THE DEFINITION OF A GOOD BOY

Sometime back I was browsing through a book by SHUKANTO BHATTACHARJEE and stumbled upon this poem. Well he was not a literary genius as RABINDRANATH or SARAT CHANDRA ,still this poem is good. In this poem he brings out the definition of a “good boy” ,or rather brings out the way in which we define a good boy. Here is what it says.

There was once a boy. Lets call him RAVI. He came from a mediocre family. Ravi probably had a hectic childhood. He didn’t have toys to play with , instead he accompanied his father to work. But he was small and couldn’t realize why he had to go with his father when all others of his age were busy having fun. And so he started disobeying. He wasn’t great in studies yet he was popular amongst his friends, and he had a lot of them. Still he managed to keep a good heart.

And then there was this boy. Coming from a rich family, VINOD got everything a child can possibly ask for. He went to the best of schools, rode luxurious Cars on the way. Never gave a second thought after shouting at his servants. Was great in studies and behaved properly amongst his “class of people”. All ingredients of a good boy.

They were both of the same age. One, went on to look after his fathers business, and the other did not have anything to look after. One graduated from the best college of the city, the other went to a college which his father could afford. One had work to do, the other had no work, except “rock e bose adda dewa”---sitting and chatting with friends. They did not know each other, until this day, when they were destined to meet.

Ravi was sitting and doing his usual job, chatting with friends. An old man was crossing the street. Suddenly this man fell down and Ravi rushed to help him. The man needed immediate medication. Ravi was searching for a taxi, when he saw a car coming. He stopped it and went to the backseat to ask for help. Vinod looked at his watch and said to the driver, “I am getting late, go.” Eventually Ravi got a taxi and helped the man.

Yet, to the world, Vinod is a good boy Ravi is not. Because, Ravi was sitting and chatting with friends and helped the old man. And Vinod was wearing designer clothes, riding cars, and had no time to help a sick old man. Because, Ravi belonged to a mediocre family and Vinod was the son of a powerful businessman.

When we first entered our physics practical class, after a long and boring lecture, this is what sir had to say and conclude the class, “you are B1 group, known to have good students. All of you are good students, but try to be a good boy. The class is dismissed for today ”