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An angel in disguise

"Kid, have you seen God's chosen people on Earth?", he mused. She was probably not at all prepared to answer such question. "Well, umm…well I would want to know it from you, Uncle", came her confused answer which instantaneously sounded dumb to her ears. "Well, for that I would need to tell you a story," he added. She smiled back and he said , " You still have the same smile".

The story has its roots some thirty years back which saw a bright boy from a starkly dim area. He was pretty good at this lessons and had no knowledge what it meant to study beyond what his high school could effort. He revered knowledge and he knew he would want to keep on studying till he could. But circumstances gave him a fatal blow. He had a past which was equally shallow as the dried river bank. The deposits could be seen but never could the river regain it's glory. His grandfather was born to a Britisher's mistress, who belonged to the tea tribe. When the Britisher's left., they left behind relics of a past which couldn't match their white blood supremacy. Thus, this boy  had the intellect of the Britishers and the fate of a local tea tribe boy which was meant to keep within the tea estate. It perplexed him to think of it as a blessing in disguise but his strong will found a way.

He was the first among the boys of the local school who could actually avail his higher secondary course in the Science stream at a nearby Higher Secondary School. So, with bigger dreams and a determined heart, he set his journey.

There he took a pause and flashed me a smile, "Kid, now we will meet our angel", he surmised. I nodded back.

The journey was tough, everything was new to him and the biggest hurdle he had to face was his financial crisis. But all that he cared for was to attain knowledge and that caught the attention of one of his teachers. It was his English class, the teacher had asked everyone to write an essay. While checking those scripts, he found an exceptionally brilliant essay with beautiful handwriting. The teacher was spell bound. He summoned the student and was totally taken aback to learn his history and his present status.

That very day, the student's life saw a paradigm shift. It had changed for good, he no longer had to worry about anything except for learning his lessons. He finally had met his angel.

He cleared his exam and in the mean time was taken to the nearby city by his angel to appear an Engineering Entrance test. He never had known that  any such course existed, he saw everything through the lens of his angel. He came back and waited for his results.

Days rolled into months and finally he had passed his exam with flying colours but the icing in the cake was yet to come. He had cracked the Engineering Entrance Exam. His joy knew no bounds, he knew he owed his life to his angel.

But hurdles were a part of his life, he knew his studies would require a huge sum of money which was impossible for a school teacher, him being the bread earner of a joint family, but what he probably had forgotten at the moment was about the magical powers that angels hold. His dreams were no longer his own alone, for every step that he would take, there was always a protective shield which stood tall in the form of this guardian angel.

What his teacher had done was out of imagination for him. He had written a letter to some tea board informing them about the lineage of the boy and his exceptional results. A team was sent from Kolkata to inspect and they finally had decided to award a scholarship which was enough for him to complete his course. Could he ever thank his angel enough for whatever he did for him, it was what he thought everyday. He had known no almighty except for this angel and he remembered him in his prayers. He was the only guardian he had and the only visitor who visited him during his college years.

Life finally had started being a blessing. He got himself a job, got married, got blessed with two lovely kids. He got what he had even not imagined any day. The only thing that hadn't changed was his love towards his guardian angel. There wasn't a single day when he wouldn't mention him in his prayers.

I no longer could hold back my tears when I saw his eyes growing moist. He with his deep yet gentle voice said, " Kid, now that I told you my story, would you please preserve it in words?". What could I say, I already had decided to write his story and it was an honour for me to do so, for his angel is not his angel alone, he is my super hero too.

We both sat hugging our cups of tea, lost in a swirl of memories. A call jolted me back to reality, my cellphone flashed, "dad calling" and we both smiled for he is the angel the story talked about.

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