A Copernicus I Met

When I first came to know that the catholic church had banned Copernicus' book because in it he suggested that the earth revolves around the sun, I thought 'What!, its so obvious'. Maybe it was because I already 'knew' that the earth is not the centre of our solar system. But now I can understand why the church did what it did. When we hear something getting repeated or experience something everyday, we tend to think that this is how things are. And when we encounter something out of the ordinary it comes as a rude shock.

We have been wired to think about ourselves a lot, it's how we have survived as a species. Of course we think about our families, our friends, relatives and the society(this one is unnecessary most of the times). But we think about all of them from 'our' perspective. For people living in cities, this becomes a more acute problem because we have a very strict routine and few (meaningful) human contacts. So we are always concerned with 'my happiness', 'my troubles', 'my problems', 'my achievements', ('my boss'?). But I was fortunate enough to have an experience which broke me out of 'my' reverie.

I am part of the 'GE Volunteers' group and one of our programs is notebook distribution drive in government schools. The kids in the schools are always very happy when we visit the schools. It is really heartwarming to see their faces light up with happiness. And it feels good to help these kids in a small way to achieve something important in their lives - education. After my first participation in the drive I realised how lucky I was to take things like notebooks granted when I was studying. Although I didn't come from a rich family, I never remember having to make any compromise for anything related to studies. But these kids were having it so tough. they have to come to school, work at home or fields and study without proper means or guidance. So it was a humbling experience for me the first time around.

The second time we visited some schools in Prakasam disctrict of Andhra Pradesh. We had started early and had reached the final school for the day. It was evening and the school was about to end. We finished distributing the books a little before the final bell. The school staff had offered us tea. I took a cup and was sipping at it. By that time the bell had rung and children were running on the field eager to get back to home. But many of them had stopped on their way and were having conversations with some of the members of the volunteers group. Some were examining the vehicle that we had come in. And some others were playing, fighting and chasing each other. Basically normal children stuff. I was thankful that no one had come to me to talk(the questions from kids can get quite challenging). But there was this one girl who was staring at me. Maybe she was trying to gather up the courage to talk to a stranger. I thought that I should initiate the conversation but I didn't know Telugu. Just when I was about to try my luck with English, a small kid came and went near the girl. Upon seeing him the girl lost interest in me(which usually happens much quicker).

The kid had shabby clothes and a runny nose. The girl wiped his nose with her uniform, tried to clean his face with her hands and lifted him in her arms. And then with a last look towards me she started walking in the other direction. I kept watching her torn school bag held in place with safety pins and one functioning buckle, till she exited the gate. The girl herself must have been in 7th-8th standard. The kid must have been her younger brother. The responsibility that she carried at such a young age, caring for her brother along with managing her own studies, school and other chores was really admirable. But the thing that moved me the most was there was no hint of 'self-pity' or 'defeat' or 'self-aggrandizing' in her eyes. They were just 'normal' eyes which genuinely cared for her brother without expecting anything, without making it into an event. Her look seemed to ask me, "I am happy, so why aren't you?"

We had gone there to distribute notebooks to the children, to help them to learn. But it was the other way round. That day I learned that even though these children are having it tough they still manage to find happiness, maybe even more than me, than us. I was so lost in 'my' world, I thought I had so many problems, so many things to worry about, that I was frowning more than I smiled. But now, whenever I feel sad or depressed, I just revisit this memory, that last look. She was the Copernicus for me who made me realise that I am not the centre of the universe. Thank you for the rude shock, Copernicus.