This piece was written by the author for a contest run by Sailing Leaf in January, 2018.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

                                                                                                - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

Wonderfully quoted from the well- known and widely read ‘Little Prince’, Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s famous quote has meaning in each of our lives and tells us the way we can truly see the world as it is. The little prince sees the fox as he truly is and grows to care about him, or in this case, ‘tames’ him. The fox teaches the little prince how to know what is true and what is not by simply telling him to look at somebody, to know them and then love them, not for their looks, but instead what they are inside i.e. their inner beauty. The fox taught the little prince to recognize a person for who he/she was by opening up to them, show feeling and not judge them by their looks.

Since I don’t come from another planet, the fox’s teaching is not unfamiliar to me and understanding this quote as well as connecting it to my life was not exactly a job. It was a project of sorts; how to find the importance of showing emotion in my life and others around me. I have two examples- two totally different cases, but just the same solution. I have a friend who has been with me for a long time and now we can practically finish each other’s sentences. But when we first met, he was shy, soft spoken and mostly kept to himself. He was never ready for a conversation, always but always had time for books. And so, naturally, everybody began calling him a bookworm. Everyone, but me. Why, you ask? Because, unlike anybody else, I sat next to him, whether he liked it or not and talked to him. I figured out that, under that silent exterior, he had millions of ideas inside him, ideas that could change the world! As he met others who understood him, like I did and others who could really open up to him and who he could really open up to, he became confident. And now, here he is, a different person, but different in the ways of famous people in the world, different in the sense, meant for much more. He was different because he had opened up to someone, he had become confident. Now, I’m a 100% sure that my best friend will achieve whatever he wants to do in life because, simply enough, he is ready to open up to the world!

I have another friend whose case is totally different. Everybody whispered behind his back, talking about his short temper, which he did have. But, I realized that his problem, if at all he did have one, was just that he probably was a bit too physical in expressing his emotions. My other friends took one look at his short-tempered actions and just decided to not be friends with him. The solution to their problem was not looking inside him, not to try to understand him, but to simply just let him go. I tried to do what they couldn’t and promised him that I would remain his friend. From that day, I saw him in a new light; I knew that under that rough exterior, there was a loyal friend, a person who could help you in times of need one who would treat you with respect and be your friend forever simply when you open up and share your emotions with him. Sure enough, everybody else did too and it was only because he had become confident enough to show what he was in reality.

As a child, our ability to let go of negativity is much better than an adult as we have seen less of the negative part of the world. We are filled with love for the people around us. We know what happiness is- whether it is a small thing like getting an ice- cream or receiving our parents’ love everyday. As we grow into an adult we sometimes, though not always, forget the importance truly feeling and have no time and no ego to waste to try to get to know the inner beauty of people. We forget that there is magic and love in the air, that there are special abilities inside people which may never be found if they have no one to share their own ideas, to open up, that these people must not be judged by their looks. We forget that sometimes people who seem high in status may just not, under that cloak of kindness, have the ability to show emotion at all. So, we as children should never forget the importance of looking inside a person, to open up and to see a person for who they truly are, to remember that what we see with our eyes may or may not be reality. We should remember to look at the world differently. A famous quote from the book,’ Wonder’ is “ Be nice, for everyone is fighting hard battles. And to get a better view of them, you just have to look.” Here is my extended version of this quote-“ Be nice, for everybody is fighting hard battles. And to get a better view of them, you just have to look. Look with your heart, see with you heart. For it is only then that you will you get to know their joys and laughter, their difficulty and their pains. It is only then that we will get to know how they feel.” Because, after all, it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye!

Shounak Malhotra, Grade 7, Sanskriti School, New Delhi