Is he not Fortunate??

This incident dates back to a couple of years ago when I visited one of my uncle’s house. My uncle has a son who is in primary school. The kid got a tight scolding from both his parents and was upset and went into sulking.

He skipped his lunch as a part of his protest. I tried to comfort him, asked him whats the matter and this is what he had to say :

“One of my friends bought an Xbox game console, we together played a couple of games. Video games are a big craze in our school, all my friends talk about their achievements."

He continued, "After returning home, I asked my parents to buy an Xbox for me too. They said its a threat to academics, so they’ll buy it during the summer vacation and not now. I insisted but was scolded badly”, tears rolled in the little lad's eyes as he spoke.

After hearing to his story, I was trying to figure out how to convince the boy to cheerup and eat something.

"Try to understand that your parents want you to always be happy and fulfill your wishes but they even think of your future and academics are more important than fun games."

The boy said, "My cousin is so lucky to have everything he desires, am not atleast half fortunate as he is".

I took his palm into my hands and said, “Man, you talk about being fortunate?? Well, as you are resting yourself underneath a fan and a blanket, over a million children of your age in this world are homeless and struggling to get basic requirements like - proper food, clothing and shelter".

He was silent as I continued, “A ten-year old boy who was working till midnight, serving tea to lorry drivers on the roadside is again on the same job in cold weather. Child labour activists tried their best to liberate the boy, but remained helpless because he was an orphan and being raised by his cruel uncle who runs a tea stall”.

Another boy is riding his cycle braving heavy rain on the uphill, drenching himself but safeguarding the newspapers with polythene covers, to bring you the morning newspapers on time.

Now tell me, “Are you not atleast 1% fortunate than them? No, you are 100% fortunate, so work hard studying for your final exams, your good scores will help you do justice to your parents efforts and not games on Xbox.”

The kid nodded his head and stepped out to eat his meals. My uncle and aunt were surprised, “What did you tell him, he seems to have come to terms with what we said and wait till summer vacation for the Xbox”.

I was so glad to hear that he wrote his final exams well and his parents were happy and they bought Xbox for him during his summer vacation. The kid had many stories to tell on phone to me about how he won exciting games on the gaming console.

We are all so fortunate to have got all that we have now and contentment and satisfaction in life is the key for a tension free life...