The Child Who Smiled At Me

By smoothoperator, 23rd Jul 2010 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/d6hghhhw/
Posted in Wikinut>Family>Adoption

A couple decided to adopt a child after being married for several years and not having any issues of their own.

Somewhere in a tribal village children were eagerly waiting to reach their destined homes.

The child who smiled at me

My school headmistress and her husband lived very close to our house. They had one girl child. The couple was very fair however the child was dark in complexion. One day I was curious to know how and why the child is not their complexion. I was in class VI and did not have the guts to look straight into the eyes of the headmistress let alone ask her such a controversial question. I mustered my courage one day during summer holidays and while I was playing near her house went in to ask her for some water to drink.

Somehow my headmistress was in her very good spirits and encouraged me to talk. I was waiting for such an opportunity and pounced on the subject right away. Fortunately the child was not at home and her husband was a very understanding person. She did not know how to react let alone answer the seemingly simple question. She decided to remove this mystery once and for all from my head.

She took me into confidence and asked me to promise that I will keep it a secret. She went on to recall the day when they had decided to adopt a child many years ago. Both husband and wife had discussed at length and come to a conclusion that they may not have children after all. When they were on the search for a child for adoption in the city there was a lot of resistance from the neighbors and friends.

They left to the nearby tribal area and were amazed to see that there were so many children who were just waiting for foster parents. The tribal chief was waiting to welcome them with pomp and fervor. I was getting curious to know what happened next. I interrupted my headmistress and she gave me a stern look. She said there were nearly 40 children to be adopted. She concluded by simply saying and hence we adopted a child.

I was eager to know on what basis this particular child got the chance of being adopted among the 40 children. My headmistress then told me that all the children were asked to stand in a row and they were to choose a child. Thirty nine children just stood where they were and one child came smiling to me and that was simply how we adopted her. I know people adopt children but are generally choosy about the looks, complexion, etc.

And here is my headmistress and her husband who need to be given a standing ovation for the manner in which they adopted their child.