I NEED HELP.

Couple of months back Chennai was ranked in the top 52 places to visit on this planet by NY Times. It was the only Indian city to feature in the list. I was quite surprised to see Chennai scoring more than other Indian cities for its cultural heritage. It’s indeed a great pleasure but when I went through the article I saw one picture that marked Chennai distinctly. It was the Marina beach, the second longest city beach in the world that would make anyone want to stand along the shores to get their feet wet in the Bay of Bengal.

A true Chennaite would always vote Marina beach as the best place in this cosmopolitan city. New resorts and malls have pulled good amount of crowd but always lost to the naturally enriching experience that the beach provides to its loyal ones who come there to do their dose of exercises, to the budding Ambigabathies & Amaravathies (Indian version of Romeo and Juliet), and of course how can we forget the people who rule the beach, the wanderers like me.

On one day, when I was trying to gulp down the immense pleasure that the beach offered to everyone who was there including me, I saw a small boy of age around 12. The boy had a bulk of coloring books, he went from one person to another trying to showcase the book he had. I would say that the boy was smart enough, he didn’t approach any of my fellow wanderers, he went to the families and others whom he thought were potential buyers of the book he had. 

I carefully watched the boy, because I had nothing else to do other than to tune the FMs of Chennai and enjoying the sea breeze, wherever he went, he would start off with a smile and show them the various coloring books he had. Many families which had kids of his age refused to buy the book and they were deeply engrossed with the bhajji at hand. A couple of the people were quite kind to explain the boy that they weren’t in need of that book. But, whatever it is , I saw him approach atleast a dozen group before reaching me. He had a failed attempt of trying to sell the book to the people in his last twelve attempts. He looked very vexed and was searching for some support.

At that time, he came to me, I first removed my ear phones before the boy started talking to me, I was shocked to see the boy finding me as one of his potential buyer. He showed me books on some cartoon characters which I couldn’t recognize, I asked the boy is this new characters who are the heros for  children today..? He said yes with a wry smile, and added that these cartoons feature on chutti TV. I was not in a need to buy the book at the same time I was not ready to tell the boy that I don’t need the book right on his face because it was clearly visible on the boy’s face that he needed someone to make him feel light and get motivated to meet the next set of people.

I asked him about his school and what he is doing, I should say that the answers have changed from the time I was 10 years old when my father asked the same questions to the kids and now. The answers back then would be like they dropped out of school and had to do this for their food. But today the boy replied that he is doing his 7^th std at Chennai corporation school and in the evenings he would sell these books in the beach. He said he liked Rajinikanth (can’t write a blog without the mention of thalaivar at the time of Kocahaidayaan release) and he wanted to get a government job. To be frank his dream looked quite achievable and I encouraged the boy to do well. So slowly, I said, I don’t need a book, but probably I would buy one and gift it to him if he was interested in coloring these books. He said “Paravala na”(Its fine brother) and left.

I should say that I didn’t do much to his economics by buying the book. But I was sure that he didn’t leave me with the same kind of expression he left with the previous 12 people. He looked more calm and left with a smile. 

The same kind of coloring books cost around Rs 150 at big shops that boasts of their chain of stores around the world but what this boy demanded was just Rs 20 for the similar kind of book. In my opinion we have to encourage the budding entrepreneurs. He could have joined the tea shops or bhajji shops there and could have drawn a decent amount for the time he works. But that boy has taken pains in doing his own small business and becoming the creator of his destiny.

Here are the entrepreneurs at the grass root level seeking help and support from the fellow citizens. They have stopped believing in Rahul Gandhi’s Right to Education or NaMo’s promising growth model or even to say they are on the verge of stopping to listen to the Aam Aadmi. They say “I need help” but I don’t need your mercy. Don’t sympathize with these kids but support them with the knowledge they need to grow, because they have waited for more than six decades to get a government that would support the poor needy and not the “rich needy”.

P.S- Don’t give a fish to the poor, instead teach them to catch one. Who knows the same boy I met would go on to become the next Jeff Bezos and start his Amazon to sell his books.