Jagadeesh

I’m learning how to be content with very little from Jagadeesh, a 15-year-old boy.  The zippers on Jagadeesh’s backpack are all broken and the material separating the different compartments is torn and the straps are coming off.  I asked him if he needed a new backpack and it said that it was ok.  He has been carrying it with the small strap used for hanging that is on the top of the backpack. 

One afternoon, I noticed him sewing during homework time.  As I walked closer, I realized that he was sewing the broken zipper shut on his bag!  I’ve never met a 15-year-old—maybe I just haven’t met a lot of teenagers—that will not demand a new bag or request that a broken zipper be fixed, but instead proceeds to sew up the zipper.  I told him that he could do his homework and I’ll take it to a tailor in the neighbourhood to sew.

“No problem, aka.  I can do it myself.”  He smiled at me and kept sewing.

Now he only uses certain compartments on his bag.  Astounding.  I am totally bourgeois compared to the kids that live here.