"The Little Headmaster" by #TellMeYourStory

The festival of Holi starts with Holika, a ritual of burning all evils and starting afresh. I am too small to burn the evils, maybe, but I can nevertheless celebrate fire. ?#?TellMeYourStory?'s "Holi Special" will have stories from two distinct personalities, who have redefined humanity with their being and set the flames high with a heart that's beyond measures.

Here's the first of "Holi Special" stories from #TellMeYourStory.

This story written by Babar Ali, whom BBC had called "world's youngest Headmaster"! His dream to educate the poor and underprivileged started when he was a small boy playing "school-school" at home! And as he hit his teens, he ran a school. He was not resourceful...just that he had a resolution more powerful than resources. 

How I reached out to him is a story by itself. When I read about him but couldn't source his whereabouts, I randomly called up some 15/16 schools in Murshidabad, West Bengal. I tried to introduce myself as a writer, but they seemed confused. "Ki lekhen?" (What do you write?) They asked, unable to fathom that it can be a stand-alone profession. Soon I started using my other identity, that of a professor, which made better sense. "Didimoni", they were calling me, a term I have heard for almost half my life from the small town inhabitants. But all the amusements apart, Babar Ali seemed nowhere. Finally one school gave me the number of a politician. The politician asked me enough and directed me to the local Panchayat. From the Panchayat, I reached a relative and finally Babar. I learnt that he has a website too, but since it is not SEO enabled and isn't updated regularly since internet keeps appearing and disappearing in their remote village, it is lost somewhere in the crowd when googled.    

 Babar promised me that he would write his own story. When the submission came, it was written in Bengali. Though I don't encourage vernacular scripts, I didn't feel like asking him to rewrite and waste his time. I did the translation myself. Those who can read Bengali, can read his original story pasted below the English one. 

Put in your comments in the "Comment" section of the link so that what belongs to Babar, stays with Babar. And if possible, consider donating or aiding him in some way or the other.

Let this be the present and future of our India :)

Read Babar's story here : https://bit.ly/1Zmj7l8