On Saturday 15 June 2024, the CONNECT team, in collaboration with Yuvathi organized an event at CHILD Children’s home in Chennai, India. Many children living in CHILD come from troubled backgrounds. Despite this, most want to do better in life. On the day of the event all were eager to show off their talent and have fun.
Close to 30 children in the age group 5 to 18 participated in a Creativity Carnival where they made drawings, coloured, wrote stories and poems and showcased their talent. The story below received the first prize at the event. The theme for story- and poem writing was: ‘The Importance and value of Education’.
Yathra
Long ago there was a big kingdom named Yathra. It was a town with rich resources. But there were not many educated people there. The reason? The king of the land had ordered that only the ministers and others in his court could study. Hence, the people in the town remained uneducated. Foreign traders who came to the kingdom cheated the local people who did not understand how to trade. They did not speak other foreign languages either. One boy in the kingdom understood the problem. He wished to educate himself but his parents refused to entertain his wish.
One day, the boy told his parents that he would travel outside the kingdom to do some trade. But instead he got himself educated and returned home. When the foreign traders came to the kingdom again, he caught them cheating and informed the king who punished them. The king offered him a lowly job which the boy accepted. Soon, there was a big conference in the kingdom and many learned dignitaries, who could speak many languages, participated in it along with the king, his ministers and other employees. One of the dignitaries asked the king a question about the economy. The king did not understand the language the dignitary spoke in. The boy stood up and told the king, “I will answer him.” He spoke the language of the dignitary to answer his question in detail. The visitors were so amazed by his answer that they bowed before him. The king could not understand why they bowed and asked the visitors why they did so. One of the visitors replied, “We know and understand different languages only in our adulthood. The boy has already mastered these at his age. He speaks different languages and without any mistakes.”
The king understood then that someone who can have good education in his kingdom will do well everywhere. Good education should be available to all, not just a few. Indeed, education is the best weapon against ignorance.
Story by S. Nithish, living in India. Translated from Tamil.
