The sunrays touched this orphan’s hands and both of them started working faster than ever. Piklu’s day always started with the birds inside the small palace he had so that he could visit the temple and complete his prayers. He was more than determined today because he had a lot more shoes. Almost all the shoes were mended and all he had to do was polish them and then straight to the place he loved the most. But before anything could happen, he heard a man scream above his voice.
“Work at the library. Work at the library. Dust the shelves, cover the books and work at the library.”
“What” Piklu’s eyes now round and big in surprise. “This is the largest temple- larger than the temple I peep into everyday.”
Now his hands faster than light, done with all the chores. His quick legs ran down the stairs, his hands bid adieu to his tyrant foster mother and with the smile brighter than sun, Piklu jumped onto the rusted cycle towards the library.
With the most polite tone, “May I visit the temple, sir”, Piklu asked. The librarian infuriated to see the boy in ragged clothes,” What nonsense! This isn’t a temple, you fool. This is a library”.
“This is the temple of knowledge. Oh kind man, let me go! I promise to clean the shelves and cover the books.”
The red-faced man melted by the son’s words and Piklu went in.
He saw a thousand books at once. “This is the whole world at a glance.” he uttered. He was fascinated as all the books seem to fight amongst each other to draw the attention of the child. But, Piklu first had to clean the shelves and cover the books. He went ahead and with his tiny palms rub against each other, Piklu did his job diligently. He got a sum of money and decided to work here everyday.
This became his regular routine that he followed secretly because if known by his parents that he comes to the temple, he would be locked inside his small palace. Everyday was a new chance for this soul to grow as he rubbed his palms over the books and somehow managed to read out the words to his heart. The angry librarian, now turned friend of this young soul, taught him to utter the words properly and explained the meaning of them while he rubbed his tender palms.
Many years followed by and the boy, now a lad, mastered the art of reading and writing in the temple and now decided to write a book of his own that narrates the story of his life before he left the temple. He managed to earn enough for his studies while he supported his foster parents as well by working in the temple. There was nothing to stop Piklu and he wrote few lines about himself that was stitched into a book and kept in the library.
The last notes were: “I am an orphan who was raised by my foster dad and mom who were cobblers. I worked before the sun rose and went to a temple- the temple of knowledge. I was lucky to find way to the library in search of work and that’s what shaped me as a person and shifted my vision of the world. Today, I am leaving for my studies to a college- a big temple, but I can never forget the biggest temple where I saw a thousand books at once. I felt like I was floating on knowledge and saw the world at a glance.”