Bright future
Present the accused!
Haidar ‘Ali Madani
‘Present the accused!’ Hassaan heard this, and then two individuals took him to a room. Hassaan was shocked when he saw the room, for it resembled a court. He turned to the person on his right and asked, ‘Why have you brought me here?’ The man placed his finger on his lips, indicating for him to be silent and then grabbed him and made him stand in the wooden stand.
A man wearing a black cloak then stood up and said, ‘Honourable judge! This is the boy who has been accused of showing a lack of respect and etiquettes towards his books and notebooks.’
After hearing the man’s statement, the judge, who was wearing a black gown and glasses and was seated on a large chair at the front, said: ‘Present the witnesses.’
The door opened again, and to his surprise, Hassaan saw his Urdu notebook walking towards the opposite stand, where it began to speak: ‘Honourable judge! I am Hassaan’s Urdu notebook in which he writes his lessons, but sometimes, he throws me onto the floor, and sometimes, he tears out my pages and makes boats and planes out of them.’
‘Are there any more witnesses?’ Asked the judge. Whereupon, the door to the room opened again, and this time, Hassaan’s English, Maths and Urdu books entered and stood in the stand, and said: ‘Honourable judge! We also have the same complaint against Hassaan; in fact, he draws all sorts of lines on us which ruins our faces.’
After hearing all of the statements, the judge said: ‘After hearing the statements of the witnesses, I have come to this judgement; due to his lack of respect towards the books and notebooks, which are a means of acquiring knowledge, Hassaan will receive the following punishment - Hassaan will not have a break for 15 days; during that time, he will remain in class and do his work.’
Hassaan was left dumbfounded after hearing the sentence of the judge and quickly began to say: ‘Honourable judge! Please give me a chance, I will take care of my books and notebooks in the future.’ But the judge did not reply to his pleas, and then someone forcefully took hold of his shoulder.
Due to the force on his shoulder, Hassaan opened his eyes, and saw that his friend, Bilal, was standing next to him, saying: ‘Get up; break has finished and the teacher is about to come.’
After hearing Bilal’s words, Hassaan remembered that the punishment in the courtroom was only a dream. He became overjoyed at this, but had also realised that he must respect and take care of his books and notebooks in the future.
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