Education Of Humanity Education

---

as-salam
When we talk about education, the pictures that we will have in mind are school and university. Only some realize that education happens everywhere. Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one but these days, everyone can get education but only few can be educated. Look at the civilized world we are living today, led by the educated people who trigger wars as if they have do not understand humanity and clemency. Does this mean that schools and university fail to educate them? Does this mean that books do not come with instruction of having common sense? So here is a short story that I wrote for my assignment. 
Gilbert K. Chesterton once wrote, education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. For Kamala, a single mother, she was one of hardcore poor who had tried so hard to raise her ten-year old daughter, Devi with proper education. They had nothing left after her husband, Siva was sentenced to death penalty for crime.

Every morning, Kamala woke up even earlier than the rooster to find something in the trashcan, something that was not rotten, anything, which could be eaten. She wouldn’t eat because she knew her daughter needed it more. She didn’t clean much because the huge concrete cylinder she called home had nothing much to clean. The house didn’t have a clock but she knew exactly when to prepare her precious daughter for school. Devi didn’t get pocket money, not even a cent, but she got the warmest kiss on her cheeks and forehead from her mother every morning. That sufficed her day…everyday.

William Blake in his words said that there are things that are known and things that are unknown and in between, there are doors. Blake never defines what may appear if one opens the door so Devi took the sweet candy that she had forever dreamed for. She stepped on the van. They whispered nice things to her. They told her that nothing would happen. They convinced her to calm down. They forced her to shut up. They hit her head against the wall. She fainted.

Time passes by, Devi is now nineteen, a beautiful young lady who works at the small salon. She cries everyday trying to find her mother. She cries in her sleep dreaming of those guys who painted black ink onto her innocent childhood. She spent many hours everyday combing the streets, asking people about the whereabouts of her mother. Even though she had a vivid memory of her mother's face, nothing much could be done as she did not have a photograph of her mother. 

It was a Friday. Devi went to the market like she always did every week. She saw an old lady begging for money. The face seemed rather familiar but it wasn’t her mother. She asked her, “Do I know you?”. The old lady starred at her closely, “Devi?”. The old lady was her former school teacher. “I was searching for you since the day they reported that you went missing. Your mother was so worried.” Devi burst into tears. “Where is my mother now?” she asked, shaking the old lady’s right shoulder. “Your mother is dead. She was hit by a car while she was out on the streets. She was looking for you, Devi.” Devi couldn't believe her ears. Her whole world seemed to crash down as she cried her lungs out. “And I…I was the one…who…who hit her…but…but it was an accident. I swear.” the old lady admitted. Devi stopped crying. The silence cut through them like a knife. And in that moment, Devi made a decision that would change her life forever. She took the old lady back to her rental house. She bathed her, cooked delicious food for her and she made her coffee. Devi convinced her that she didn't hold a grudge against her former school teacher for the death of her mother. She told her to let bygones be bygones. She not only accepted the old woman's past mistake but welcomed her into her life as if she was her own mother.

Robert Green Ingersoll mentioned that it is thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense. Devi put everything in the past behind her. She wrapped the past in a box and threw it into the ocean with a single kiss and a note written ‘goodbye’. She said to the past, “I let you go because you always held me back and made my steps slower.”

Devi is now starting a new life with a big smile. She may not have her mother around but at least she has someone that knows her now. The promises that she makes everyday before heading to bed, which is to further her studies will always be the key to unlock another door. This time around, she is going to put her heart on her sleeve and with her now, is the heart of a fighter…a survivor.

Hope you get it...till then, that is how
iGossip

---