THE SPIRIT TO SUCCEED
Every morning at 7 am 5-year old Arohan wakes up to the cuddles of his mother. He sees the silent grief in her eyes – his father was recently martyred in the mountains of North East India – but he hasn’t till date directly asked his mother about what happened to his father.
But we are secretly informed by him that he knows how his father died fighting for the country but he doesn’t want to make his mother unhappy by asking her about him. Is your mother’s happiness so important to you?, we ask the young boy. Yes, he says, I love her more than anything in the world! He was three when his father was martyred.
Hailing from a small town in Assam, the young man is the only son of the martyr and lives with his mother is her parents’ house. He studies in Kindergarten and throughout the time we were with him he didn’t once lose the sweet smile that lit up his face. Not even at school.
“I really like my school where I play games, sing and study with my friends“, he cheerfully informs us.
The local private school where he is enrolled is well structured and disciplined, and the principal is aware of Arohan’s situation. She tells us that the child is active among his peers and a good student who takes interest in both studies and co-curricular activities, and also states how lucky she feels to have the son of a brave martyr as her student.
Arohan even knows what he wants to become, at the age of five! He wants to be a pilot and fly to Arunachal Pradesh to capture the people who fatally assaulted his father and bring them to justice! Though we are definitely amused by his innocent plan, we applaud the spirit of the young boy and his clarity of thought. When most kids of his age don’t see much beyond playing with toys Arohan aspires to fly high.
“It hasn’t been easy after my husband passed away. He was my biggest emotional support and after the tragedy, I shifted to my parents’ house because my in-laws were not supportive anymore“, Arohan’s mother tells us with tears in her eyes.
She further narrates how the last time she saw him was on video chat after which he went on his night patrolling duty and never returned. She expected his call in the morning but instead got a call informing her of the tragedy. Arohan ran a fever for a month when he learnt about his father.
Since then she strives hard to keep him happy beginning with being happy and positive herself. She paints to keep her mind away from negativity and sadness and the move to her parents’ house was a good decision for the mother and child’s mental well-being.
“My husband has left me with a treasure and I will keep that treasure happy“, she says referring to Arohan.
ailing from a small town in Assam, the young man is the only son of the martyr and lives with his mother is her parents’ house. He studies in Kindergarten and throughout the time we were with him he didn’t once lose the sweet smile that lit up his face. Not even at school.
“I really like my school where I play games, sing and study with my friends“, he cheerfully informs us.
We are taken by the fighter spirit of our young champ and resilience of his mother and salute their fight towards their dreams and aspirations.
