The little Kashmiri boy

His mother got married at the age of 12 with a gun held on her head.Her husband was a terrorist.She was abducted by her husbands brother and was forced to marry him.By the time she was 25 she gave birth to 4 children.The eldest being Rozzy her daughter who was 11 year old and next one Arif who was 9 year old.Arif had 2 younger brothers.

They lived by the lake in a small hut made of metal sheets and few wooden planks.It was their home....His mother had a dream of buying their own piece of land some day but most of the money they earned was spent on food.Arif's father had abandoned them.He was already married when he married his mother.He use to come once in a month and demand money from his mother and beat up everyone.Arif knew that his father was a terrorist... noone liked him... not even his youngest brother who was just 4 year old.

Arif's mother use to work on a Charkha to earn some money but it was not enough to feed everyone, so his mother bought an old boat for Arif so that he could use that boat to sell vegetables in the market.It had become his daily routine selling vegetables and then taking all his siblings to the school by his boat.He use to earn 40Rs everyday most of which was spent on food and school fees.It was his mothers dream that all his children should be well educated and become a respected citizen unlike their father.Arif had realised this and did everything he could do to support his mother.Being just a 9 yr old boy his courage was unmatchable.He was single handedly raising his entire family.

Like everyday he made his way out of the busy waters by his boat and reached the market,he dropped all the vegetables to the seller and sat down to rest a while.Suddenly he saw a small puppy besides him... he seemed to be alone,his mother was nowhere to be seen.Little Arif asked the man nearby where was that puppy's mother and the man replied that his mother came under a car and had died.Without any second thoughts he took that puppy with him.Everyone was happy to see that puppy but Arif was worried whether his mother would allow him to keep it.Somehow his mother let him keep the puppy.... they named him Rocky.Everyday all his brothers and his sister use to play with Rocky.They had nothing to play with... the little dog had become a part of their family.Arif use to take Rocky with him when he went to the market.The puppy had become his best friend.

Winter had come.Arif alongwith his brothers and sister were returning from school.It was getting darker and Arif had to make sure that they reached home safely.Everyone got down from the boat.Little Khizar Arif's youngest brother started searching for Rocky.He shouted his name but he couldnt hear Rocky.Arif knew something was wrong.He searched everywhere but he couldnt Rocky anywhere.Next day he searched for Rocky again and he found him lying down beneath a tree.Rocky was no more, he had suffered the same fate as his mother.Arif buried him near his house.Next few days were difficult for everyone but life had to continue...

Winter was getting stronger but after so many years life had become a bit stable for Arif's family.His mother had just got new sweaters for everyone.Everything was getting fine.That night everyone sat outside the house after dinner and enjoyed the peaceful silence of the valley.Little Khizar pondered at the sky pointing at the sky and asking mother whether it was his little friend rocky.After some time everyone went inside and slept.Around midnite Arif heard some sound.... the ground was shaking... he thought it was because of some kind of explosion.He woke up his mother... by that time the sound had become louder and all the vessels had started falling down.His mother immediately knew it was an earthquake.She took everyone outside and after few minutes their house crumbled down.It was one of the biggest earthquake which had hit Kashmir.Many had died but somehow Arif's family survived.They had lost the only thing they had their home!!! They spent next few weeks in the nearby mosque alongwith their neighbours. But Arif knew they had to return to their house. He took his boat and started selling vegetables as he did earlier. After few weeks he rebuilt his house... everything returned to normal slowly.

Months passed by....It was Eid!!! Arif took everyone to the city. He took his brothers to the biggest mosque in Kashmir and offered prayers their.His mother was happy that her son was taking the responsibilty of everyone.Eid passed by and slowly the life in the valley was returning back to the routine.One day Arif returned home from the market and saw few people standing outside his house.He asked his mother what was the matter.His mother burst into tears.It was one of the most biggest challenge Arif had come across in his life.The people who were standing outside their house were from the government authorities.They said that their house was unauthorized and had to be pulled down. It was something that Arif couldnt do anything about. His mother had lost all the hopes. The Home they had built out of their blood and sweat was to be brought down again. Arif looked at his Mother and his siblings , he had tears in his eyes. He sat in his boat and looked down at the water as he moved through it... he saw the reflection of the blue sky in the water as he moved on and suddenly their was a spark in his eyes...he stopped crying as if he had decided from now onwards this sky was his shelter and this lake his home.He went home and calmed down his mother and assured her everything will be fine.He took his brothers and sister in the boat and moved on.....




This is a true story which was shown on Discovery channel's show "Rhodes across India".

The cameraman asked Arif if he was granted three wishes what would he ask for...arif replied he wanted a house,10 lakh rupees and a Maruti car. The cameraman later asked him what else would you ask for and Arif innocently replied you had asked me only for 3 wishes and they are over.Then the cameraman said suppose you were given more wishes then what would you ask for?? Then Arif replied he wanted a music player,toys and a Shikara

Looking at his reply i wondered how many 9 year olds would ask for a house when asked about their wish.... most of the replies would be icecreams and chocolates.... but due to the hardships he had gone through he asked for a home for his family and only when the cameraman asked him about his other wishes he said about the toys and musicplayer.Hats off to the spirit of this kid!!!