A heartfelt reflection by Srinika Chowdhury, a Class 6 student of Epic Public School, on the transformative experience at the Rash Mela. Witnessing the struggles and resilience of less-privileged individuals, including a young performer named Maya, led her to value the privileges and emotions that shape human life.
I have encountered numerous people in my life, but honestly, I could never comprehend the value of the diversity of thoughts, feelings, culture, and language of all the people. You might be wondering what sparked such a thought in my mind. Well, the genesis of my thoughts can be traced back to a time in the recent past when I was visiting the Rash Mela.
I witnessed that many people had gathered, some roaming, some discussing while some were praying just the usual affaire on such occasion. But then what I saw led to a complete transformation in my personality.
Amongst the throng, I found some whose looks showed how poor they were. Yet they were taking care of each other. For instance, there was this young woman who was trying to stop her child from crying. When I asked her for the reason for her baby’s cry, she to my surprise informed me that the child did not have any food since the previous night. So I wanted to ask my parents to provide some food for them, but then I saw her husband had returned with a plate of puri sabji, which the entire family of 4 shared. Imagine one plate shared by 4. I recalled that morning my mother served me breakfast which I wasted.
As I moved on I saw children, a bit older, who were helping their parents with their work. I wondered if they had ever seen a school. But I realised these children were working just to help their parents to fulfill their needs. And then I saw Maya who completely changed my perception of life all together.
Maya is probably as old as me. She was dressed in a ghagra and a choli with her long beautiful hair tied in two pigtails. She looked nice but her eyes showed deep pain inside. She was standing on a rope and performing various tricks. It looked like quite a normal trick that could be done by any child, but then with time, the acts became tougher, leading to cheers and claps from the audience.
As the tricks ended I approached her and asked “You performed brilliantly.”
“Thank you.”.
“Do you like what you do?”
“I have no choice, if I don’t perform our family will have to remain hungry.” Saying this she left me to wonder how privileged I am. Whenever I ask for something, my parents provide me. But what about them? How difficult life is for them. They might have to wait for an entire year if they needed something. I was thinking how sad these children are, yet they smile. I felt a strange urge to help them with some money.
Since that day, I realised the value of being privileged and the value of human feelings and emotions. I am happy that I am privileged.
