It was Thirteenth of March, my Birthday! The most exciting part of my birthday was my visit to the 'New Life' Trust home. Rudhra was her name. Such an influential name it was. She was a special child who belonged to that Trust. All the children in the Trust were considered to be God's own children. I distributed the clothes,books and sweets that I had bought for them. The joy that they experience when they receive the gifts is just beyond all descriptions and priceless. They sang the birthday song for me and made me feel special. The most beautiful feeling in this world comes when you see a special child, despite all difficulties, smiling happily just like a rainbow and the best feeling is when you realize that you are the cause behind their smile; I felt it! She always looked lively and cheerful, but Rudhra was actually an orphan, adopted by the Trust, suffering from "Birth Paralysis". Rudhra was undergoing a severe damage in her nervous system and often was affected by strokes,trauma,nervous injury and suffocation. Doctors predicted her life was not too long. 

Surprisingly, she told me that the central struggle of her life was not to overcome her own physical disability but the societal disabilities! According to her, disability was a matter of perception. The society always portrayed embarrassment whenever they had to interact with her . To keep her standards of self respect high was of primary importance to her. I realized what she told me was true. Because the society in which we live is quite judgmental.I felt unbridled feelings and emotions for this 13 year old girl. I wondered how she possessed this immense will power!?! She told me that life was simple for her as she had learnt to accept it with a smile. Since the Trust raised the children with lots of  hopes and dreams, she always believed that she was a very gifted girl and considered her life as a 'wonderful blessing' from God. Her mental maturity was so high that she accepted the reality rather than running away from it.       

She proved to me that life is all about what lies within you . Rudhra was multi-talented and very much a perfectionist. A singer and an artist amongst all her other talents. Needless to say, I could never leave the Trust until I listened to a song of hers. She always looked like a butterfly, colorful and she knew a special way of adding joy in everyday of hers. I was quite excited to know what her ambition was . She told me with a gleam in her eyes and a strong belief in her heart that she was born to accomplish something amazing. She told me she wanted to become a teacher. 

It was time for me to leave; she waved her hands and gave me a warm send off with her beautiful smile, which was a universal language of happiness.

Days rolled by. A year passed.

One day I received a call that Rudhra had passed away. It was a huge loss for me as she had left footprints in my heart. I realised that she had already achieved her ambition as she was my teacher had who taught me the essence of life. 

  REST IN PEACE , RUDHRA!