hindi)
I asked him how much is this selling for, and he replied..
"Rs: 55 didi bohot menga hai..mujhe kafi acha lagta hai photo keechna.."
( its 55 rupees, so expensive I really like taking pictures )
I thought to myself, this 9 year old boy thinks 55 rupees is expensive and he works so hard to sell all this how much does he get paid?
So I took out Rs: 55 rupees from my wallet and bought the camera and also bought a roll for the pictures. I then called him over and told him I bought it for him.
The look on his face was priceless, I swear I still remember as if he was in front of me.
" Didi, itna mehenga, mere liye? Kisi ne mere liye kabhi kuch nahi liya hai..thank you didi", he replied with a smile.
( didi, its so expensive and for me? No one has ever bought anything for me before. thank you didi)
I then had to go back to work and I told him I'll see him tomorrow.
The next day, I was on the way to the gurudwara and I passed by his shop and he saw me. He was on break so I asked him to come along with me. So we walked about 500metres and the gurudwara was there. Lovely kirtan was what i remember hearing even in my dream.
As I walked in, he had just stopped and told me to go in and pray he'll wait outside. I asked him why?
" Mujhe andar nahi aane denge kyon ki mein gareeb hoon didi, aap jaye. ", was his reply with a sad face.
( they wont let me in because I', poor, you go ahead. didi(sister) )
I took his hand and assured him that no one will say anything, he's with me and this is God's home. God doesn't care if you're poor or not. He loves you regardless of colour, creed, wealth or gender.
As I walked in, I gave him a head scarf to put, and he wrapped it around his head like how i did. Such a cute little boy i thought to myself. As he walked in first, and i was putting something in my bag I heard an old aunty scream at him saying,
" Ey, bikaari bache, niklo yahaan se..tum nahi aa sakte idher..tumhari jaga nahi hai." And she smacked his shoulder a lil hard, he fell down and got up again and he ran out. I called for him but he was too scared and he left.
I was so astonished at the lady. This is what she said to him- " ay, beggar boy...get out from here..you cant come here this is not your place "
I was furious, I could have put that woman on fire.
" You have no right to tell anyone that they can't come here, this is God's house not yours. God welcomes anyone who has a pure heart and clearly you don't. He's not the one who doesn't belong here its you. And how dare you hit him, he was with me. For an old lady i thought you'd be wise, but it turns out your so rude and you don't know God even though you claim to pray all day and come to the gurudwara everyday. Shame on you. I rather not come to the gurudwara when people like you are here. A true disgrace to God you are." I yelled at her and I did not care who heard me, cuz I know I was telling the truth.
Being sikh, I know that anyone of any religion can come to the gurudwara and eat the langar ( holy food) and sit there. No one is banned or forbidden in the house of God especially because of being poor.
Immediately after that, I left to find Vijee. I was so scared cuz he wasn't at the shop, nor was he outside where the hell had that boy gone?
Finally as I was walking past an alley a little ahead of the shop, I heard a soft cry. He was sitting in a corner and crying. I went to him and told him to stop crying and that old lady did not do the right thing and that he can go in there anytime he wants. No one had the right to tell him not to enter.
His reply, broke my heart and I felt so bad for him. This is what he said.
" Didi, sab mujhe aise hi bolte hain, magar bhagwan toh aisa nahi soch ta na...toh phir log kyon asa soch tey hain? Bhagwan toh mujse pyar karta hai na..woh toh parva nahi karta agar mein daulat wala hoon, agar mein gareeb hoon. Mera is dunia mein koi nahi hai lekin bhagwan to mere liye hain na? ke woh bhi meri gareebi dekh ke mujhe akela chod gaya? Aap bohot achi ho, in logon ki taran nahi ho. lekin jab aap wapis chali jayengi mein phir akela ho jaoun ga."
( Sister, every one tells me this, but God's not like that right? so why do people think like that? God loves me right? he doesn't care if I've got riches or if I'm poor. I don't have anyone in this world, but God is there for me right? Or he too will see my poverty and leave me alone in this world? You are very good, not like these people. But when you go back, i'll be lonely again.)
