The Greatest Gift

‘The climate crisis is an impending threat to society, and we must take action now,’ said Lily Thomson, as she practised her speech for the city level elocution competition in front of the mirror for the last time, before heading to the venue. Ten-year-old Lily was a passionate orator and had been chosen to represent her school in the elocution competition. She had been practising vigorously for the past month, and finally, the day had arrived! She put on her school uniform and rushed downstairs. After giving a fleeting hug to her parents, she sat in the car, ready for the challenge that awaited her. It was pouring on the streets of Mumbai that day, and the venue was an hour away. She glanced at her watch, ‘I have plenty of time to reach there,’ thought Lily to herself.

On reaching midway, something caught Lily’s eye. She saw an elderly man, dressed in a black suit, sitting on a bench, without an umbrella. She observed closely and saw that the man could not move. He had been signalling for people to stop, but in the pouring rains, people took no notice of the injured elderly. When she saw this, the first notion that came to her was her competition and the thought of missing it. But remembering the values of kindness and empathy that her parents had instilled in her, she told her driver to stop the car and went to the man with an umbrella.

‘Good morning sir, what happened? Why are you sitting out here in the pouring rains?’, said a concerned Lily. ‘I was coming back home on foot when it started raining cats and dogs out of the blue. I did not carry an umbrella with me, since it was bright in the morning. I accidentally slipped and fell and could not walk,’ said the man. ‘Don’t worry, we will take you to a hospital,’ said Lily. Her driver helped the man to the car. Lily looked at her watch again, ‘Twenty minutes to go.’

They took the man to a nearby clinic. ‘Thank you for your help, dear child. It is rare to find

Advertisement

such souls nowadays,’ he said. After giving a grateful smile, lily rushed to the venue. Due to the rains, some of the streets had been waterlogged, and there was a lot of traffic. On finally arriving at the venue, two hours later, Lily’s eyes met with her furious teacher. ‘What took so long?! You are such a good orator, and you had a real chance of winning. All your hard work has gone to waste,’ said her teacher. Lily explained the entire incident to her. ‘Well, maybe next time,’ her teacher said with a sad sigh.

All through the day, lily’s face was covered with a frown and teary eyes. But she felt absolutely sure, that if given a chance to repeat the day, she would have done just the same.

The next day at school, while lily was quietly doing her work, someone came with a message from the principal. She headed to the principal’s office with mixed thoughts. She knocked on the door and a voice said, ‘Come in, Ms Thomson.’ Lily entered the room, and who should she find sitting on a chair, but the man she had helped yesterday, with a bandaged knee. ‘Ms. Thomson, our chairman, Mr Singh, was just telling me how you went out of your way to help in yesterday. I must say, you did a fine job!’ said the principal. ‘I recognized your uniform yesterday. Your principal told me how you had to skip your elocution competition. To pay back your favour, I had a chat with the judges and they have allowed you to participate in the next level of the competition, based on your past performance,’ said Mr Singh. Lily was overjoyed on hearing this and thanked the chairman wholeheartedly.

On reaching home, she shared the good news with her parents. Her mother said, ‘Well Lily, now you realize the importance of helping others in need. Always remember, the magic of kindness never fails to work wonders. Selflessness is the greatest gift anyone can have and I am proud that you have a kind heart that tells you to put others before yourself.’