India's Heroes

The students in Mrs. Baruah’s class swiftly straightened up in their seats as she entered the class room. Excitement was in the air as the Class 8A students knew it was going to be different that day. An eloquence practice was scheduled. All of them had been told to come prepared with their speeches.

Mrs. Baruah repeated the topic for the speech. It was ‘Who would you like to be when you grow up?’ In other words, the students had to choose one person from among the best and brightest Indians whom they adored most, and would like to emulate.

From the number of hands that went up, it became apparent that nearly everyone was eager to speak. Such response gladdened her. She knew the topic had fired the imagination of her students.

She proceeded to explain the scope of the topic a little more. ‘The students could cite an illustrious person, and even certain highly laudable traits and qualities in ordinary men and women’, Mrs. Baruah clarified.

The students hastened to arrange the rough sheets of paper on which they had jotted down the points.

It was Ajit Basu who spoke first. He was a die-hard Tendulkar fan. No doubt, he idolized him. Then spoke Gayatri Chhabra, who wanted to devote her life to social work following the footsteps of her mother. Sanjay Damle spoke of her passion for aviation and his dream of soaring into the sky to fly among the clouds one day.

The entire class listened carefully as one after another of their peers stood up to explain the ideals and persons that had stirred them.

It was Kabeer’s turn. He got up as if he shouldered a big load. He was a bundle of nerves. His face wore that look. Perhaps, he was facing the class for the first time to speak to them in a loud enough voice.

Despite his shortcomings, Kabeer had braced for the challenge by preparing for his speech quite assiduously. The ideas came from deep within his inner self. The speech was a cut above the others. It dealt with not just a single great man or a single virtue, but a...