9 minute read
Be Mindful
by Abdul Kareem Ismat Ghazal
It was a beautiful morning, and the sun was shining through the windows and doors as everybody woke up. And how beautiful were the rays of sunshine on this special day! It was the International Day of Happiness, when the whole world is filled with joy. The rays of sunshine travelled all the way to a country with beautiful buildings reflecting all their amazing colours.
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In this wonderful country lived Rashid and his older sister Hassa with their parents in a big, beautiful house with old barjeel wind towers on the roof, and a design where past meets present to paint a beautiful, colourful picture.
The breeze slipped through the window into ten-year-old Rashid’s room, caressing his face. He moved his dark and silky hair away from his eyes as he woke up feeling excited and energetic.
Then he woke up his parents and rushed to Hassa’s room. Hassa is two years older than him. They both look very much like each other, and they also have many things in common: they’re both funny, kind and love exploring and going on adventures.
Rashid woke his sister, shouting, ‘COME ON, HASSA! We have to hurry! Today the school is celebrating International Day of Happiness, and I can’t wait to be there! LET’S GO, HASSA!’
‘All right, ALL RIGHT! I’m awake. You can go ahead and I’ll catch up with you right away,’ replied Hassa.
Hassa got out of bed excitedly, and as she was helping her mother prepare for school, she heard the sound of water pouring heavily. She looked for the source of this sound, only to find her brother Rashid brushing his teeth while leaving the tap water running down and filling up the sink.
‘Why don’t you use a cup instead of wasting all this
water?’ Hassa scolded her brother.
‘Why would I use one cup when there’s so much water? Please don’t make such a fuss,’ he replied.
Hassa was saddened by her brother’s reaction. She didn’t agree with many aspects of his behaviour; however, she was patient with him because she believed he would change one day.
After a while, their father called both of them, ‘Come on, kids. We’re late. Don’t forget to turn off all the electrical switches, RASHID.’
Rashid turned off all the lights in the house, but he didn’t turn off the air conditioner. ‘I won’t turn it off so the house stays cool until we get back home,’ he thought while rushing to catch up with his family.
The school was filled with a festive atmosphere celebrating the International Day of Happiness. Many local dishes were being served, such as harees, tharid with aromatic Gulf spices, and delicious golden luqaimat dessert with saffron and date molasses. The scent of Arabian coffee mixed with Arabian incense reminded everyone of their country’s beautiful customs and traditions.
A group of children performed al ayala dance while dressed in kandora. They stood in two rows
facing one another moving left and right while waving sticks forward and backward to the rhythm of the beautiful drumming. The young girls drew pretty patterns on their small hands using henna.
After a while, the school yards were filled with buses to transport everybody to the Mangrove Park to continue celebrating in the heart of the reserve’s amazing nature.
The children felt extremely happy at the wildlife and marine reserve, while walking between the old trees and rare plants where many amazing animals live.
On the other side of the reserve, the children learned about the many marine species, such as fishes, shrimps and shellfish, dwelling in the Gulf’s pure water. Then everybody engaged in different activities, like walking in the park and taking pictures, or enjoying kayaking on the lake. Rashid chose to attend a kayaking class with his sister. They paddled the kayak vigorously, moving from one place to another while happily exploring.
After finishing their lovely trip, Rashid was thirsty. He drank water from one bottle after
another, then threw all the empty plastic bottles in the lake!
Hassa yelled angrily, ‘WHY DID YOU DO THAT?! You’re polluting the lake water and ruining the lovely scenery!’
Rashid replied, ‘Don’t worry. The water will take the empty bottles away from us.’
Hassa was angry at this careless behaviour. She left him and went to play with her girlfriends.
As for Rashid, he walked around the place strolling on the beach sands surrounded by mangrove trees.
Rashid looked at the trees, and noticed they had no fruits. He said to himself, ‘Those trees seem useless. Why are there so many of them?’
He started breaking branches off the bushes to play with them, then he threw them away.
When he felt tired, he lay on the ground and looked at the sky, enjoying the beautiful shapes of the clouds above him, when SUDDENLY . . . !
It all went quiet! Rashid felt everything around him changing. He looked around wondering what’s happening?!
He looked ahead only to see the water colour changing to black. He was amazed and surprised as he wondered, ‘HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!’
He felt very HOT, as if the sun were aiming its rays at his eyes. He immediately started looking
around for any trees to stand in their shadows, but the place now seemed like an empty desert. He started getting more confused and scared.
‘HASSA! HASSA! Where are you? What’s over there? What’s happening?’ he
yelled while looking for his sister.
