Hardships are good!

The doorbell was ringing continuously. I opened the door with anger. But looking at a teenage boy, I was calm. 

He said very politely, “Sir, your neighbor, Aunty, has sent me to collect clothes from you. I am a laundryman.”  

I replied “Ok, what’s your name? Where is your shop?” 

I just asked out of curiosity. He answered, "Just in front of grocery shop near your home. And my name is Avinash. People call me Avi.” 

I remembered the laundry board on his shop ‘Avi’s laundry’ while going for the office.  I said, “Ok. But how much you charge?” 

He replied, “Give whatever you want! From others, I charge, 5bucks each.” 

I gave him some clothes and said, "Listen, I will take back clothes while coming back from the office.” 

He left.  It was the morning shift these days. During the morning shift, I used to come back by 3 pm. I got ready fast and left for the office. After office, during coming back, suddenly, I heard “Sir, your clothes.”   

I turned around and I remembered about Clothes. Avi was calling me to collect the clothes. While he was searching for bundles of Clothes, I just asked “Avi, you look very young. Don’t you go to school?”

He said, “Yes I do. But after closing the laundry at 8 pm” 

I got surprised to know this. “What? After 8 pm.”  

He replied, “Yes Sir, I go to night school. I am in 10th Std. now.” 

I picked up a chair in his laundry and sat there. I got interested in his story as I saw a spark in his eyes when he told me that he goes to night school. After coming from Office, I cannot read a book due to tiredness. And he goes to night school, after working from 6 am to 8 pm.  I was amazed by his story.  I asked, “But why you do this business. You are a child yet. You should go to regular school and play with friends. Whether your fathers force you to do this job?” 

Immediately his smile disappeared as if I have slapped him on his face.  

I asked with care, "Oh so sorry. I mean, it’s ok if you don’t want to tell.”  

He said, “No, the fact is my father is not there. He died.” 

I replied, “Oh... sorry."  

I thought, "It is better to leave." 

So I asked him, “Thanks for the clothes. How much I need to pay?”  

He replied with a very different emotion on his face, "20bucks.” 

I paid 20bucks and just turned to go back. “Sir, He is alive.” 

I heard this. I again turned to Avi, “what? But you just said!”  

I don’t know why but he wanted to tell his story. I gave him a glass of water from a pot nearby and asked, “Now tell me why you lied to me.”  

He said, “I can’t tell you. But my father doesn’t stay with us. I stay with my mother and sister.”   

He continued, “My mother works as a maid and my sister works in a dental hospital as a helper. We have to arrange money for my sister’s marriage. So I have stopped going to school and started working here.”   

I was not getting what to say to him. I just said, “Oh... Ok. You are a very brave boy.”  

I left the shop. That day, I was just thinking about him. He was so matured in this teenage only. Why his father would have left him? I had a lot of questions in my mind. Now, from the next day, I started going to his shop every day while returning from the office. I had offered to teach him Maths and English while working.  He was very happy. From daily discussions, I got to know that he is not only good in General Knowledge but in other subjects too.  One day, finally he told about his father, “He ran away from home with another woman in his life and he never came back to see if we are alive.” 

And he started crying. To change the mood, I just asked him pointing to a young lady going while talking on a mobile with a smile on her face, “Hey, see that lady is having so beautiful teeth. She looks so beautiful while smiling. What do you think? Is it a Colgate Smile?” 

He laughed at me and said, “Sir, these teeth are duplicate.”  

I replied with a smile, “Hey, what? How are you so sure? It is a bad habit to lie about somebody” 

He replied, “Mother Promise...it is truth.”  

And he told, "One day when I went to my sister's hospital to give her lunch box. I saw this lady. My sister told that she is an MBA graduate. She works in a marketing company. As she has to deal with customers daily, she needs to look good while talking. Hence, she did the treatment of her teeth in the hospital. Now, will you believe me?” and again he started laughing.    

Indeed, life is so strange. I remembered some lines.    

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger 

I started believing that Hardships are good!