BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT MATTERS
Akram always wondered what life was outside outside Thatta, a city near Karachi, his birthplace, the only place he knew, the entire globe for him and probably where lofe began and ended. He was a small and rather scrawny for his age, his unkempt, curly brown hair looked like a mop on his tiny face and his thinness made him look like a walking skeleton. Nevertheless, he was full of zeal, vigilance, courage and his his hazel eyes spoke of his ingeniousness. He fed himself on a traditional diet consisting of his goat’s milk and unripe mangoes plucked from his neighbour’s farm, occasionally he feasted himself with leftover parathas which his mother bought from the house she worked in as a maid.


He was the only child of his widowed mother as his father was shot dead in a feud on account of property crises which arose after Akram’s grandfather died. Thus, the two lived a life of poverty, rebukes, hardships and taunting from every nook and corner. His mother, Begum Rashida, used to work at a wealthy zamindar’s house which was located at a distance of an hour from their village. Consequently, when his mother left for work at sunrise he was left all alone in one roomed house where before and after school he took care of their goat, two chickens left by a way of inheritance by his deceased father.

Akram was afraid to go outside to play with the village boys as they boasted off their riches, their paramount position and above all their arrogant ways which made Akram envy. Thus, he passed the hours speaking with his animals and his grieving heart. He grew fond of loneliness as his mother was out for work from sunrise to sunset. To get rid of hunger pangs he ate his chicken’s eggs without cooking them as they had no oil. In some blessed days his goat gave milk and Akram drunk it all by him. When he plucked the unripe mangoes from his neighbor’s farm and was caught red handed, he was beaten with bamboo sticks. Eventually, he loathed everything and often urged his mother to migrate somewhere else but her poor mother shoved off the idea as immature. Getting a land to live will cost a lot and they had no money. Besides, she didn’t want to leave his father’s land by remarking,” How can I leave this very beloved place where your father’s memory is left i.e. his house and everything associated.” In reality, she was afraid of the city life, their tricky ways and betrayals’ to the villagers.

Akram was 12 and studied in a local school located in the suburbs of his village in grade 7. With nothing of his interest to do at home, he passed his leisure hours reading his school books as he didn’t have enough money to buy novels or even newspapers. He finished reading his school course books of his new grade the day he bought them from his cousin a year older than him. His exceptional love for books and devotion to education bore fruit and he always scored 100%. Even the teachers couldn’t fathom his secret for excellence. It was because of his poverty with no worldly gains that the teachers loathed him, favored other rich boys but still they knew that “this boy has a grit for learning and education”. The teachers avoided him and favored other students of rich backgrounds so that they earn more money.

Gradually, Akram grew up hating his school, his outdated books, and the course work which he thought was USELESS.

“Everyone teases me! No one appreciates my hardwork, no one wants to be my friend, accompany me……I go to school not to learn something new but to hear the taunts, abuses hurled at me by my class fellows. I am sick of it all!, cried Akram with teardrops trickling down his cheeks.


Akram’s mother Rashida knew all this but she was helpless. But she also knew she had to act quickly. She consoled akram as mentioning these heartbreaking incidents as challenges of life which he has to pass through and to learn lessons too. She reminded Akram all the time that his sole and sole purpose of going to school was not to show off but only to learn, to get educated and not to make friends.


Thus, his mother’s words echoed in Akram’s ears whenever he heard rebukes from his classmates. He shoved them off and instead recalled his mother’s glorious words.

Still as time passed, he grew restless, because of no opportunity to show his skills and his intelligence. After much pleadings her mother agreed to move away from their villge. Rashida went over to zamindar’s wife, Besgum Nusrat and asked for shelter. Begum Nusrat was a kind lady and after consultation with her husband, they agreed to give a room to Rashida. Besgum Nusrat had one son of the age of Akram and he studied in one the prestigious schools of the city.

When Akram heard the news of leaving his brethren village he could not believe his ears. He was jumping with joy and happiness. He quickly packed his few belongings in a his previous school bag and in a spur of movement exclaimed,” Mom, let’s go , I am ready”. Rashida said,” Don’t be quick, we will leave tomorrow morning at sunrise and don’t spread this news, keep it to yourselves or the villagers would fence us in this house”. That night Akram laid awake, his joy didn’t let sleep enguld him . At the first sight of morning light, he jerked his mom awake. They took their belongings and packed their hens in a small basket. Their goat obediently followed them. After treading for an hour, they finally arrived at the door of the big mansion. Akram gazed wide eyed at the big mansion and its magnificence. The orchard in front of the house was laid with lush green grass and the symmetry reminded him of an expensive carpet. He saw beautiful multi colored flowers blooming and dancing by the morning wind to and fro. Dew drops rested on its smooth textured surface. This was the view Akram never saw before.

After entering the house from the back door especially made for servants they unpacked their belongings into a small room with an attached bathroom. For Akram it was a royal room, the one even his village friends didn’t have. He sat there in front of a small TV while his mother went to work. At about noon she came and took Akram with him to meet Begum Nusrat who called for them.
Begum Nusrat patted on Akram’s head and by and by she concurred to finance Akram’s schooling in his son’s school. Akram was much delighted. She gave him school uniform and bought books for him too. Akrtam found those books advanced from his level as he had formally studied in a local school. But he spent the whole day with procuring his books and his intelligence and hard work soon bore fruit, when he was able to catch up with the other students.
However, as time passed by, it was observed that Akram was not quite contented with his school life. Being a poor village boy he had differences with his classmates who were from elite families and treated him like a cur. They made fun of him. Akram could not even talk to them because he was not fluent in English. He didn’t have the ethics, ettiquites and above all the tricky ways of dealing with those acute students. Akram had significant differences in outlook, dressing and way of walking too. He was used to waering a turban which his new classmates took it as an object of teases and taunts. They wrested it from him and played with it around. With emotional upheaval, Akram failed the first year. How hard he tried to brush away the taunts and rebukes, he found that they kept revolving around his head. His mother’s golden words still sounded in his ears but they eventually gre faint, overshadowed by new rebukes and scoffs.
But still Akram never lost heart and instead of quitting school and accepting a job from local industry, he decided to repeat his matric examinations. He also adopted a new strategy, where instead of taking his classmates words at heart and loathing them, he smiled at their rebukes, he helped them wherever possible, he did their chores to gain their pleasures. Although he couldn’t make them his friends but as time elapsed they ceased to tease Akram. Thus, akram could now concentrate on his studies because he pondered over his condition and came to the conclusion that sacrificing his self respect in order to achieve tranquil and placidness was the only way out of many crooked ways.
With increased vigor, determination, extraordinary hard work, prayers and sacrificing his slumbers he managed to gain his academic excellence. He came to acknowledge that inspite of all drawbacks, only a person’s determination matters. In this power and wealth stands no comparison to it.
Everyone was shocked to hear that Akram stood first in his metric examinations. He thanked Begum Nusrat specially who bore his entire financial burden. The school also honored him by awarding him scholarship and certificates. In a special ceremony his mother was honored as chief guest. Thus, he not only achieved honor for himself but also for his parents. Everyone congratulated him and he became a popular child at school. You can imagine his delight and how the story ends……………………….