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Day 3 - A Sense of Possibility

Only truth and no hope, is a recipe for failure and only hope and no truth, for fantasy. Finding a perfect balance between these two things is what life is all about, facing the truth and hoping for a better tomorrow. I have always been a bit cynical about the rosy idea of a brave, empowered and new India. Was it really possible? Could we overcome such intricately woven, multi-faceted issues? Would those people persevere? On a roller coaster ride already, I was looking forward to yet another insightful day when I entered the hall for a session. The kids, who danced yesterday, were invited to interact with us and share their experiences.

Coming from difficult backgrounds, these kids scaled mountains. Hardly entering their teens, they travelled cities to perform and speak to people. One particular thirteen year old girl sweept my feet off the floor and then made me jump through the roof! At her age I was probably gnawing at furniture and drooling over maha-lacto candies.
Speaking about discovering herself, experimenting new things in life, transforming herself, overcoming challenges etc., she surpassed her teachers, our session facilitator and everybody else in oratory skills. Perfectly timed pauses, fluent language and hard hitting sentences. When asked why she liked other subjects over math and science, she said the following, "In math and science, there is only one answer to every question. But in others, we can find new answers every day. I want to discover new things and that is why I choose other subjects". She wants to be an entrepreneur, start her own school to educate and empower other students.
I don't think many of us can even connect with her on that level, despite having arrived over a decade earlier! She spoke with unbelievable confidence. The 'educated' kids of her age would probably wet themselves if asked to replicate. Another girl who is now entering college, has already given talks in various conferences. All of these kids have big dreams. Dreams that I have, a better world, an empowered society, a liberal mindset, everything that defines a vibrant sustainable nation!
Any person who wants to work on building lives, empowering people, making this world a better place, must possess three important things. The intellect of Nehru, the moral fiber of Gandhi and the compassion of Mother Teresa. I was quite cynical about other people working towards such a dream. I always believed that it was I who would have to push things forward, catalyze, enable, initiate, fight and persevere. And I would have done anything for it. Because, I had never come across someone with such clearly set goals and the determination to go the extra mile. I feared dying without having achieved that dream. But today, I am okay with it, because I have found something in those kids that I could not find anywhere else, a sense of possibility!

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