Soumya Tiwari, Class IX B
It was a pleasant Sunday morning and I was as excited as could be. I could not wait to break the news to my grandmother. I left the house and drove to my grandmother’s place. I could hardly contain my excitement. I got out of the car and opened the gate. I remembered how we had started it: my grandmother and I used to sit together after school and dream about a city where children did not think of studies as a burden, where everything could be easily understood by everyone. And now….
‘Saira, is that you?’ my grandmother’s soft voice broke the chain of my thoughts. ‘Yes grandma, it’s me!’ I answered and walked towards her. There she was, sitting on the couch, poring over a book.
‘Grandma, do you remember, when I was a kid, we used to sit together and think about new ways of schooling?’
‘Yes dear, they were such beautiful days,’ she said, remembering our talks which used to continue for hours.
‘Grandma, I have made our dream come true,’ I said, in a serious tone.
There was a shocked silence. My grandma sat there, motionless, still unable to believe it.
‘Come on, I can’t wait to show it to you!’ I said.
Grandma got up and we drove to the beach, there we got into a traditional boat and were ferried across the water, to an island. My grandmother was playing with the sea water by the time we reached there. ‘There it is’, I said.
She looked up. Lying ahead was one of the most beautiful islands in the sea. We landed on the shore and got off the boat. We were the first to step on that island after it was completed.
I took my grandma inside. A spectrum of flowers greeted us. Signboards pointed at them, telling what species they were. A little ahead was a roller coaster ride. My grandmother and I got into it and rushed upwards. We stopped at various places and a speaker blared, telling us about the different layers of the atmosphere. My grandmother was extremely excited. We then went into a cave and saw three entrances labeled – History of India, India’s Architecture and Foreign Revolutions. We visited each of the entrances. In there were animations, models and games for making 3D models of important places. Next we visited a building and we were given markers and dusters. Three doors representing three levels opened. We went into the first level and were shown visual representation of math formulae. After we saw it, a portal opened and we entered into a room full of white boards. We solved sums on them. Still my grandmother did not speak. I took her to the building where we saw chemical experiments, a garden where we learnt about plants and experienced how scientists constructed theories. There were rooms full of art supplies and instruments.
When we had completed the tour, my grandma finally spoke, with tears in her eyes.
“It was the most beautiful day of my life, dear. I hope it isn’t a dream!”
After years of hard work in silence, these words were the best reward I could get.