He felt something poking his shoulder. He turned around and saw two palm trees surrounding him. His mind was blown away as they started speaking to him, saying, ‘You’re under arrest and must be brought to court immediately.’
The palm trees tied his arms with their leaves and dragged him to the court. The palm trees took him to a big arena, with a huge panel at the end of it where an honest judge was seated.
‘Your Honour, we brought the accused to you,’ said the two palm trees.
Judge Planet Earth said firmly, ‘Put him behind bars, and bring the first complainant.’
Mrs Tree entered the court crying and started talking while pointing at her young son Shrub with the broken twig. She said, ‘Your Honour, this boy harmed me and my young children, by cutting our branches and depriving us from growing
green leaves. He mocked me by calling me useless, even though I create life’s most precious gas, maintaining environmental balance.’
The judge waited until Mrs Tree finished, then he asked to hear the second complainant.
The palm trees brought big water containers with many fish swimming inside them, all demanding their right to complain.
Judge Planet Earth said, ‘Let the shoal leader speak and tell us the problem.’
Mr Fishie said, ‘Your Honour, we’re going through a disaster that might kill all of us! This boy polluted the lake by throwing garbage in it, filling the whole place with plastic materials which caused the fish to suffocate . . . ’
Suddenly, the court was filled with LOUD cries and shouts before Mr Fishie could even finish his words. Everybody turned to the source of that noise. It came from a group of young children as they were entering the court!
The judge said, ‘Who are you? And why are you crying?!’
The children said, ‘WE ARE TOMORROW’S
CHILDREN. We’re coming to you from a gloomy future that suffers from limited resources. Yesterday, someone wasted so much water that there wasn’t enough left for all the living things that need it!’
They continued crying, and said, ‘We can’t go to school regularly, and we can’t enjoy good health care in hospitals due to lack of electricity! We heard that someone in the past used to leave appliances turned on all the time needlessly!’
Judge Planet Earth looked at Rashid angrily and said, ‘Did you have a hand in this?’
Rashid bowed his head in shame and said, ‘Yes, sir. Unfortunately, I was involved in this, and I’m sorry for doing so.’
‘What about your other offences against members of the environment around you?’ the judge asked.
‘I admit all my mistakes, and I promise I
will never mistreat the environment. PLEASE
FORGIVE ME,’ Rashid pleaded regretfully.
Judge Planet Earth said, ‘Rashid, you have made many mistakes. However . . .’
‘If we give you a second chance, will you pay attention the next time you attempt to mistreat the environment?
‘Will you pay attention when you wake up, Rashid?’
‘Rashid, wake up!
WAKE UP, RASHID!’
Hassa called her brother loudly to wake him up
as he was lying on the beach sands!
Rashid opened his eyes and said, ‘Where am I? Where is the environment court? Where is Judge Planet Earth? Where is everybody?!’
Hassa laughed and said, ‘Oh dear, brother! Were you having a dream?’
Rashid looked at his sister, and told her about his dream after he calmed down.
On the way back from the trip, Hassa looked out the bus window and was mesmerised by the beautiful scenery. She told her brother to look out the window with her, then she said, ‘Our environment is beautiful, and we all deserve to enjoy it and live in it while maintaining its beauty, as it should always remain beautiful for years to come.’
At that moment, Rashid reached a conscious decision.
He kept thinking long and hard to find a way to carry out his decision. He spent most of his time reading useful books and watching informative shows, as he was determined to make his decision come true.
He combined all the subjects he learned at
school to help him in his plan. He asked his sister Hassa to think with him, and told her, ‘I have decided to prove my commitment towards the environment, by creating a watch with a builtin application programmed to include all ecofriendly projects, and to set the alarm off if there’s any attempt to harm the environment.’
Hassa liked the idea very much, and said, ‘Rashid, that’s a very wonderful idea! Let’s name this application “Be Mindful”. What do you think?’
Rashid was delighted with this name, and his sister’s support made him happy.
Hassa continued, ‘You can also start awareness campaigns about the importance of keeping the environment safe.’
Rashid paused for a while then said: ‘I’ve got it! We will ask the school’s administration for permission to form a club where we invite our young classmates from everywhere to meet on a regular basis and discuss our opinions, share thoughts and collaborate on projects that will serve our environment, our country and our world.’
Hassa was excited for all of these wonderful
ideas and said, ‘We will start tomorrow!’
Rashid smiled and said, ‘NO, WE WILL START TODAY!’
The school administration praised Rashid’s ideas, and was prepared to give the necessary support to such eco-friendly ideas. The school also decided to honour the participating students.
When Rashid received his prize he thought, Judge Planet Earth will be very pleased when he learns about my achievements!
