Maya

Hello, friend. It was nice of you to read this today. I'm Mohini, a seven year old girl living in the slums of mumbai. I guess you maybe wondering how a little seven year old girl is writing a story. Well, my sister Maya taught me. Maya is the smartest girl of our slum, even though she's only twelve. She's also the bravest person in our slum, much braver than most men here. Let me tell you a story about Maya, a story that made the whole slum proud.

Our mother died a few years after I was born. My father loved us dearly, but he worked all day so that he earned enough money to feed us, and saw us once a day. It was my sister Maya who brought me up. She took care of me throughout the day, made sure I was fed well, and played the role of a mother. She used to play with me all day, and made sure I was always happy. After all, we were always at home, and found no reason to go out in the sunlight, except to play in the evening. This was because the daughters in our slum were not allowed to go to school. Maya and I were very disappointed with this system, and always wanted to go to school and learn the things that the boys in our slum learnt. We too wanted to grow up to be successful workers, not just mere housewives. Our desire to learn increased each day.

Maya and I were determined and hardworking, and completed all the minor jobs that we were given successfully, whether it was drawing water from the well, transporting vegetables from one hut to another, or feeding rice grains to the birds. We tried our best to impress the people of our slum, but none of them seemed to realise the need to educate girls like us in the slums. We even told our father that we wanted to go to school and study. He understood how we felt but said that the people of our slum were stubborn and would not listen. Although he promised he would help us, maya decided to face this problem by herself.

There was no stopping maya now. She was going to convince the people that girls should have the opportunities that boys do, that girls should be educated just like boys. Unfortunately, whatever she tried, failed. I offered to help, thinking she was going to give up, but she politely said that she was going to handle it. All I could do was wait and watch.

One day, as I sat on a small bench next to our window, I saw the boys running to the nearby school with their colourful backpacks slung over their shoulders. They ran one after another, laughing, and didn't seem to realise that there was a girl present in their group. A girl going to school? Could that be......maya! My eyes widened with pride as I saw my sister running to school, her head held high, ready to fight for the rights of girls, ready to show the world that she deserved to be educated.

Only when she sat in the classroom did the teacher realise that there was a girl in the classroom. He shouted at her to go out, but she sat still, not moving a muscle. When she saw the teacher's face changing from an angry red to an angrier purple, she finally stood up, all eyes on her. She walked to the front of the class and faced the students. Then she said, "I am Maya, daughter of Mahesh, the best carpenter in the whole slum. I am present here today to tell you all what I have been wanting to say for a long time." the whole class, including the teacher, stared in disbelief at maya, who was then a ten year old girl standing amidst a group of smart students, the only girl in the whole slum who had the guts to walk into a classroom and fight for her rights. The adults of the slums, hearing that a girl was in a school, ran to the class to see what was happening. "I have come here today to tell you," she continued, "that we girls deserve to be educated just like you boys". Several protests rose in the background, some people even laughed, but Maya's stern eyes quieted them. "I want you to tell me, why shouldn't girls be educated? What makes you think that we are no smarter than boys?" "Girls don't have the brains that we have", one student said. "Girls are made to maintain a house, not to work!" said another. "Girls are not as strong, smart or brave as us!" "Girls are too weak to even to walk to school, how will their brain be strong enough to learn anything?"

Hearing this, maya said,"Well, if you don't even give us a chance, how would you know whether our brains are as smart as yours? You say girls are not strong? Then how come we are the ones that draw water from the well, even though it's a hard job? Pushing a heavy cart full of food all around the slums is no easy job! Do you think girls are not brave? Then what have I done today, walking into a school to fight, is that not bravery? How dare you say that we are weak? There is nothing that we girls lack. We deserve to be educated. We deserve to become successful in life."

I thought people would shout protests again, but to my surprise, none of them did. One by one, the students rose, and started clapping. Soon the whole village was clapping at my extraordinary sister. Then, from the crowd, emerged my father, who ran and hugged his daughter. Then he said, "My daughter has done something that no other girl had the strength to do. She has shown us that she wants girls in our slum to learn. She deserves what she wants. I'm extremely proud of both my daughters, and I know that some day, they will be more successful than any of us."

Hearing the whole slum cheer for my sister made me so proud. They then agreed to send girls to school. Maya topped her class each year, and though I learnt a lot in school, I learnt more from maya. She taught me to feel free to express my thoughts and feelings, to be brave. Before each exam, the boys would come running to ask her their doubts! Maya didi, someday, I wish to become just like you.