Youngsters, our nation's pride

After being locked down for two years due to COVID, the start of 2023 brought a welcome change for me. My son Prodeep and his wife Louisa had planned well in advance to spend the first week of January with me in India. To avoid the cold weather in Delhi, we decided to have an adventurous trip to the jungles of South India, which are home to tigers, elephants, monkeys. Among many plantations, blue mountains, and rivers, with riots of colors in various flowers, the beauty of nature was breathtaking. We stayed in comfortable forest resorts each night, ate good food, and rested to prepare for the next day's adventure. This was my second visit to South India, and after almost forty years, I noticed a desirable change: national integration was taking place through migration from other parts of India. Smart young boys and girls from faraway places like Sikkim, Bhutan, Mizoram, Darjeeling, and Manipur were happily working in different service sectors like restaurants, hotels, and massage centers. They were noted for their skilled working abilities, cheerfulness, helpful attitude, smiling faces, and swift gait. I met one such girl, Martha, from Manipur, who worked as a massage therapist in an Ayurveda center in a jungle resort of Nagarhole in Karnataka. As I was unable to join the early morning jungle safari, my thoughtful son arranged for my massage appointments, and that's where I met this charming and enterprising girl. The skillful movements of her hands rejuvenated my body and mind. While talking to her, I realized that not only was she a skilled massage therapist, but also a very brave and determined person. She told me that after her 10th board exam, when she was getting ready to join the Indian Army, her father died, leaving behind two younger brothers and mother. As their small piece of land was not enough, she took on the challenge of financial responsibility, came far away from her home, earned money to give stability to her family, and worked hard to make her dream come true, which was to join the Indian Army. I advised her to study online and appear for the twelfth grade to get better opportunities to join the Indian Army. I salute such youngsters who have the courage to face problems, the determination to reach their goals, and who serve others with sincerity and a smiling face.