Last week, the LEGO Company had organized a big competition. Children from schools were participating and I was invited as the Chief Guest at the competition to give prizes to the winners. A huge room was filled with LEGO blocks with which children could make toys. The competition was to make beautiful houses, dolls, ninjas, space-ships and so on. There were different categories and children could just pick parts and blocks kept in boxes and make whatever they wanted to make.

I reached the room when the competition was already underway and children were busy making variants of their favourite characters. The place was very noisy as kids chatted away and ran around to find pieces to make fabulous fantabulous things. I could see children making SIMPSON characters and adding new things to them. Some were busy making trains using LEGO Trains blocks. There was a big crowd in the STARWARS corner with kids making space-ships. Characters from LEGO CHIMA were popular too with kids trying to hunt for a wing to make an eagle or a tail to make a lion. The poisonous tip of the scorpion’s tale was most difficult to find, it being so tiny. One child was crying as he could not find rhino’s horn!

Magnificent colourful houses were being made in another corner with chimneys, minarets, porches and windows – big and small. The most active corner was, of course, the LEGO NINJAGO corner. Children were adorning their favourite ninjas with new things. I could see versions of KAI, the master of fire, JAY, the master of lightening, COLE, master of earth and ZANE, the master of ice. Some others were busy making SPINJITZU, the original master!

“By the way Hamid, who is your favourite Ninjago character?” Tintin stopped his story and asked.

“My favourite is Zane, but please continue your story! We will talk about Ninjas later.”

And Tintin continued with the story!

As I was moving from one corner to the other, I saw a small kid peeping into the room through a large window. His eyes were bright with excitement. It was obvious that he wanted to come in and touch and feel the LEGO toys, play with them. But there was something that was holding him back. So, the excitement in his eyes was tinged with a bit of sadness. I looked at him and decided to find out more about him, and so went out to meet him.

He was shy and a bit scared when he saw me coming towards him. Snowy who was at my heels also scared him a bit, I think. But when I waved to him and Snowy licked his feet, his face lit up with a smile. I noticed that unlike the children inside the room, he was shabbily dressed. His clothes were not torn but were somewhat dirty. His face actually needed some scrubbing with warm water and soap! But his eyes were bright, his smile captivating and his face full of curiosity! He must be around five years old but looked smaller for his age.

“What’s your name kid?” I asked.

“Paresh”, he said shyly.

“I am Tintin and this is my friend Snowy!” I told him as I shook his hand.

“Do you go to school?” Paresh shook his head with a bit of sadness.

“Why don’t you come into the room and make something?” I asked Paresh. He was not sure how to respond and called his mother who was digging a hole to plant a tree on the other side of the street. She came running and apologized:

“Sorry sir, he is just a kid and meant no harm”.

I assured her that Paresh had done no harm and I was just asking if he would like to come into the room with me and participate in the competition.

“But how can he do that sir? He is not wearing proper clothes, did not even have a bath today as we had no water in the house. They will not allow him to enter the room like this? And, you know sir, he has never played with those toys. In fact, has never even seen them. How can he participate in the competition?”

I could see her point but knew that she and Paresh would be very happy if I take him in. So, I told her not to worry and that I will speak with the organizers and take him in with me. She looked at me wide-eyed and just nodded her head. Paresh immediately understood that he has got the permission to go in and jumped up in joy. He caught hold of my hand and pulled me hard towards the entrance of the hall.

Paresh’s joy knew no bounds as he ran from one corner of the room to the other. He had not seen so many toys before. Actually, he had no toys as his mother had said and probably played with things lying around the house which he made into toys using his own imagination. In fact, every little thing that took his fancy was a toy for him. Paresh was a real CURIOUS GEORGE! He saw kids making all kinds of things. He wanted to see everything and play with all the blocks but did not know where to start.

“Do you want to make anything Paresh?” I asked.

“What? I don’t know nothing!” He replied.

“Don’t worry. Just try something. Whatever you make would be special”, I told him.

And then for the next half hour I saw him running from one corner to the other, picking pieces of all kinds and making something. I got busy with other things and lost sight of him. I was happy that he was enjoying himself and so was Snowy, who was following him around. (Snowy, who was also listening to the story, said “wow wow”, meaning YES and wagged his tail vigorously).

At the end of the competition, children were very proudly showing their creations as the team of judges moved around to look at each of them closely. There were magnificent houses, animals, space-ships, Ninjagos and so on.

Paresh was standing in a corner, hiding something behind his back. I went to him and asked him to show it to others. He was very reluctant but I persuaded him to put his creation in front of him. As soon as other kids saw what Paresh had made, they started to laugh.

“This does not make any sense!” shouted a girl standing with Mr Simpson in her hand.

“What an awful thing he has made?” wondered a kid with long hair. He was very proudly standing in front of a big space-ship.

Another kid, who had made a lion agreed, “This will give any little boy or girl nightmares.”

“It is just ugly,” the child who had made KAI, the master of fire, chirped in loudly.

Many kids began to laugh. “Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho!”

“Hee-hee-hee!” they roared, “It is sooo UGLY!”

“It’s just special,” Paresh insisted with tears in his eyes. All his joy had vanished and he was looking miserable but there was a resolve in his voice as he pointed at his toy and said: 

“You are ALL wrong, this is SPECIAL and somebody will surely love it!”

Paresh picked his toy and came running to me.

“Isn’t it special?” He asked.

I said: “It surely is. It’s beautiful, no doubt about it.”

“Will you take it and give it to somebody who would love it?” He asked.

“Of course, and I already know such a person. He loves all his toys and friends. In fact, one day his father stepped on a beetle and it died and this friend of mine cried his heart out. He stopped crying only when he could see that the beetle had not died, was actually moving and eating a leaf!”

 “He sounds just like the kind of person I’m looking for! Do you think this friend will like my toy?” Paresh asked.

“He will love it,” I promised.

“Please give it to him then” said Paresh excitedly and gave me the toy he had made. He then ran out of the room as others watched him in amazement and hugged his mother tight, who was standing at the door looking at the entire proceedings quizzically.