many times finally she got them married at a young age without any support after all when life sucks who cares about laws and moral ethicsthe younger children both sons completed their primary schooling and were struggling in the middle classes unable to cope with their lessons without any guidance from their parents there was no money for food and she could not afford tuition with just books and one pair of uniforms each they were somehow continuing their school educationone day she just requested my mom if i would spare some time to teach those two boys when i was in my first year of graduation i was staying in a hostel but often homesick and would go back home on holidays and most weekendsthose boys would come to me for guidance during those weekends and holidays i would give them homework for next one week or ten days as i was teaching in my college under the nss programme of adult education i actually enjoyed doing that as it was not regularwhen i completed my graduation vishnu also completed his middle classes and joined the eighth standard at a nearby schoolhis mother would rue about being unable to pay me and send me fruits from her field whenever i visited home sometimes in my absence she would give some homegrown vegetables to my grandma alsothe day i completed my graduation exam and went home for the holidays good news was waiting for mevishnu had secured admission to a residential high school meant for underprivileged childrenhis mom thanked me for that day profusely after that i had forgotten that incident and went about my business and my life i had heard once or twice that he was enquiring about me and was doing well in mumbaiearly next morning vishnu was back again to meet me this time with a gift so many sweets and his homegrown fruits he touched my feet againwhat is this again i smiled tears rolled down his eyes because of you only i could pass my tenth and twelfth exams and got a job as a waiter at a mumbai restaurant earning a reasonable sum to live a life of dignityno thats the result of your own efforts vishnu i did not do anything more than guide youthink if i had not completed eighth and would not have gone to high school maybe would have been a dropout at sixth standard itself now i interact with people and have seen a different world going out of my village you are my guru and always i will remain indebted to you i often tell my colleagues about youi was surprised to see his gratitude for my very small contributionout of the things he had brought i accepted only the fruits and politely returned the rest he taught me at that moment what gratitude is i was filled with happiness and contentment for my contribution to his success i realised that a small help can lead someone