The TV announced the news of a little girl’s achievement in China: At the age of four, she can talk in five languages and read three more. When I saw this, I was reminded of an incident I had witnessed years ago. This took place at the outpatient department of a hospital.
A small girl came with her mother, who needed treatment. When her mother was called inside by the doctor, the little one stood outside. After a while, she opened the water bottle. Just then, her mother came out, so the girl ran towards her. But in the process, the bottle slipped from her hand and the water spilled on the floor. Then the girl said something in Bengali to her mother, but she just took the girl’s hand and wanted to leave. But the girl refused and again insisted on something.
Suddenly, she moved away, placed her head against the wall and began crying. I watched the scene and realised that the little girl wanted something and the mother was not able to give it. So when I stepped forward, the mother said, “Is there anybody to clean the floor?” I was shocked for a moment, but wanted to oblige. So I informed a sweeper, and the floor was cleaned immediately.
When the girl saw that it was clean, she stopped crying and wiped away her tears with the hem of her frock. With a smiling face, she looked at me and said, “Thank you”. I asked her mother, “Did she cry so that the floor could be cleaned?” The mother nodded. In their joint family, the grandmother was very particular about others’ safety and taught the children about it. The mother thanked me and they walked away.
I met another little boy in the therapy department. To get speech therapy, his father brought him in the evenings every day. The concerned therapist, a lady, was friendly with the boy. On most evenings, after closing the section, she would give the key to him and lifted him up to put it on the board on the wall. Later, the boy would not leave till he did this.
Once when the therapist was on leave, a new staff member provided therapy for the little one. When the section was closed, he asked for the key. She gave it, but did not lift him up. He looked around, found a chair nearby and used it to put the key on the board. Then his father took his hand so that they could leave. Instead, the boy ran to put the chair in its proper place.It was interesting to see two children, of different backgrounds, having the same mindset!
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