A Mother of 20 at 30

                                 We learn, we earn , we yearn. A bank account with 6 digit balance. A new house under construction. A car exchanged for a new one every 6 months. A shopping mall a week to while away the time. A group discussion at a friend's house - hot topics- London Olympics, New car designs, Latest mobile phones. All these describe a common life course of a young adult. This did not strike me abnormal until i witnessed a different hold on to life. It was a saturday afternoon. We were awaiting a guest at home. I am even ashamed to admit that I was borderline biased  about the charity organisations and was not eagerly awaiting them. We were setting aside things UNUSED for their USE. A young couple with 2 children came inside. Slow and steady, transparent and unbacked by purpose was their conversation. The young lady  was an employee in an IT firm, quit her job for a real purpose. Her husband, a forest officer was the bread winner. They have 2 children of their own and 20  other children they have adopted for education. The children were not orphans, but the children of daily wage workers and tribals who never went to school. They said that they had a really hard time convincing the parents into sending their wards with them for education. To bring them out of their dogmas, to ward off the feeling of inferiority in those children and instilling a spark of confidence should have been a mammoth effort. We saw the 2 children she had brought with her. Brightly dressed, cheerful and definitely confident were those young men of about 10 years old. Though they wanted to have a maximum of 5 children for this purpose, they couldn't stop the parents from bringing in their children at times. She was their cook, teacher and mentor. Her husband, a strong supporter, infact the initiator. I couldn't stop envying the match- the most beautiful pair I had ever seen! They shared a common purpose. What they said was this,"  Relationships wrought by birth are always there for a celebration but not when it comes to sharing the sorrows and joys of life." Though this is not a generalisation, it is a well known fact. She showed us some of their pictures. Her own children were 2 among the 20. I saw a God particle in there!