Talk for November 14- Kids Inspire us

My angel in disguise!Kids inspire us...

Sr P. Michelle Mathias

Our experiences shape our life. Often, unknowingly we come across people who challenge us, inspire us and provoke us to look at life differently than the way we normally do.  A totally new outlook to life emerges when we stumble upon unknown individuals who change our life through the witness of their life. And one such person in my life was Ali.

Ali was a street kid, who met me at our ‘Pauline’ Bookshop in Mangalore. This little boy would come with his friends practically every day to greet me when i stood at the bookshop counter. The window to the traumas of a street kid opened out to me through the experiences of Ali. 

Ali had left his house in Goa. He had just one shirt just like his three other friends who accompanied him everywhere. They could not afford to have more shirts as there was no place to keep their clothes. They earned by sweeping the passages in the trains. They slept on the street or wherever they found a place to lay their heads in peace without being hackled by the policemen. At times, they would rise in the morning only to face the fact that their slippers have been stolen while they were sleeping.

One morning, I saw a large bandage around the leg of one of Ali’s friends. A dog had tasted a piece of flesh from this kid’s leg at night. Painful! Many of these street boys were addicted to whiteners which compensated for drugs. Although, I must say, Ali would proudly boast about himself and tell me, “Didi, (elder sister) I am not addicted to drugs. And, I won’t. It is harmful. I tell this boy not to take it, but he just cannot do without it.”

When we look at our generation today, I think of Ali and say to myself, the smallest of failures and tragedies in life, upset us, and discourage us. We want to give up on life. But here was this boy, who had aims. He wanted to earn and make a decent living. Often, there is a complaint among the younger generation of today, peer pressure leads to smoking and drugs. Ali taught me that peer pressure can be tackled with self determination. Where there is a will, there is a way. Ali could have easily succumbed to smoking or drugs, it was all around him and nobody to control him either. But this boy never touched it; he even went a step further and encouraged his friends to quit drugs.

Ali’s multi-purpose shirt which he would invert during the day to sweep the trains and then turn it over and where it at night while sleeping quietly pricked the consummeristic attitude that had developed within me. We are surrounded by Gucci, Versace, Calvin Klein, Benetton and what not. One of my sisters was sharing with me that one of her cousin’s children had grown so used to luxury that they would only wear branded stuff. They could not thinking of walking down the lane as they wanted the car. While in another instance, they refused to shop when the parents took them to another shop as they only wanted branded wear of a particular company. The kids were naturally beautiful, however, luxury had become a must for them. And this had to be tackled from a young age. 

The parents often complained that it was so difficult to handle the kids of today. But the fact remains that children need to be disciplined from a young age. Instead of being pampered with every luxury as a good parent, the primary duty of a good parent should be to teach children to face life. To make the generation of today aware that branded stuff is just another way for corporate ventures to make money. Much of this branded wear endorsed by multi-national companies are very much a product of our country. The children need to be taught the values of giving and sharing right from a young age. Taking children to homes and places where they witness that the poor have to make-a-do with whatever is given to eat will help them to appreciate what is cooked at home.

Ali was an ordinary street child, but in spite of being a Muslim boy, he bonded with me a Catholic Nun and called me didi.(elder sister in Hindi) This little boy was a witness of how we the people of India can live in love, harmony and peace, if we want to.

Ali was a very religious boy. He was a Muslim and was very faithful in visiting the mosque every Friday. We often wonder why so many of us are ‘Out-standing’ Christians. By this I mean, people who come to the church and stand out as they are bored with the one hour service inside the church. And many among these ‘out-standing’ ones are our youth. Does Ali strike a chord? Well, he did not have anyone to tell him, ‘Ali, come let us go to the mosque.’ Ali’s other street kid friends were Hindus. The prayer life of this kid was amazing. In spite of all his suffering, he never blamed God for it. A faith that could many of us to shame!

Ali bonded with me like no other. He taught me how to appreciate life. In spite of all his tragedies, his wounds from the beatings he received from policemen, he always had a smile for me. He would even buy me small sweets and cold drinks. He never gave up on life. Ali taught me to face my own life, no matter what the turmoil or whatever the failure!

I had to part from Ali, when I left Mangalore. He told me that he wanted to earn money and buy a cell phone to talk to his sister, that is, me...! I never saw him after that. My only hope and prayer is that nothing untoward has happened to him. Ali’s life was and will always be an inspiration to me. I miss that kid though!