A Friend to All
Bhagat was a lovely child. His smile was charming. People used to say that he would become
very famous.
His mother Vidyavati's life had been full of sorrow right from the beginning. The
revolutionary husband would always be away. Always lurking in Vidyavati's mind was the
fear that he might at any time be sent to jail. It was a family of fighters for freedom
and one or the other would always be in jail. Vidyavati herself had to look after the
affairs of the family. At such anxious times, her children were her only comfort. They
were intelligent and brave and this made her forget her misery. Bhagat Singh was her
favorite.
Bhagat Singh was admitted to the primary school. From his childhood he was highly
interested in studies. He was ahead of the others in his class. He used to write a
beautiful hand. He was the favorite pupil of his teachers. Very much liked by his class-
mates, he was their leader. Big boys used to carry Bhagat Singh on their shoulders to the
school and back home. His childhood itself indicated that later he would become a leader
of revolutionaries.
Bhagat Singh easily made friends with one and all. His companions were naturally his
friends. But cartmen and coolies, and the very men who swept the streets were his friends.
Once clothes had to be stitched Bhagat Singh. The old tailors who stitched clothes
delivered them at the house and went away. "Who is that who brought the
clothes?" asked mother, Vidyavati."My
friend," replied Bhagat Singh.
"What! Is the tailor, too, your friend?"
Vidyavati asked, surprised.
"Yes, every one in the village is my friend" was Bhagat Singh's reply.
Thus the ability to win the hearts of men grew in Bhagat Singh right from his childhood. |