Kailash Satyarthi - Born Altruist

Born Altruist

As he was about to enter the main gate on the very first day of school in his life, Kailash noticed a boy of his age sitting with his father - a cobbler. It did not take Kailash much time to understand the stark contrast between his life and that of the cobbler’s son. On one hand there was Kailash who had a “Tilak” on the forehead and was completely decked up in new school uniform and shoes. His family had performed a religious ceremony to mark the first day of his school life. On the other hand was the son of the cobbler with a sullen life and no dreams in his eyes. Kailash was very sad to see what he saw. He went to his classroom and asked his teacher about the small boy outside the school gate. His teacher discouraged the question. Kailash asked him yet again only to get scolded and instructed to be attentive in class rather than thinking about what was happening outside. His inquisitive mind remained unsettled.

In the afternoon, Kailash met the Headmaster, who was known to his family and asked him the same question that he had asked his class teacher earlier in the morning. He explained to me that it was absolutely normal for the children of the poor to work in order to survive. He further said that the cobbler was poor and unable to send his son to school. Kailash was still not convinced with the answer that he got. For the next week or ten days, he kept staring at the boy while entering or leaving the school building. Thereafter one day he mustered all his courage and asked the cobbler “Why don’t you send your son to school like me”? He was withdrawn and hesitant in responding, but when Kailash insisted the cobbler replied in a frail voice “Babuji, no one has ever asked me a question like this. My father worked as a cobbler, I am a cobbler and my son is also a cobbler. There is nothing new in it. We are born to work”. His answer left Kailash more bewildered than before. The cobbler’s words were continuously reverberating in his ears. Kailash’s parents had told him that human beings are born to do good deeds, attain good education, get a good job and earn respect for themselves in the society, but then why was the cobbler, his father and his son were on a different journey in life?

Days passed by but the angst kept piling up somewhere deep down within him.

It was rainy season, so Kailash’s elder brother bought him a raincoat and a colourfully vibrant umbrella. It was such a pretty umbrella that Kailash was finding it difficult to get his eyes off it. One day, he saw the cobbler beating his son mercilessly. The boy was crying inconsolably. Kailash enquired from the cobbler as to why was he beating his son. The cobbler said “I had to gone for lunch and had asked my son to cover the shoes with a plastic sheet should it rain. This fool instead of protecting the shoes chose to drape himself with the plastic sheet that I had given to him All the shoes that people had left here for mending are drenched. The leather will spoil soon. These are expensive shoes. I have nowhere to go now. My customers would ask me to pay back what they had spent on their shoes. I barely make my ends meet with great difficulty. How would I pay back my customers? Look what mess have I landed into just because of this foolish boy.” Kailash was zapped. On one hand, he was standing there with a raincoat and the umbrella that his brother had purchased for him to ensure that he does not get drenched in the rains. On the other hand, there was this cobbler who was just not concerned about his son getting wet in the rains. All that he was worried about were the shoes of his customer. Instantaneously, Kailash handed over his favourite colourful umbrella to the boy, because he anyways had a raincoat as a backup therefore he did not think twice before parting with his umbrella. This incident moved him to the core.