An Unexpected Letter of Gratitude From A Student

A couple of years back, I received a letter from a student. I would have published the original letter had it been in English. Here is a translation sans grammatical errors

Dear Friend,

My name is Bunty. I am from Raipur, India. I am an orphan. My parents died when I was small. I live in an orphanage now.

I do not know when my birthday is. But, our sir at the orphanage celebrates our birthday on 14th November. It is also the birthday of Chacha Nehru, who loved children.

I study in class 5, and I like going to school. I like Science and Math very much. It is also very tough. But, I am not afraid. My teacher says I am a good student. He says if I work hard, I can become like C V Raman sir and Kalam sir when I am big. It makes me very happy.

I like playing cricket. We have a ground in the school where we play. We watch cricket matches on TV when India is playing. The children gather together in the orphanage’s dining hall where we have a big TV. Virat Kohli is my favorite player.

Our sir in the orphanage told us today that we have friends in the world who care for us. He also told us about pen-paling. When you write a letter to a friend who lives far away, it is called pen-paling. He asked us to write a letter to our friends. It is why I am writing this letter to you.

I want to thank you for being my friend. I am happy to be your friend, but Raju is my best friend. He is good at cricket, but he doesn’t like studying. He always gets scolded by our teacher.

Please reply to my letter, and tell me everything about you. My sir did not tell me a lot. I would like to meet you. Would you also like to meet me? Do you like playing cricket? We can play on our school grounds when we meet.

I will go now. Sir is calling everyone for dinner, and I am also hungry.

Ta-Ta,

Bunty

The letter also included Bunty’s annual report card. I didn’t know why I got this letter. But I knew what it was. After some wet eye, I decided that I must ensure this letter reaches its intended recipient.

I emailed the NGO whose name was on the envelope and explained the entire situation to them. I wanted them to fix their mistake. After a couple of follow-ups, I received an unexpected response.

There was no error. The letter was indeed for me. As per them, I have been paying Bunty’s tuition fee for the last two years. It was both confusing and overwhelming. I checked with my wife, but she had no idea.

As my last resort, I asked my parents if they knew anything about it. And they did.

You see, my parents are retired, and I support them financially. But, they have either invested that money or supported charities on my behalf.

I wanted my parents to have the letter. But they refused, and I can understand why. I can’t thank them enough for their kind heart and noble deed. I am grateful to have parents like them.

As for Bunty, he is doing well and growing up into a fine young man. I receive one letter from him every year with his annual report card. He shares his learnings, new hobbies, and of course, the cricket stories. He never forgets to mention how Virat Kohli is still his favorite player — the admiration is mutual.

I reply to each of his letters. I tease him that I scored better than him in Math and Science. Just so that he remains motivated to keep doing his best.

I am grateful to have Bunty as my friend, and I am proud of him. I am also thankful to all the NGOs and charity organizations that look after those in need.

As for Bunty’s request to meet him someday, I don’t know. What do you think?

As we get ready for a season of festivities, let’s keep those in crisis at Belarus/Poland border in our prayers. I hope sanity prevails and they can find a home sooner than later. Humanity should not be a pawn in a political power play.

This Thanksgiving, I appeal to everyone to reach out to those in need of help. If you already have, I am grateful to you. Let’s do our bit to improve someone’s life in any way we can. It doesn’t matter if it is through a local church, NGO, UNICEF, UNESCO, etc. If you aren’t able to support monetarily, that is okay. Even having a word with someone in despair can bring a smile to their face.

Thanks for reading. Happy Thanksgiving!