Let there be light—from obscurity to light

Santanu Saraswati

Kolkata, August 13 —Tears rolled down her cheeks, as city police commissioner, Gautam Mohan Chakravarty, announced: “Let the light shine first on you. Enlighten others. You have come across many woes of life. From today, I promise, I will help you smile, always and forever.”

For 16-year-old physically challenged Shadab Yusuf, who lost her parents when she was yet to how to stand on her two feet, life became more challenging with polio attacking her in childhood. But continuing study in a small dingy room, even after sharing with the other 11-members of her family, didn’t became a hurdle for her.

“I study, because I love studying. READS taught us that the only way to overcome all difficulties of life is to study more, more and more. There is no shortcut to this. But I never even dreamt, even in my most beautiful dream that such appreciation would come on my way one day,” Shadab said, when the city police commissioner, handed her the flower bouquet presented to him, saying, the chief guest of this felicitation of meritorious students should be Shadab—the example for others.

Shadab got 78 per cent in High Madrasa this year. Like her, on Thursday evening, the READS, a non-governmental organisation, working for the uplift and spreading education among the orphans in Rajabazar, Metiabruz, Garden Reach and Mallickpore areas in Kolkata and surroundings, felicitated 150-students, mainly from the minority Muslim communities, who have excelled in different board examinations. These children are either orphans or coming from families, where going to school is nothing but a luxury.

“Its wonderful to be with these children. A small memento, a medal with an appreciation, is nothing, but will help these children studying more and more and excelled in life. I appreciate READS and would request to carry out such works till life allows. These children are very precious for our society and only education can empower them and help them leading a better life in the coming days,” said the additional director general of police (state correctional home services), B D Sharma.

Sharma even requested the READS to carry out such educational programmes with the children of the convicts languishing in different city correctional homes. Like Sharma, the former director general of police (armed forces) Rajat K Majumder, and the former head, Town of Burlington, Massachusetts, USA, Shyamalendu Narayan Chaudhuri--the state government should come out to help READS in spreading education among the poor, orphans, and street children of this minority Muslim communities. “Let us help all these flowers to bloom. What the government should have done for these beautiful flowers of the society, READS is doing for them. Its simply unbelievable,” said Chaudhuri.

But what these hapless children never saw in their tiny life was the human face of the state and Kolkata Police. The ADGP sanctioned a huge project for READS while the city commissioner, donated Rs 5,000 from the state police exchequer helping this organisation grow more. “We need more like you. We all are by your side, I promise,” the city police commissioner announced from the dais of the podium, before leaving for meeting his duty to maintain the law and order of the 325-year-old city.
EOM
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