I took him, wiped his tears and told him i'm taking him to eat ice-cream and buy him a pair of clothes. he refused to accept the clothes, but he didn't mind the ice-cream. One thing about this boy, no matter what..he wasn't greedy and he never stole. He just wanted to be accepted and not looked down upon like a filthy cockroach. That was his gift in my eyes. As we were eating ice-cream, I asked him where did he stay at night..something we never talked bout. Usually he would talk about him dreams and his hopes and his experiences of working in different places and meeting different people..and of course hindi movies. He loved bollywood. He then told me, he didn't have a proper place to sleep,he slept where every he could. sometimes at a bus stop, sometimes the couple who he worked for he would help out with errands and sleep at their place on the floor in the kitchen. I was so sad and I didn't know what to say. I asked him why he never came to my place, I would have given him the bed in the spare room to sleep in. He said, that he knew I'd be too nice and he was too used to sleeping on the floor. His humbleness impressed me. I offered him to come to my house to sleep tonight and he could choose if he wants to sleep on the bed in the spare room or if he wants a mattress on the floor. After so much of persuasion he FINALLY agreed.
That night, I played with him and I was teaching him English. Its amazing how smart children were, especially him. He was a fast learner. Of course it wasn't easy for him to say words with SH. If i asked him to say SHOCK, he would say SOCK. But he picked it up after an hour or so. Then after that I put him to bed, he picked the mattress on the floor instead of the bed..and i read him a story and soon he was sleeping. I put a blanket on him and went back to my room.
That night, I thought that what would happen to him if I went back? I had already opened an account on His name, listed myself as his mother weirdly and started collecting money cuz i wanted to educate him and make sure he became someone with a good job. Whatever he wanted to become. He was telling me how he wanted to become like a TV anchor or a news reader..something to do with journalism and he wanted to bring to the public eye about the poverty in India and his ideas on how to give work to beggars. That boy was smart. I was also thinking of adopting him and taking him back to Malaysia and educating him there.
The next day, when I woke up he has already gone to work. I had told the maid to give him omelette with bread to eat and milk..she said he only had milk and a piece of bread and didn't want the omelette. My god, that boy and his weird rules. He was simple and he was very humble. He didn't have many things but he was never hungry for them either.
So later, I went to him shop and I realized he was inside all dressed up. I entered his shop and I asked him why was he wearing a nice new blue shirts with white pants..and the funniest thing was he was wearing a mini turban, the kind young boys wear...and he had short hair so for the little bun on top he has stuffed a sock. I immediately started laughing.
" Didi, mein acha nahi lag raha hoon kya? Mein ne apni tanqua se nae kapray liye aur aab mein apke saat gurudwara ja sakta hoom, sardar lagta hoon na didi? " , he said with a cheeky smile.
( didi am i not looking good? I bought new clothes with my salary and now i can follow u to the gurudwara and I'm looking like a sardar/sikh now right didi?) He was referring to his little bun on his head.
I told him he didn't have to do this he could have worn some of the clothes I'd bought him. He had spent 250 rupees on this whole attire. This boy, I thought to myself. Just to follow me to the gurudwara. So i took him and he loved it. He said he found a peace in the kirtan. Kirtan was something I always found peace in, always. He had also bought a cycle apparently which he told me to get from the couples place cuz he left it there.
So i went to get it, and I saw them throwing it to the floor trying to break it. I immediately stopped them and asked them why? They said, he's getting too smart and he will then climb on their heads..ask for a higher salary and won't work for them. Basically they were afraid of losing their cheap form of labour. Sigh, this kind of thing was what made me angry in this world. I took the bicycle and told them that if they ever hindered him from what he wanted, they'll have to face me and its not going to be pretty.
He was waiting at my house and I gave him the bicycle. He was so happy. I then told him about my plans of educating him and boy was he shocked. I told him, if he studies hard and becomes what he wants I'll be very happy. He promised to do so, but he kept saying how I will have my own expenses and how expensive it'll be for me..he kept refusing. But after much persuasion he agreed. I was happy. As I gave him a hug, i thought to myself that I'll put him in school here first and if i leave I'll take him with me.
AND THEN I WOKE UP, cuz my mom called me on my handphone..it was 3.00pm!
What a funny dream, it felt so real and it was something I never thought of. One thing for sure after I woke up I felt a sense of peace knowing that I had helped someone with their future and given him a chance in life. So I decided that, in the future once I'm earning..I'm going to adopt a child..even if it means the child doesn't live with me or if he does live with me..I;m going to adopt a child from India and give him/her a chance of becoming someone in the world. Education is the key to end poverty and the only way out of the sad life..and that gift I'd like to give to someone. Just like how I was given the chance to study med by someone. So i pray, in the future I become a good doctor and adopt a child. I don't care if I'm married or not..but this idea has to happen. I always thought of doing a 2 year volunteering thing at hospitals and rural areas in India, may be this has got something to do with it?
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