When I Became A Catalyst By Destiny – Story From Bihar

This blog just turned eight, 8 years of non-stop blogging. I could not have asked for a better story to come my way to share with you. That of a catalyst by destiny.

Bihar Trip

Last year in February, I visited Bihar and wrote extensively about it. That included the ancient caves in Barabar Hills. On the hills, some children wanted to be clicked and we obliged. We were happy to get some very happy faces in the frame. I am usually very careful while sharing pictures of unknown people. But this time, I put the picture of three smiling boys on the blog post. Only to discover now that there was destiny playing its role.

Catalyst by destiny

Last week, I received a long e-mail from an Australian lady from Kolkata. A small boy working in the tea stall below her hotel window caught her eye. She tried helping him by buying him new clothes and a mobile phone. She discovered the boy is from Bihar and is not the tea stall owner’s son as she had assumed. Out of curiosity she googled Bihar and landed on this blog. And was pleasantly surprised to see the same boy’s picture on my blog. The boy acknowledged that it was indeed his picture. She wrote to me asking when and where I had clicked the picture, as she is trying to send the boy back to his family. I readily shared as much as I knew. The boy in blue in the picture is the one.

I have no clue if his family sent the boy to Kolkata or if he ran away to Kolkata. Whether they really want him back. Or they want him to fend for himself and not burden them. I am not even sure if it all means anything. But I know it gave me happiness that somewhere my work could connect the dots. It gave me a feeling that the world is indeed small. And it sometimes presents you with opportunities to make it a better place, even without any conscious effort on your part.

Just in case this reunites the child with his family and assuming they both want it that way…this blog would have served its purpose.