?Hey, What are you painting, boy?? I asked him sneaking at the drawing he was trying  conceal. Timid as he was, Manoj swayed the paper towards me. Mesmerizing!!!  I showed it to  Richa Neupane (my friend and classmate) and Bindu di. They couldn?t take their eyes off so was with Nabin and Anju.

Clouds floating in the sky. Crystal clear water. Humanized sun. Dolphin bouncing on water and staring at the sun. The colors were cherry picked. How magnificently he embroidered color and imagination into a single masterpiece.

The creativeness of the prodigious child and his friends made us forget the sweltering heat and hectic travel we just had. Blessed with the talent, Children of Chepang Basti(one of the marginalsed caste) at Mugling, Chitwan excellently depicted their natural environment on the white paper, giving life to it.

This took me back to Rasuwa village(few days ago we had gone for similar relief camp) where two girls precisely drew ?quake effect? and wrote appealing poem and essay. There was another brother drawing picture of bravery shown by their elders amid crisis.

It was in June 4, just a day ahead of ?World Environment Day?, Bindu di and I along with my friends( name aforementioned) went to Mugling, Chitwan along with our very own Chivalrous Dr. Hom Basnet sir( President of UPF, Chitwan). While our gurus( meaning teacher in its holiest sense) were distributing relief materials, we were looking after children, chitchatting, drawing and playing with them.

After a while, I was panting. The summer was at its best. I sat on a small chair, took deep breath and closed my eyes. I swiftly got indulged in my  own thought. I imagined the image of the children dressed gracefully in white E-gen t-shirts we had distributed( thanks to you E-gen), sweet smile in their face. All seemed cherishing and delightful.But the smile was hiding their unfathomable condition in the closet :Daily plight they have to go through aided by recent quake in creating havoc situation. They being slandered by the nature?s grievance. Suddenly images of toppled down building, piles of rubble, cracked room, 24/7 power cut off, broken water pipes  started making groove in my head. They were living life most of us hardly could imagine.

I pondered. Relief goods, quite an necessiety though, was  temporary solution. If we want to see prosperity in its purest sense and heal the wound something sustainable , something ?everlasting? must be commenced which should enable everyone to be in-dependable, stand on their own feet and withstand any circumstances.

I started murmuring these words thinking for what could be possible solution : Children, School, Earthquake, Sustainable, Future, Nepal, Independency. I was drifted by these words. But nothing  came up in my mind. Nothing that i was actually seeking out.

I was drenched by my own thought when all of sudden, little girl called me pulling my finger. ?Brother?, she said in sweet voice,?How?s my drawing?. I opened up my eyes. National flag waving at the top of mountain, rivers flowing through them,blooming  Rhododendron and lophophorus flying near the temple. All drawn within the boundary of Nepal map. A sense of Nationality and dignity was shimmering through her picture. I was wide awake then. I thanked her such precious drawing which heightened the sense of Nationality in me. She seemed to be in very good mood and was leaping happily. I watched her going towards her friends and laughing.

Then, I stared at the blackboard. Compared it with my Alma Mater. On spur of moment, word ?EDUCATION? clobbered in my mind. I jotted it down in my note.I yelled 'YES, its education' thats what i was all thinking of'. Education was what i thought a route to sustainability. Nurturing children with moral education that teaches to respect every beauty of earth, real-life education that enlighten them with truth and evolve into capable person. Eduction which teaches children real meaning of the life and encourage to think beyond. Education where creativity is equally respected is must.  I do agree with Margaret Mead on this 'Children must be taught how to think, not what to think'. 

Major impetus needs to be made on Education. Now is always the benjin time to pour our effort on it. If sustainable development and high human development index is our recipe than 'Education' is the major ingredient.

After that I pulled myself out of my thought. Then, I along with my friends distributed foods and stationery goods to children.But, hey!!! I couldn't find Manoj. Thought he went home. I was also quite thirsty by then. So, I went outside the room to fetch some water. Whoa!!! There was our Manoj standing gallantly with his drawing and prizes and rest of my fellow friends  and gurus alrewdy in queue to take snap with the superstar. Aha, he could say 'Caprie Diem'

Note:

Manoj is just an instance. So are two girls from the Rasuwa village. Those were few children with inborn gifts whom I happened to meet. Just imagine, how many Manoj are there waiting to unleash their potentiality provided we give amicable environment. We lose many of them because of opportunities not reaching to them. When our nation is in the deepest grief, its a time we find out more Manoj and rebuild our nation and whole world and reach top echelon of prosperity. We all want life to be peach and cream.

P.S. UPF is going to reconstruct the school we went. I rejoiced knowing news.