Dear Differently abled Veggie Vendor,

It's been 3 years of my stay in Allahabad but never did I bother to take a look on the vendor selling the vegetables outside my hostle , I mean why should have I bothered ? But the day I did , I learnt what really life is about.

A man in his late 60s, selling vegetables on his cart, handling and rolling the wheels and shouting his daily " vegetable - price " ritual . Everything seems normal, isn't it ?

Now lemme add one thing which will change your whole perception. He has only one hand - the left one.

People often say He has a good built therefore he can do his work easily.

Oh really ? Is that so ? All they mean to say is people above 80 kgs practice doing their work with their left hand? Well , if the answer to this is a NO , how can they judge the level of difficulty he passes everyday to feed his family?

When I asked him about his hand , the first thing he asked was

"Betiya esko chapne k baad Kuch Hoga kya ?"

I felt like a doctor who is treating a child at his critical stage and has nothing to answer to his mom's repetitive question "Mera beta thik Ho jaega na ?"

I was so bereft of words. I just said "uncle mai Kuch promise nahi Kar sakti "

He said he has a family of 2 daughters, 2 sons and a wife out of which the elder ones are studying and the younger ones lived with their mother in the village. I asked him how he managed to do all this with one working hand and believe me, his words made me look at the life in a different way. His perception of life made me respect him a lot more than thought I do.

He said "Hum nahi karenge to Aur Kaun karega , bache hai , khilana hai , padhana hai Aur jab tak shareer (body) hai tab tak bheekh nhi mange gay. Upar wala ek hath liya hai , Baki Sab to hai. Jab tak chalega , chalaenge . Uske  baad Ramji jaane .."

A great salute to you man!

What ever he earns at least he is thinking of educating his children.

He could have chose the other way. Keeping himself to home, sending his wife and children to earn, whereas himself sleeping and boozing all day long. But NO!, he chose to fight, he chose to stand up for his family, he chose a better life, he chose to be a "FATHER", "A Real Hero ".

Determination is such a thing which can bring things from left side of the number line to the right. We crave for a good body , Fair body, thin body and what not. Yet, we hardly do anything worth inspiring for others and here is this man ,  with an incomplete body yet fulfilling all the requirements of his family and making their life worth living.

I know you would never read this but still I would like to appreciate you for all that you are doing. It was such an honour to meet you sir. We need more like you. Your fight and determination is surely gonna light many more lives.

LIFE IS NOT ABOUT WHAT ALL YOU HAVE. IT'S ABOUT HAVING ALL WITH WHAT YOU HAVE!