Rahul Gandhi turns story-teller for students

Kanpur, Oct 25: Leaving politics behind, Rahul Gandhi donned the mantle of a story-teller for students, enlightening them about the importance of education in their life.

During an interaction with the students of the Puranchandra Vidya Niketan here last evening, Mr Gandhi, who was termed as 'Bhaiya'(big brother) by the kids, explained to them how important was education for everyone and asked them not to hesitate from making queries so that they don't fear darkness. During his story-telling session, the Congress general secretary narrated two tales, one about six-year-old Sunny working at a tea stall in Uttarakhand and the second one about his own Chemistry teacher who tought him in the ninth standard.

Mr Gandhi, however, atttributed this to his sister Priyanka who asked him to tell stories to the children during the interaction.

He also discussed his close attachment with his grandmother late Indira Gandhi, who used to answer most of his queries.

Mr Gandhi's first story was about a boy named Sunny whom he met at a roadside tea-stall recently during his Uttarakhand visit.

He said Sunny works at the tea-stall from 0900 hrs to 2200 hrs seven days a week recieving Rs 30 per day as wage. Sunny said he stays in the night in a roadside makeshift shelter with his parents, who are daily wage workers, and his two brothers.

''But you children are fortunate enough to receive good education and other facilities which Sunny lacks,'' Mr Gandhi told the attentive students.

He said the moral of his first story was education was a must for everyone and he asked the kids just think of Sunny, whose future seemed bleak due to absence of education.

Talking about his own student life in a different story, he said during his school days all the teachers were not so eager to answer any question out of the syllabus but his chemistry teacher in the ninth standard was an exception.

''She was the only teacher who tried to answer all my querries even if that was not about chemistry which really had an inspiring impact in my life,'' he said.

Mr Gandhi also expressed that as a kid he was afraid of darkness and his grandmother often asked him why he was afraid. ''I think most of the children are afraid of darkness as they don't know what could be in the darkness,'' he stated.

''So asking questions and proper reply by the teachers or parents can remove the darkness from the minds of the children and thus ending their fear in the darkness,'' he said.

Mr Gandhi also presented prizes to the children during his visit to the school run by the Jagran Group.

UNI