“Look at your room Dipu. Bholu’s kennel is cleaner than your
room! These crushed paper cups lying here and there… smelly clothes…your
textbooks have already parted company with their cover. Let me clean your room
for you.” This was Roma’s reaction when she stepped into Dipu’s room, her ten year old son. Dipu jumped out of the bed flinging his video game on
the bed. He kicked the paper cups and balls under the bed out of his mother’s
sight. “Don’t worry Maa, I will clean up the room in no time after I return
from school. I promise.” He rushed to grab his towel and clothes from Roma’s
hand and locked himself up in the bathroom to avoid facing his angry mother.
Roma’s core concern was her ten year old son Dipu’s careless
attitude towards his belongings and his room. It was a back breaking work to
clean up his room. She intended to change his habit for good.
Dipu rushed home after a day well spent in school. He
entered his house, he saw used paper cups, tissue papers strewn on the living room's floor. Shaken up by the unexpected site, Dipu rushed into his room and he removed his school back
pack off his shoulder to throw it on his bed, but was shocked to see his
disheveled bed with an image of his face on it and on the crumpled paper balls,
on the torn text and exercise books, on his clothes lying on the bed and on the
floor, on the crushed paper cups and empty cold drink cans and bottles strewn
across the floor and under his bed, all had the image of his face on them. He
looked in horror at his toy shelf and most of his broken toys had an image of
his face on them. Shell shocked Dipu swung around keen to meet his mother who was busy
in the kitchen. At the moment the garbage bin near the door of his room caught
his attention, it had image of his parents and planet Earth on it with a
message below this image “WE ARE FOR YOU ”
Bemused Dipu stepped out of his
room and he found the same image and message on the garbage bin in the living
area. When he entered the kitchen, he looked out for the garbage bin there and
found it with the same picture message. His mother was busy preparing dinner
and did not hear him enter the kitchen. To draw her attention Dipu whispered,
“Mamma” “You are back from school son, go wash yourself and change your clothes
while I fix up the evening snack for you.” Roma continued with her work without
even glancing at her son. She knew Dipu did not return to his room and was
still standing by the kitchen door. To
draw her attention he coughed and murmured “I don’t know what to wear..” “Don’t
you have any clean set of clothes in your almirah?” Roma replied while
preparing snack for Dipu. “You did not clean them today Maa” Dipu sulked and pulled a chair at the dining table and
sat on it only to find his image on the
paper napkins too that were neatly stacked in the paper napkin stand on the
table. This made Dipu cry out “Momma, why have you put my images on the dirty
clothes, paper cups, napkins! Why are you doing this to me?”
Roma switched off the stove and
looking at Dipu said “How does it feel when someone drinks from you, then trash
you by kicking and crushing you under their feet? How does it feel, when
someone rests on you and leaves you without tidying you up? How does it feel,
when someone plays with you and breaks you into pieces only to throw you away
in a corner of the shelf? How does it feel when you are violently switched on
and then someone brutally jabs on your keyboard or scratches your touch screen,
then abruptly shuts you down and flings you on the table or desk? How does it
feel when someone pulls you out of his bag or study table, pulls at your pages
and tears them only to loosen your joints that bind you up and then throw you
around in his room? How does it feel, when you clothe someone’s body to keep
him looking good, fresh and comfortable only to be torn off his back at the end of
day to be crumpled up and kicked into a corner the room? How does it feel, when
someone wipes his lips and fingers on you after having his food, then crumples you and
throws you on the floor to kick you around like a ball? Tell me Dipu, if you
are all these things that you use and someone treats you exactly the same way
you treat your belongings, how will you feel? Tell me Dipu?”
“I am sorry Momma” muttered Dipu
under his breath. “No you are not, son” replied Roma pulling a chair to set
beside him. “I really mean it, I am sorry! What makes you think I am not?” Dipu’s
voice reflected his displeasure.
Roma smiled and said “Dipu, you did not ask about the message on the garbage bins?”
