Roshaan was a gifted girl. There was nothing she was not good at. She was good in sports, games, reading, competitions, speeches, making friends, art, communication and almost everything you could think of. But she was even better at her studies. Every year she stood first in her class, no matter how hard the subjects would be.

Roshaan was often called ‘shinning star’ by her friends and teachers. She had won many trophies, prizes and medals, which were displayed in her house. Almost every year she was appointed the class prefect. Yet, something was bothering her about her studies. She could not understand what it was.

She thought that maybe she was tired of being the best or just tired of working hard. She tried to forget about these thoughts for a while, but they still came back to trouble her.

One day, there was a math contest in Roshaan’s school. This would be followed by a presentation in which every child had to deliver a short speech on global warming. Guess who won both the competitions?

Roshaan did and she was thrilled. She returned home to give her mother a big surprise. As a reward, her mother gave her some money and told her to buy a treat for herself from the nearby bakery.

Delighted, she ran all the way there and bought many delights. When she reached home, she spread out everything on the table and invited all of her dolls and teddy bears to have a grand party.

The next day Roshaan sat on her chair with her kitten on her lap. She brushed it, rubbed it and patted it gently. The cute kitten closed its eyes trustfully. Suddenly, Roshaan saw something at a little distance away from the building she lived in. She saw a family — three children and their parents all in tattered clothes sitting on the road. Every now and then, their father, a balloon seller would go and try to convince someone to buy his balloons, yet no one bought any. The children would hop and skip around, then begged people for food as they passed by.

Then Roshaan saw an old woman arrive and hand over a bag of crisps to each one of them. The children were hungry. They quickly snatched the bags from the old lady, not even stopping to thank her and started eating with their dirty hands. Roshaan was astonished. But she soon realised what had been troubling her since many years. She felt that even though she had been gaining so much knowledge, she hadn’t used it for something purposeful.

Roshaan remembered that she had read somewhere that power is gained by sharing knowledge, not by hoarding it and knowledge has no value unless you use and share it. She also remembered a quote by Margaret Fuller, “If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.”

That day Roshaan decided to teach those children all that she knew and was learning at school. Taking permission from her parents, Roshaan now teaches poor children who cannot afford to go to school, to read and write.

Published in Dawn, Young World, November 23rd, 2019