Childhood White Lights

Let me share one of my childhood memory which still lighting my path to success and thus guiding me to realize my dreams. This incident acting like a pure white light from inside me, giving courage and guidance to stand alone in this complex human cackle. Everybody have such light in them but as the time is the enemy of childhood innocence, this light is shadowed by our arrogance and growing ignorance.

Let me take you back in time, it was chilly foggy morning of Delhi in year of 1985 and as a kid I never liked the idea of get up early morning for school. My parents always tried their best to make sure we won’t be late for school. We use to have paratha ( fried flat stuffed breads) for our breakfast. After having a heavy breakfast we head for our school. We used to stand next to road waiting for our school rickshaw. Our rickshaw has small copper bells hanging on its windows and sound of those bells can be heard from distance in foggy winters. Those bells give us signal to get ready and get the school bags off the shoulders of my dad and hanging them on our shoulders. We could hardly see anything in those foggy mornings and only the sound of bells tells us rickshaw is nearby. Our rickshaw comes very slow as our rickshaw driver was a very thin man, never shave and with same sweater every day. He closely resembles laurel and always keep smiling and let us laugh on him. We use to tease him and pull his sweater and he always says that you will be late if you pull me backwards. As rickshaw approaches to our stand we use to run for seat next to window where bells and beads were hanging.  Journey to school use to be a fun ride with songs, jokes, fights and as we approaches to school gates we use to ring the bells as loud as possible trying to make sure that they will keep making sound till we enter school. 

On that day, we reached our school as usual and went directly to our classes. My cousin brother who used to stay with us during those days and join us to same school. He used to cry a lot coming to school and always insisted his class teacher to be seated in my class with me. On that day also he was sitting with me. Our classroom was full of fog coming inside from the open door and windows. There was very thick fog outside the classroom and as sun started to shine , fog started to glow bright and spreading pure white color. I was looking outside the classroom and I saw a huge person wearing full white clothes with a turban on his head appeared in our classroom. He looks like a king with a very charming smile on his face. To my surprise he was my grandfather, he came from our village to meet us. He needs to go back to my relative on that same day so decided to come straight to our school to meet us. My teacher greeted him and asked him whom he wants to meet. He mentioned my grandson sitting in this class. I jumped out from my seat and ran straight to him and grabbed his huge legs. My cousin followed me to him. He lifted both of us with his arms and asked how we are. All my class mates looking at what is happening there in classroom. He handed over one rupee coin to both of us and we grabbed it tightly in our small palms.  He said "study well and eat something sweet". My teacher asked him do you want them to go with you, he mentioned “let my prince conquer his own battle grounds first, My blessing will be always with him”. He asked me to go back my seats and he said bye and went back. He said to me that he will come next week to our home and then will have lots of talks and stories. Once he left the classroom all my classmates and teacher asking about him, where he leaves and lots of things about him. I felt so proud on that day that its aroma is still inside me.

This particular incident from my childhood showed me how much faith and expectations were there in our grand parents in us. They feel so proud of us if we able to meet their expectations.Even today also they will be looking at us from above and showering their blessing on us. I will always remember that the kind of purity, determination and faith which my grandfather had on me will always give me strength to overcome any challenge in my life.

I know from my heart that even today he is proud of me and telling me to “Conquer your inner battle first and outside battles will be conquered easily”. To loose your fears, try to know what causing that fear…as ignorance causes fear and fear cause us to loose faith in us. Fear makes us to loose battles.

So go ahead...count your blessing….looks for your target and fight for them…


I love you grandpaa...