Keep the faith!

It is said that faith makes things possible, not easy. Children sometimes have an immeasurable amount of faith that diminishes gradually as they grow up. One may call this - coming of age or turning realistic or cynical, but in fact it is simply losing faith - in either the system we live in or the people surrounding us or religion or at times even oneself. There is something pure and untouched about childhood faith that is both endearing and at the same time makes you feel melancholic.

So is the book that I read to Abhay today. Termed as the Granddaddy of picture books by Maurice Sendak, “The Carrot seed” by Ruth Krauss, is an emotional appeal to that childhood faith all of us once had and now probably see in our children and wonder where did it go? The picture of the young boy in the book reminded Abhay and me of Harold, the boy with a purple crayon. Sure enough, as Crockett Johnson who is the author of ‘Harold and the purple crayon’, is the illustrator of “The Carrot seed”. A young boy who has planted a carrot seed hopes to see it grow into a plant. However no one around him seems so optimistic - neither his parents nor his older brother who all repeatedly tell him that the plant wouldn’t come up. To his dismay, the seed showed no signs of sprouting into a plant. Hardly discouraged, the boy continues to pull out the weeds and water the ground. At last, one day, the boy’s relentless faith is rewarded as the plant comes up and yields the biggest carrot of all! A wonderful book to be read when your little one is down and low or feels discouraged, when you can say“ Keep the faith, buddy!