Li?l Samaritan from Dubai

This bubbly bundle is just about eight... going on nine but thinks of things and ideas kids her age wouldn?t really bother about. Visiting her grandparents in Lucknow recently, she got the whole family running around to comply with her wishes: She wanted to teach all the household helps and underprivileged kids in the Mahanagar area!

This bubbly bundle is just about eight... going on nine but thinks of things and ideas kids her age wouldn’t really bother about.

HT Image

Visiting her grandparents in Lucknow recently, she got the whole family running around to comply with her wishes: She wanted to teach all the household helps and underprivileged kids in the Mahanagar area!

Simran Vedvyas, a student of The Millennium School, Dubai, “decided” to come to Lucknow for the summer vacations despite having visited Netherlands, Austria, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom and France (indeed!). Her parents, who have been in Dubai for the last several decades, were surprised when she insisted that this summer she didn’t want to go to Europe but come to India.

Simran is crazy about coming to Lucknow. India is always her first choice, says her mom Swati. And, this time, she collected several poor children in the locality and decided to play ‘teacher’ to them. She not only taught them for 15 days every evening and made them learn the alphabet, colours, words, numbers, fruits and vegetables, manners and etiquettes but also took them to her grandfather’s farmhouse for a dinner party. She also insisted on teaching the kids about “toilet manners”.

Simran says, “I want to teach them Arabic also but now, I have to go back to school. I cannot understand why there are so many poor children in India. I was very sad about the war in Lebanon also and donated my books, clothes and toys for the children there. I am leaving my books and gifts for all these new friends here.”

Simran is a also a nominee for the prestigious academic excellence award in the UAE (Hamdan Award). Always an A+ student, with excellent grades, not only has she managed 100 per cent attendance in school for last couple of years but has also bagged the Golden Star Award for General Proficiency 1, 2005-2006 and the Exceptional Pupil Award for General Proficiency.

While she was in Lucknow she also took pride in visiting various historical monuments, and knowing about them at length especially the Residency, Imambara, Taj Mahal (Agra) to name a few. Trained professionally in tennis and swimming at the Dubai Aviation Club, Simran also loves animals. “I feel sad that they cannot express themselves. There is a lot we can learn from animals like faithfulness and loyalty. Whenever I get the chance I try to feed animals and be kind to them. I have a fish tank at home and I have a name for each one of the fish. I feed them everyday and talk to them.” Simran never misses the annual Pedigree Dog Shows in Dubai and in fact, wanted to take some animals she saw neglected in Lucknow with her back home on the plane!

Simran wants to grow up and “spread world peace!”

So, where she’s getting all these idea? From the world around us?
“But if at eight, she’s thinking like this,” says her grandmother Raj Bhasin, “and is so sensitive to the needs of other children around her, I think she’s special and, that’s not just because she’s my grand-daughter.”

It’s time adults just thought about the kind of planet they are leaving behind as a legacy for sensitive children like Simran!