Imagined World [2020]

Often, we attribute the beauty of nature to what we see on postcards from all over the world, and heavily edited pictures on the internet. However, there are worlds of undiscovered beauty in places we would never think of. India is a country that is unique and diverse and that is what makes India so incredibly breath-taking.

An example of this astounding beauty is a village on the outskirts of Jaipur. There is a boy who lives with his parents on a little patch of land they use primarily for farming. The boy’s father toils day and night like many others in their village to earn just enough money to keep his family from starving. Also, since the village is so close to a jungle, it is commonplace to see elephants and other wild, endangered animals roaming the fields. Some of these elephants are badly injured and even poached from time-to-time. The farmers love the animals and do their best to care for them but refuse to allow them to wander into their fields if they can help it. Eating crops or treading over them earns the elephants momentary hate from the farmers. To solve this pressing issue, the men decided to herd all the elephants to a plot of land only a few yards in area. Unfortunately, for this young boy, that meant he would have to share his playground and study with the elephants. He is thirteen years old and dreams of going to college after his questionable education at a nearby school is completed. While his grandmother was alive, she motivated him to work hard so that he could make a name for himself. The boy’s ambitions earned him the dislike of many people in his village and often warranted a stern talking-to from his father because in pursuit of a career, he often neglected his duties on the farm. He felt torn between his future and his present and escaped to his hideaway. Now, it was filled with elephants. After the initial frustration of having to share his space with wild elephants, he took a step back and decided to be more understanding towards his family. He stopped complaining and studied only when his father deemed fit. This subdued boy soon became the talk of the village as he topped his exams. Delighted, his father wanted to splurge of a table for him to study on, but the boy refused. He would much rather use that money to attend college. His dream became a reality when the teachers at school saw how talented he was and offered to fund a trip to a medical college in Mumbai. He was thrilled and when he returned to the village, pleased to inform everyone that he was training to be a vet. He wanted to be able to treat the animals he grew up with and gave him comfort on his lonely days.

This goes to show that we really do not need all we assume we need. It doesn’t mean we should go out of our way to study in the jungle but to make the most of our circumstances and accept that life is not a fair playing field. A young but ambitious boy went from learning by the moonlight, on a rock, on a patch of land, to a well-known veterinary surgeon. Maybe the underdog story is true sometimes…

[Teacher’s notes: beautiful story]