Dumbfounded Dipu looked at her with questioning eyes. Roma continued speaking to her son “Where do we live? Who cleans your room for you? Who gets and cooks food for you? Who gets clothes and cleans them up for you? Who gets your books and keeps them in usable condition for you? Who gets your toys, computer, tabs and video games for you and keeps them in order so that you can use them? Why they do it for you Dipu, can you tell me?”
Roma took Dipu’s hands in hers and looked into his eyes that were welling with tears. Roma continued, “You are a part of us son, can we ever hurt you .Can you ever hurt yourself too, tell me?” Dipu, overwhelmed with emotion burst into tears and cried out “I am really sorry Mamma. I really am!”
Roma wiping his tears said, “Dipu; you should feel sorry for yourself for treating yourself in such a way.You respect yourself by not ill-treating and misusing all that are around you, and all that belongs to you, only then you respect yourself.
Roma continued speaking softly to her son, "Dipu, we are the children of this planet, the Earth. If we keep dumping garbage all around us and misuse all that Mother Earth provides is with, then we put our lives in danger. Don't you watch in the television news children of your age using face mask to avoid air pollution?"
Dipu nodded his head and hid his face in his mother's lap.
Roma gently brushed his hair and said, in "Go freshen up Dipu, There is a fresh set of clothes in the bathroom. Your snack is ready.”
Roma gently pulled Dipu up from the chair and holding him close to her led him to his room. Once inside his room, Dipu looked at his mother and said, “Maa, I’ll first tidy the rooms” He immediately got busy cleaning up the rooms and when he entered the bathroom to wash himself, he found a large paper cup of a Soft Drink that he had kept on the windowsill had his smiling face on it along with many flowers made from the toffee papers that were glued to the cup to decorate it. His toothbrush and toothpaste tube stood in the cup.Beside it was a membership card to Books and Toys Library and Bank where he could also donate his books and toys, Dipu had been coaxing his parents for it....
Roma smiled and said “Dipu, you did not ask about the message on the garbage bins?”
Dumbfounded Dipu looked at her with questioning eyes. Roma continued speaking to her son “Where do we live? Who cleans your room for you? Who gets and cooks food for you? Who gets clothes and cleans them up for you? Who gets your books and keeps them in usable condition for you? Who gets your toys, computer, tabs and video games for you and keeps them in order so that you can use them? Why they do it for you Dipu, can you tell me?”
Roma took Dipu’s hands in hers and looked into his eyes that were welling with tears. Roma continued, “You are a part of us son, can we ever hurt you .Can you ever hurt yourself too, tell me?” Dipu, overwhelmed with emotion burst into tears and cried out “I am really sorry Mamma. I really am!”
Roma wiping his tears said, “Dipu; you should feel sorry for yourself for treating yourself in such a way.You respect yourself by not ill-treating and misusing all that are around you, and all that belongs to you, only then you respect yourself.
Roma continued speaking softly to her son, "Dipu, we are the children of this planet, the Earth. If we keep dumping garbage all around us and misuse all that Mother Earth provides is with, then we put our lives in danger. Don't you watch in the television news children of your age using face mask to avoid air pollution?"
Dipu nodded his head and hid his face in his mother's lap.
Roma gently brushed his hair and said, in "Go freshen up Dipu, There is a fresh set of clothes in the bathroom. Your snack is ready.”
Roma gently pulled Dipu up from the chair and holding him close to her led him to his room. Once inside his room, Dipu looked at his mother and said, “Maa, I’ll first tidy the rooms” He immediately got busy cleaning up the rooms and when he entered the bathroom to wash himself, he found a large paper cup of a Soft Drink that he had kept on the windowsill had his smiling face on it along with many flowers made from the toffee papers that were glued to the cup to decorate it. His toothbrush and toothpaste tube stood in the cup.Beside it was a membership card to Books and Toys Library and Bank where he could also donate his books and toys, Dipu had been coaxing his parents for it....
Image Source:
https://www.cleverpatch.com.au/ideas/details/snowman-paper-cup
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