The Best Prize

One fine Sunday morning, Reva was glancing through the newspaper as usual. She was one of those kids who loved reading. She had already read the articles on burglaries and murders. She was about to close the newspaper when something caught her eye. Written in big, black, BOLD letters was “WINNER GETS TRIP TO DISNEYLAND”. A huge grin overtook her face as she read the words ‘Disneyland’. She had wanted to go there all her life. Ever since she was a 2-year-old, Reva had spent her time watching Disney Channel and she had watched every Disney movie at least 3 times. Bubbling with excitement and anticipation, she continued reading the advertorial. According to the article, Reva had to write a slogan and a design a logo for the topic “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”.

“Hmm…. This seems interesting….”, she murmured.

”I think this is right up my alley. I mean, I am pretty good with words and I think I can make a cool logo for the topic. Plus, the trip to Disneyland is a really good motivator.”

She told her parents about her idea during breakfast the next day. Her mother was really happy and said, “ It is a marvellous idea! You must take part in it, especially as it is organized by’ The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development’. If you work really hard, you could even win the competition. You have always had a talent for writing.” Encouraged by this, Reva started preparing her slogan and logo. She made many drafts and sketches. It took her a few days to come up with her finalized work. She sent it to the Ministry in a post as per the instructions given in the newspaper.

After two months, her mother received a call from the Ministry that Reva was declared the winner of the contest and that she and her family was invited to the Award giving ceremony. Her joy knew no bounds when she heard the wonderful news.

 

When the exciting day arrived, Reva and her parents started their journey by car. Unfortunately, when they were halfway through, the car broke down in a secluded and remote area. They looked around relentlessly and finally found a small village. While her father searched for a mechanic, she and her mother choose to explore the village.

As they looked around the village, they noticed a few disturbing things. The village did not seem to have a school nor did it have a hospital. The narrow stream running through the village was almost dried up and the remaining water was muddy and looked toxic. Reva and her mother were astonished at the poor conditions. After touring the village, they rested beneath a banyan tree where a couple of villagers had gathered. Despite not having much, the villagers shared everything they had and were very kind-hearted and welcoming. Reva had fun interacting with the kids and elders there. They reminded her of her cousins and grandparents. Her father called them once their car got fixed. They thanked the villagers and continued their journey. They reached the award function safe and sound and were thankfully on time.

Although Reva had reached the hall, she was distracted by thoughts of the village. She kept thinking about how the villagers did not deserve to suffer so much.

While she was still pondering this, the host announced her name and called her up on the stage. When the judges were about to give her the prize, instead of saying the expected ‘Thank you’, she said “I am sorry, but I cannot accept this award. Instead, I would like to speak to the Prime Minister.”

Murmurs rang through the crowd and she could see chief guests talking near the stage. The host gave her weird looks for her seemingly childish behaviour. After a while she said, “If I cannot meet the Prime Minister personally, I would like to have a video chat with him. Whatever the case, I am not leaving until I speak to him.”

That was when organizers actually started taking her seriously. They were confused as to what to do. They decided to ask for permission to meet the Prime Minister. To everyone’s utter surprise and astonishment, he agreed. Reva waited for 7 to 8 hours for the video chat with him.

During the video chat she described the condition of the village to the Prime Minister. He was very pleased to know that she cared for the small village and had given up her dream. He promised that he would do something for the village.

After few months Reva received a letter from Government saying that the village now had a school, a hospital and river was clean once again. The factories which had dumped their wastes in the river were forced to shut down as per the orders of the government. The government had also created awareness in the village about the importance of cleanliness. They had also asked them to plant as many trees as possible.

After hearing this amazing news, Reva was really happy. Her parents were really proud of her.

 “I had always wanted to go to Disneyland, but to make someone else as happy as I would have been really gives one a sense of accomplishment. Instead of going to Disneyland, I created a “ Disneyland “ for lots of people who helped. That was truly the best prize I could ever receive.", she smiled inwardly to herself.