She was so sad. She kept thinking about the world — what if this never goes away, what if we stay the same? This worried her a lot.

Amanda was obsessed with keeping things organised and in place. She did not like when people made a mess. As soon as a small speck of dust would catch her eyes, she wouldn’t rest until it was swept and spotless. But now, the entire world was a mess! How could she take care of it all?

There was no possible way she could stop the world from littering, no possible way to stop the world from polluting, no possible way to make people happy all the time. If this was not within the realms of possibility, why did mummy say “Nothing is impossible”?

Mummy never lied. This sounded too good to be true. But Amanda didn’t flicker. She was never doubtful about anything once her mother confirmed things. Her mummy’s words were law and that’s how she liked it.

Amanda was smart enough to know that billions of people were not going to listen to a mere ten-year-old. There was no way she could email them all and tell that the world has become a wreck. But Amanda strongly believed that she would not let sit still without making a difference in the way things were.

Amanda thought of three options she would make people choose from — cheerful, colourful and clean. The ‘3C Formula’ was what she had in mind. Here is what it meant.

If you didn’t have the capacity and capability of sweeping the roads and streets, make them look cleaner by smiling and helping people. Be cheerful. Stay happy, always smile and laugh. Be friends with everyone and hop and skip.

If you cannot clean the cities from top to bottom, then decorate them with love and smiles. Make your place colourful by thinking beautifully and bringing your abstract, colourful thoughts to life. Play with colours and enjoy the fruitfulness of life.

This was how Amanda wanted to bring a change. But she didn’t know how. So what Amanda did was, she painted colourful and cheery posters and started pasting them around in her neighbourhood. She kept loads and loads of posters with her wherever she went and handed them to people and pasted them around. People would make fun of her, but she kept on going and made others’ days better. She would go up to lads and lasses whose faces looked dull and made them bright by spending time with them, talking about lovely things and cracking jokes. Later they would walk away with upbeat expressions.

A year later, Amanda fell extremely ill. Her parents were distressed, which made her feel bad. She never wanted mummy to feel downcast and certainly not because of her. She wanted to do something to make her feel better, but she was not able to. As she was thinking about this, someone outside her door knocked.

“Come in, please!” her mother called out. What she saw next made her amazed. There were children standing outside with packets, as if the entire neighbourhood had sent Amanda ‘Get Well Soon’ cards which mummy brought to her. She read each and every one of them and told her mother she wanted to meet them.

“No honey, you not .... Before her mother could complete the sentence, Amanda got up and ran outside her house, where she saw everyone with saddened faces which lit up when she rushed out.

“Amanda has come!” exclaimed the excited crowd. They hugged her and made her feel content.

This was exactly how she imagined the world to be. And now she had made it, at least in her own space. Everyone can make a difference if they have the commitment and follow the ‘3C Formula’.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 11th, 2020