The little child had remained awake all night to see the dawn – the first dawn of the New Year. At last the time came for which he had been anxiously waiting for. His eyes filled with wondrous excitement as he saw the sun rising up from behind the mountains. As the first golden rays touched his face, his eyes lit up with joy – a joy so profound that he himself could not understand its intensity. But as he closed his eyes in prayer, slowly he realized the significance of the whole event. For him, it was not just daybreak – not merely a natural phenomenon but the symbol of a new start, a new beginning. He turned his face towards the light and all shadows were in darkness. The dawn appeared to him as a gleam of hope – a hope for a better world. And as his weary brain conjured up delightful visions of the future, his tired eyes closed.
He hoped for a world in which he would be free; free to do anything. He hoped for a world, in which he would have the basic facilities that every human being deserves from cradle to grave. He hoped for a world free from child labor. He hoped for a world where he would be sent to school rather than to a factory where he was made to work 12 hours a day. He hoped that his father would earn for him, instead of spending and losing his hard earned money in gambling. (more…)
